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Birth of Earnest Rutherford
Earnest Rutherford born Aug. 30, 1871 in Nelson New Zealand -
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Lifetime of Earnest Rutherford
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Rutherford's First Science Book
Rutherford receives his first science book. In it is an ideal that you could judge the distance of a cannon blast by its sound waves, prompting Rutherford to build a homemade cannon. It exploded, but no one was injured. -
Discovery of X-Rays
Willhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-Rays going through a thick layer of paper covering a cathode ray tube. Rutherford later used X-Rays in experiments to initiate electrical conduction in gasses -
Rutherford meets J.J. Thomson
Rutherford adapted a device that could sense elecromagnetic wave form a distance of several hundred meters, a world record at the time, at Cambride University. J.J. Thompson took notice of Rutherford's exeptional abitlity as a resercher and invited Rutherford to join him is his studies -
Discovery of Radioactivity
Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered Uranium gave of radioactive particles in late February 1896. Rutherford later used radioactive atoms in his experiments and eventually became his life work. -
Radioactive Particles
Rutherford discovered two very different particles coming off of radioactive material. He named them Alpha (essentially helium nuclei) and Beta (high speed electrons) rays. -
Discovery of Radon and Secrets of Radioactivity
After moving to McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Rutherford discovered Radon, a chemically unreactive but radioactive element. At McGill he also unlocked secrets of radioactivityby finding that some heavy atoms spontaneously decay into lighter atoms. -
First Flight
The Wright Brothers's first flight in Kittyhawk N.C. took place on this day. They flew for 12 seconds and 120 ft. -
Uranium-Lead Dating
Rutherford proposed that since unranium decayed into lead as its final 'form', minerals could be dated -
Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
In 1911 Rutherford deduced that an atom had a very dense nucleus at the center, one thousandth the size of the entire atom, such that most of the atom was empty space. He made his findings by shooting alpha particles at a thin sheet of gold and saw that most particles went straight through. Some, however, bounced and went in various directions, including straight back toward the radioactive scource supplying the particles. His discovery game him enduring fame. -
The Great War Begins
World War 1 began on this day. -
Women Get to Vote
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this day. It states that no citizen shall be denied the right to vote based on sex. -
100th Anniversary of John Deere Company
In 1937 John Deere Company celebrated its 100th anniversary from the invention of the steel plow in 1837. -
Death of Rutherford
Earnest Rutherford died October 19, 1937 at the age of 66. He died because of delays in operating on his partially stangulated umbilical hernia. He was buried near Sir Isaac Newton's grave.
