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Monthly Archives: October 2015

computer science
The Pentium FDIV Bug

The Pentium FDIV Bug

Harald Sack
On October 30, 1994, Thomas Nicely, a professor of mathematics at Lynchburg College, published his findings about a serious bug in the arithmetic unit of Intel’s latest Pentium processor, known as the Pentium FDIV Bug. Because of the bug, the processor can return incorrect decimal results, an issue troublesome for the precise calculations needed in fields like math and science. The Pentium FDIV bug is the most famous (or infamous) of the…
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explorer
Ludwig Leichhardt’s Australian Expeditions

Ludwig Leichhardt’s Australian Expeditions

Tabea Tietz
On October 23, 1813, Prussian explorer and naturalist Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt was born. He is most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia. Leichhardt went to Australia in 1842 to study the rocks and wildlife in Queensland and the Northern Territory. In 1846 he left on an expedition with nine men to find a route from Moreton Bay (Brisbane) to Perth, rather poorly equipped. The party disappeared, leaving a mystery as to…
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chemistry
Georg Ernst Stahl and the Phlogiston Theory

Georg Ernst Stahl and the Phlogiston Theory

Tabea Tietz
On October 22, 1659, German chemist, physician and philosopher Georg Ernst Stahl was born. Stahl developed the phlogiston theory of combustion and of such related biological processes as respiration, fermentation, and decay. Combustible objects, he said, were rich in phlogiston, and during combustion is lost. The remaining ash, now having no phlogiston, could no longer burn. Until the late 18th century his works on phlogiston were accepted as an explanation for chemical…
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architecture
The Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House

Tabea Tietz
On October 20, 1973, the Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. It is identified as one of the 20th century’s most distinctive buildings. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon in a modern expressionist design, it features a series of large precast concrete roof “shells”, each composed of sections of a sphere of 75.2 metres radius. Planning for the opera house started in the 1940s when the director of…
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history
The Battle of Zama and Hannibal’s Final Defeat

The Battle of Zama and Hannibal’s Final Defeat

Harald Sack
Around October 19, 202 BC, the Battle of Zama was fought between a Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (Scipio), who defeated a Carthaginian force led by the commander Hannibal. Despite Hannibal possessing numerical superiority, Scipio conceived a strategy to confuse and defeat his war elephants. The defeat on the Carthaginians‘ home ground marked an end to the 17-year 2nd Punic war. The Second Punic War The second Punic war between…
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chemistry
Christian Friedrich Schönbein and the Ozone

Christian Friedrich Schönbein and the Ozone

Tabea Tietz
On October 18, 1799, German-Swiss chemist Christian Friedrich Schönbein was born. Schönbein is best known for inventing the fuel cell (1838) and his discoveries of guncotton (nitrocellulose) and ozone. Christian Friedrich Schönbein was apprenticed at a pharmaceutical factory in Böblingen and was adviced to begin studying at the university. Schönbein enrolled at the University of Erlangen in 1820 were he got to know Justus Liebig Friedrich Schelling, who later helped Schönbein to finance…
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aviation
Wildwest Showman Samuel Cody and the First Flight in England

Wildwest Showman Samuel Cody and the First Flight in England

Tabea Tietz
On October 16, 1908, US Wild West showman and early pioneer of manned flight Samuel Cody succeeded with the first officially recorded powered flight in England with a length of 420 metres. Samuel Cody – A Wildwest Showman Samuel Cody was born Samuel Franklin Cowdery in 1867 in Davenport, Iowa, USA and attended school until he was probably 12. Not much is known about the early life of Cody, but he later…
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engineering
Elmer Sperry and the Invention of the Gyrocompass

Elmer Sperry and the Invention of the Gyrocompass

Tabea Tietz
On October 12, 1860, American inventor and entrepreneur Elmer Ambrose Sperry was born. Sperry is best known for his significant role in the development of the gyrocompass, a type of non-magnetic compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and rotation of the Earth to automatically find geographical direction. Elmer Sperry – Early Years Elmer Sperry was born at Cincinnatus, New York, on October 12, 1860, to Stephen Decatur Sperry and Mary Burst. His mother…
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communication
Michael Pupin solving the Problems of long-distance Communication

Michael Pupin solving the Problems of long-distance Communication

Harald Sack
On October 9, 1858, Serbian American physicist and physical chemist Michael Pupin was born, who is best known for his numerous patents, including a means of greatly extending the range of long-distance telephone communication by placing loading coils (of wire) at predetermined intervals along the transmitting wire (known as “pupinization“). “We would never get away from it. … It’s bad enough as it is, but with the wireless telephone one could be…
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art
Jacopo Peri and the Birth of Early Opera

Jacopo Peri and the Birth of Early Opera

Tabea Tietz
On October 6, 1600, Jacopo Peri‘s opera Euridice was performed for the first time, being created for the marriage of King Henry IV of France and Maria de Medici. The composition is typically considered to be the second work of modern opera, and the first such musical drama to survive to the present day. “To hear him sing his works composed with excellent skill… induced every heart of stone to tears.” –…
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