Calendar of Science

Dec. 31, 1938-Dr. Harger invented the first breath testing machine for car drivers for the analysis of blood alcohol content.

Dec. 30, 1913-Dr. Coolidge patented a method for making ductile tungsten for the filaments of electric lamps.

Dec. 29, 1888-The Great Nebula in Andromeda, M31, was photographed by Isaac Roberts.

Dec. 28, 2005-The first in a series of satellites, named Galileo, was launched by a consortium of European governments and companies.

Dec. 27, 1822-Birthday-Louis Pasteur who discovered the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization.

Dec. 26, 1898-Marie and Pierre Curie discovered the radioactive element radium while experimenting with a common uranium ore.

Dec. 25, 1741-Astronomer Anders Celsius devised the Centigrade temperature scale.

Dec. 24, 1936-Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron, administered the first radioactive isotope medicine at Berkeley.

Dec. 23, 1947-John Bardeen and Walter Brattain demonstrated the first transistor at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey.

Dec. 22, 1938-The first coelacanth, a primitive fish thought extinct, was discovered in East London.

Dec. 21, 1933-Dr. Flosdorf and Stuart Mudd prepared dried human blood serum at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dec. 20, 1900-Invention of Musical Arcs, by William Du Bois Duddell, was reported.

Dec. 19, 1902-The first fingerprint file in the U.S. was initiated.

Dec. 18, 1958-The first American communications satellite, Project SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting ay Equipment) was launched.

Dec. 17, 1903-Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.

Dec. 16, 1929-Birthday-Bruce Nathan Ames who developed the Ames test, an indicator of the carcinogenicity of chemicals.

Dec. 15, 1612-Simon Marius observed Andromeda galaxy through a telescope, the most distant object that can be seen by the unaided eye.

Dec. 14, 1967-Arthur Kornberg announced the first synthesis of biologically active DNA in a test tube.

Dec. 13, 1962-The first U.S. communications earth satellite, Relay I, was launched.

Dec. 12, 1955-Christopher Cockel, father of the hovercraft air-cushion vehicle, filed his first patent for the hovercraft.