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Monthly Archives: February 2023

medical science
Philip Showalter Hench and the Hormone Cortison

Philip Showalter Hench and the Hormone Cortison

Harald Sack
On February 28, 1898, American physician Philip Showalter Hench was born. Hench, along with his Mayo Clinic co-worker Edward Calvin Kendall and Swiss chemist Tadeus Reichstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for the discovery of the hormone cortisone, and its application for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Youth and Education Philip Showalter Hench was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, the son of Jacob Bixler Hench and…
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aviation
The Beautiful Aircraft Designs of Kelly Johnson

The Beautiful Aircraft Designs of Kelly Johnson

Tabea Tietz
On February 27, 1910, American aeronautical and systems engineer Kelly Johnson was born. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird.[4] Besides the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, he also produced the first fighter capable of Mach 2, and many other contributions to a large number of aircraft. Early Years Clarence Leonard Johnson was enthusiastic for aircraft…
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engineering
Thomas Newcomen and the Steam Engine

Thomas Newcomen and the Steam Engine

Tabea Tietz
On February 26 (or maybe also 24), 1664, English inventor Thomas Newcomen was born, who created the first practical steam engine for pumping water, the Newcomen steam engine. Steam Engines As we know from a previous article on James Watt and the Steam Age Revolution [5], Watt was the one improving Newcomen‘s engine in the 18th and 19th century. Since the knowledge about the power of working with steam had been around for…
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war/crime
Friedrich Spee and the Cautio Criminalis

Friedrich Spee and the Cautio Criminalis

Harald Sack
On February 25, 1591, German Jesuit and poet Friedrich Spee was born, who is best known for his book Cautio Criminalis, in which he argued publicly against the trials for witchcraft and against torture in general. He was one of the noblest and most attractive figures of the awful era of the Thirty Years’ War. Friedrich Spee and the Thirty Years War Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld was born to a noble family…
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computer science
Steve Jobs – American Businessman, Inventor, and Industrial Designer

Steve Jobs – American Businessman, Inventor, and Industrial Designer

Harald Sack
On February 24, 1955, American businessman, inventor, and industrial designer Steve Jobs was born. Jobs is widely recognized as a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. “What a computer is to me is it’s the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.” — Steve Jobs, as quoted in Memory and…
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explorer
Gustav Nachtigal and the Explorations in Africa

Gustav Nachtigal and the Explorations in Africa

Tabea Tietz
On February 23, 1834, German Africa Explorer Gustav Nachtigal was born. He is further known as the German Empire’s consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His mission as commissioner resulted in Togoland and Kamerun becoming the first colonies of a German colonial empire. making him a key figure in German colonial propaganda Early Years Gustav Nachtigal’s father, the priest Carl Friedrich Nachtigal, died of lung consumption as early as 1839. After his…
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history
Cardinal Richelieu and the Académie Francaise

Cardinal Richelieu and the Académie Francaise

Harald Sack
On February 22, 1635, on the urging of Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of France, King Louis XIII of France, formally established the Académie française, the French academy. It is the pre-eminent French council for matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie consists of forty members, known informally as “les immortels” (the immortals). The body has the task of acting as an official authority on the language; it is charged with publishing…
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engineering
Edwin Land – Father of the Polaroid Instant Camera

Edwin Land – Father of the Polaroid Instant Camera

Tabea Tietz
On February 21, 1947, American scientist and inventor Edwin Land introduced the very first instant camera together with an associated film. Land‘s new camera would allow people to produce a black and white photograph in about sixty seconds. The new film already contained the necessary chemicals to develop and fix the image directly on the photographic paper. “We live in a world changing so rapidly that what we mean frequently by common…
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art
Ansel Adams and the Beauty of Black and White Photography

Ansel Adams and the Beauty of Black and White Photography

Tabea Tietz
On February 20, 1902, American photographer and environmentalist Ansel Easton Adams was born. He is best known for his black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park. Together with Fred Archer, Adams developed the Zone System as a way to determine proper exposure and adjust the contrast of the final print. “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the…
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engineering
William Grey Walter and his Machina speculatrix

William Grey Walter and his Machina speculatrix

Tabea Tietz
On February 19, 1910, British neurophysiologist and robotician William Grey Walter was born. Walter is best known for linking learning with a particular brain wave as revealed by measurements by electroencephalograph. But his most famous work was his construction of some of the first electronic autonomous robots. “The mechanism of learning is of course one of the most enthralling and baffling mysteries in the field of biology.” – William Grey Walter, A machine that…
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