April 11 in Physics History: Birthdays, Deaths & Discoveries

Explore April 11 in physics history with all birthdays, deaths & discoveries by physicists and all major physics events happened on this day!

April 11 in Physics History

Physics history will help you to develop a better understanding of the physics world!

birthdays & deaths

Explore all birthdays & deaths of physicists occurred on this day with their short biography!

physics Events

Know all important discoveries made by physicists & events happened on this day with complete information!

April 11 in Physics History - Births – Physicists born on April 11

W. Wallace Campbell (11 Apr 1862 - 14 Jun 1938)

He was an American astronomer who discovered numerous binary stars and determined that atmosphere of Mars was deficient in oxygen and water vapor. After working as a summer volunteer at Lick Observatory, he became its director. He observed the radial velocity of many stars and led several eclipse quests.

Donald Menzel (11 Apr 1901 - 14 Dec 1976)

He was an American astronomer who was one of the first practitioners of astrophysics in the United States. He was best known for his arguments against the existence of UFOs. He discovered that the corona of the Sun contains oxygen. He also conducted the assignment of names to the newly discovered features of the Moon.

Macedonio Melloni (11 Apr 1798 - 11 Aug 1854)

He was an Italian physicist who improved the thermopile which is used to detect infrared radiation. He was the first to largely research infrared radiation and measured the slight heating effect of moonlight. He proved polarization, refraction, interference, and reflection of infrared radiation.

April 11 in Physics History - Deaths – Physicists died on April 11

Samuel Heinrich Schwabe (25 Oct 1789 - 11 Apr 1875)

He was an amateur German astronomer who, while searching for his hypothetical planet across the solar disk, discovered the 10- year sunspots activity cycle. He published his results in 1842. He also made the first detailed drawing of the Red Spot on Jupiter.

April 11 in Physics History - Events – Physics Events of April 11

Apollo 13 Launch

Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar landing mission. On this day, it was launched in 1970 from Cape Canaveral with crew Fred Haise, John Swigert, and James Lovell. Two days later, a liquid oxygen tank exploded and disabled the normal supply of oxygen, light, electricity, and water. The mission was aborted and the spacecraft circled the moon and began a long journey back to Earth. On 17 April, they safely touched down in the Pacific Ocean.

Halley's Comet

Halley’s comet made the closest approach (39 Million Miles) to Earth on its outbound journey in 1986. Though it was not clearly visible to the naked eye, in 1066, it petrified million of Europian because of its brightness. Its closest known approach was 3 million miles on April 10, 837 AD. Halle’s comet will visit Earth again in 2061.

First Satellite Repair In Space

Challenger astronauts including George Nelson and James Van Hoften completed the first in-space Satellite repair in 1984. It had been malfunctioning since it had been launched in 1980. Its main electronic system was serviced successfully.