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Christian Huygens - Dutch astronomer
Christian Huygens (d.1695), Dutch astronomer, discoverer of Saturn's rings, was born. He invented the pendulum and along with Newton showed that any body revolving around a center is actually accelerating constantly toward that center, even though the rate of rotation remains constant. -
Sir Isaac Newton - English physicist
Isaac Newton (d.1727), English physicist, mathematician and scientist, was born in Woolsthorpe (Grantham), Lincolnshire, England. He enunciated the laws of motion and the law of gravity. -
The Leyden jar
The Leyden jar, capable of storing static electricity, was invented by German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist. Also about this time Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden (Leyden) independently came up with the same idea. -
The relationship between electricity and lightning.
Benjamin Franklin and his son tested the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunder storm. Some sources date this to June 10. -
Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis - French engineer and mathematician
Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis (d.1843), French engineer and mathematician, was born. He became first person to describe the Coriolis force. -
Pierre-Simon Laplace - French mathematician, astronomer, physicist,
Pierre-Simon Laplace (b.1749), French mathematician, astronomer, physicist, died. He invented perturbation theory and wrote the 5-volume work "Celestial Mechanics." -
ohannes Robert Rydberg - Swedish physicist
Johannes Robert Rydberg (d.1919), Swedish physicist, was born. He is mainly known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to predict the wavelengths of photons (of light and other electromagnetic radiation) emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in an hydrogen atom. -
Alexandre Becquerel - French physicist
Alexandre Becquerel (b.1820), French physicist, died. In 1839, Becquerel observed the photoelectric effect via an electrode in a conductive solution exposed to light. -
Samuel P. Langley - American physicist
Samuel P. Langley (1834-1906), American physicist and aviation pioneer, launched the first reasonably large, steam-powered model aircraft. -
Annalen der Physik
Annalen der Physik published a fourth paper by Albert Einstein, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?," in which Einstein developed an argument for arguably the most famous equation in the field of physics: E = mc². Einstein considered the equivalency equation to be of paramount importance because it showed that a massive particle possesses an energy, the "rest energy", distinct from its classical kinetic and potential energies. -
A solar eclipse photographed by two British expeditions
A solar eclipse occurred that was photographed by two British expeditions, one in Africa and the other in Sobral, Brazil. Arthur Eddington, British astronomer, confirmed Einstein’s prediction of the deflection of light from Principe, a Portuguese island off the Atlantic coast of Africa. In 1980 Harry Colling and Trevor Pinch published "The Golem," an account of the expedition. The play “Rose Tattoo” by Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams was originally titled “The Eclipse of May 29, 1919.” -
Johannes Robert Rydberg - Swedish physicist -Died
Johannes Robert Rydberg (b.1854), Swedish physicist, died. He is mainly known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to predict the wavelengths of photons (of light and other electromagnetic radiation) emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in an hydrogen atom. -
Sir Joseph Larmor - Died
Sir Joseph Larmor (b.1857), professor of mathematics, died in Ireland. His contributions bridged the old and the new physics. He published three papers all entitled “A dynamical theory of the electric and luminiferous medium” between 1894 and 1897. These papers presented his theory of the electron, which gained further weight in 1897 when J J Thomson experimentally identified the electron. -
A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago. On the squash court underneath a football stadium of the University of Chicago, the first nuclear chain reaction was set off. At 3:45 p.m., control rods were removed from the "nuclear pile" of uranium and graphite, revealing that neutrons from fissioning uranium split other atoms, which in turn split others in a chain reaction. The reaction was part of the Manhattan Project, the United Stat -
Arnold Sommerfeld - Died
Arnold Sommerfeld (b.1868), German theoretical physicist, died. He pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics. His atomic model permitted the explanation of fine-structure spectral lines. -
The discovery of the first "pulsar" star
The discovery of the first "pulsar," a star which emits regular radio waves, was announced by Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell at Cambridge, England. -
Walther Meissner - Died
Walther Meissner (b.1882), German physicist (Meissner Effect), died. -
Alfred Loomis - Died
Alfred Loomis (b.1887), financier and amateur physicist, died. In 2002 Jennet Conant authored "Tuxedo Park," an account of how Loomis led research that enhanced radar and led to the atom bomb. -
Werner C. Heisenberg - Died
Werner C. Heisenberg (b.1901), physicist and Nobel Prize winner (1932), died in Germany. In 1993 Thomas Powers authored "Heisenberg’s War," in which he argued that Heisenberg destroyed the German atomic project from within. Niels Bohr later countered the argument with personal documentation. -
Blas Cabrera, physicist at Stanford University
Blas Cabrera, physicist at Stanford University announced the recording of an event that may well have been the first detection of a magnetic monopole.
