December 16

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  1474: Astronomer, mathematician, and physicist Ali Qushji dies. Qushji contributed to the development of astronomical physics independent from natural philosophy, and provided empirical evidence for the Earth's rotation.

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  1653: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

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  1905: Mathematician, author, and poet Piet Hein born. He will propose the use of superellipses in architecture; superellipses will become the hallmark of modern Scandinavian architecture.

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  1947: William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.

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  2014: Mathematician and academic Tim Cochran dies. He contributed to topology, especially low-dimensional topology, the theory of knots and links and associated algebra.