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Today in History :: Thursday, 15 May 2008

International Day of Families

Birthdays:
1713	Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, astronomer. Compiled a catalogue of nearly 10,000 stars of the southern hemisphere, many of which are still referred to by his catalogue numbers. He also named 15 of the 88 constellations in the sky. Born in Rumigny, France.
1845	Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, zoologist, microbiologist. Shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1908 for the discovery in animals of amoeba-like cells that engulf foreign bodies such as bacteria - a phenomenon known as phagocytosis and a fundamental tenet of the science of immunology. Born in a village near Kharkoff, Russia
1857	Mina Fleming, astronomer. A pioneer in the classification of stellar spectra and the first to discover white dwarf stars. Working as assistant to Edward Pickering, she helped compile the first general catalogue, classifying stellar spectra. Born Williamina Paton Stevens in Dundee, Scotland.
1859	Pierre Curie, physicist. Educated at the Sorbonne, where he subsequently became professor of physics. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 with his wife Marie, and Professor Henri Becquerel, in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena, discovered by Becquerel, linked to the Curie's discovery of radium. Born in Paris, France.
1948	Brian Eno, musician. Began his musical career with Roxy Music then went on to produce a number of highly eclectic and increasingly ambient electronic and acoustic albums. He is also known for his collaborations with David Bowie, David Byrne, Robert Fripp, et al. Born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.
1953	Mike Oldfield, musician. Best known for his composition "Tubular Bells". Born in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Deaths:
1992	Robert Morris Page, American physicist. Invented the technology for pulse radar, a system that detects and locates distant objects through the use of short bursts of electromagnetic radiation. The invention was vital to the Allies during WW II for detecting enemy planes, ships, and other targets. Died in Edina, Minnesota, USA, aged 88.
2003	Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist. Considered to be one of the best ever Belgian cyclists, he began his career in 1942 and became Belgian road cycling champion the following year. His greatest victories during a career spanning 24 years included the Tour of Flanders (1944, 46, 55, 56), Paris - Roubaix (1948, 50 - 52, 56 - 58), Milan - San Remo (1954, 59), world road-race championship (1949, 56, 57). He also excelled on the track, winning a record 40 six-day events. Died of cancer, aged 78.
Events on this day:
1252	The use of torture in the inquisition of heretics is authorised by "Innocent" IV in his bull 'Ad exstirpanda'.
1567	Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell.
1618	Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion: The square of the sidereal period (the time taken for the object to make one full orbit around the sun, relative to the stars), of an orbiting planet, is directly proportional to the cube of the orbit's semimajor axis.
1649	The 'Rump Parliament' under Oliver Cromwell declares England a 'commonwealth' or free state.
1672	The first copyright law is enacted, in Massachusetts, USA.
1836	Francis Baily observes Baily's Beads for the first time during an annular solar eclipse.
1905	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA is founded when 110 acres of Nevada land are sold at auction.
1911	The US Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable monopoly" under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and orders the company to be dissolved.
1918	The US Post Office Department, later renamed the US Postal Service, begins the first regular airmail service in the world, between New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.
1928	Mickey Mouse makes his first motion picture appearance.
1934	The US Department of Justice offers $25,000 reward for John Dillinger, dead or alive.
1940	Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the USA in Wilmington, Delaware. Four million pairs are sold in a few hours.
1941	Joe DiMaggio's record-breaking 56-game home run hitting streak begins.
1941	Great Britain's first jet-propelled aircraft, the Gloster-Whittle E.28/39, flies for the first time, taking off from RAF Cranwell on an historic 17 minute flight. Its jet engines were designed by Frank Whittle, known as the "father of the jet engine".
1957	Great Britain follows the lead of the USA and USSR and explodes its first hydrogen bomb, in the air near Christmas Island in the central Pacific Ocean.
1958	The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
1963	Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper blasts off aboard Faith 7 on the final mission of the Project Mercury space program.
1988	After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdrawl from Afghanistan.
1990	"Portrait of Doctor Gachet", by Vincent van Gogh, is sold for a record $82.5 million.
1993	A woman in Paris, France is surgically given two new lungs, both of which were cut from the single lung of a large man.