Template:Selected anniversaries/December 24: Difference between revisions
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||1923: Gunnar Nordström dies ... theoretical physicist best remembered for his theory of gravitation, which was an early competitor of general relativity. Nordström is often designated by modern writers as The Einstein of Finland due to his novel work in similar fields with similar methods to Einstein. Pic. | ||1923: Gunnar Nordström dies ... theoretical physicist best remembered for his theory of gravitation, which was an early competitor of general relativity. Nordström is often designated by modern writers as The Einstein of Finland due to his novel work in similar fields with similar methods to Einstein. Pic. | ||
||1938: Mathematician and academic William Veech born ... research concerned dynamical systems; he is particularly known for his work on interval exchange transformations, and is the namesake of the Veech surface. Pic: https://www.ias.edu/scholars/william-veech ... birth date: | |||
||1941: Fernand Holweck dies ... physicist who made important contributions in the fields of vacuum technology, electromagnetic radiation and gravitation. He is also remembered for his personal sacrifice in the cause of the French Resistance and his aid to Allied airmen in World War II. Pic. | ||1941: Fernand Holweck dies ... physicist who made important contributions in the fields of vacuum technology, electromagnetic radiation and gravitation. He is also remembered for his personal sacrifice in the cause of the French Resistance and his aid to Allied airmen in World War II. Pic. | ||
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File:Brion_Gysin_scrying_engine_Hamangia_figurines.jpg|link=Brion Gysin|1967: Performance artist and crime-fighter [[Brion Gysin]] invents hand-held [[scrying engine]], sends Christmas Eve greetings to [[Hamangia scrying engine|Hamangia figurines]]. | File:Brion_Gysin_scrying_engine_Hamangia_figurines.jpg|link=Brion Gysin|1967: Performance artist and crime-fighter [[Brion Gysin]] invents hand-held [[scrying engine]], sends Christmas Eve greetings to [[Hamangia scrying engine|Hamangia figurines]]. | ||
||1968 | ||1968: Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures. | ||
||1980: Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell". | ||1980: Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell". |
Revision as of 19:53, 4 September 2018
1473: Priest, philosopher, physicist, and theologian John Cantius dies. He helped develop Jean Buridan's theory of impetus, anticipating the work of Galileo and Newton.
1761: Astronomer Jean-Louis Pons born. He will become the greatest visual comet discoverer of all time: between 1801 and 1827, Pons will discover thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history.
1818: Physicist and brewer James Prescott Joule born. He will study the nature of heat, and discover its relationship to mechanical work.
1822: Mathematician Charles Hermite born. He will do research on number theory, quadratic forms, invariant theory, orthogonal polynomials, elliptic functions, and algebra.
1877: Thomas Edison) files for a patent on the phonograph. The idea came to him while working on a telegraph transmitter, when he noticed that when the tape of the machine was played at high speed, it gave off a noise resembling spoken words. After experimenting with a needle attached to the diaphragm of a telephone receiver to prick paper tape to record a message, his idea evolved to using a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder.
1881: Physician, physiologist, and crime-fighter Emil du Bois-Reymond uses experimental electrophysiology techniques to demonstrate a physiological basis for the energy exerted by Gnomon algorithm functions.
1882: Mathematician Johann Benedict Listing dies. He introduced the term "topology" in a famous article published in 1847, having already used the term in correspondence some years earlier.
1905: Businessman, investor, aviator, film director, and philanthropist Howard Hughes born. He will be known during his lifetime as one of the most financially successful individuals in the world.
1906: Inventor Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
1917: Politician Ivan Goremykin dies. He is remembered for his Extreme Moustaches.
1962: Mathematician Wilhelm Ackermann dies. He discovered the Ackermann function, an important example in the theory of computation.
1967: Performance artist and crime-fighter Brion Gysin invents hand-held scrying engine, sends Christmas Eve greetings to Hamangia figurines.