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May 26 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!

May 26 In Physics History - Births – Physicists born on May 26

Richard Christopher Carrington (26 May 1826 - 27 Nov 1875)

He was an English astronomer who discovered the equatorial acceleration of the Sun. He did so by observing the motion of the sunspots and discovered that the sun rotates faster at the equator than near the poles. He studied the sunspot for almost 8 years and also was the first to observe a sun flare in 1859. While observing the sunspots, He came across two packages of intensely bright and white light that broke out. The flare he had seen was very rare.

Sally Ride (26 May 1951 - 23 Jul 2012)

She was the first American woman to orbit the earth in 1983. She applied to the astronaut program after reading an ad in a newspaper. Only 35 individuals were selected including 6 women. After completing her training in 1979, she flew on two missions. She became a Ph.D. physicist and a member of the team chosen to investigate the explosion of Challenger in 1986.

May 26 In Physics History - Deaths – Physicists died on May 26

Gerald S. Hawkins (20 Apr 1928 - 26 May 2003)

He was an English American radio astronomer and mathematician. He identified 165 key points that referred to the stones and other archaeological features of the Neolithic complex to the rising and setting positions of the Sun and moon over a cycle of 18.6 years. He also published his discoveries in an article and the journal Nature. Later, he also mentioned his findings in a book with the same title. He also explored the mysteries of many other places such as Easter Island, Egyptian temples, and Machu Picchu.

May 26 In Physics History - Events – Physics Events of May 26

Successful Return of Apollo 10

The astronauts of Apollo 10 returned to earth after a successful 8-day rehearsal for the first manned moon landing in 1969. It was launched on May 18 and was a complete staging of the Apollo 11 mission without actually landing on the moon. The spacecraft splashed down at 12:52 p.m. on 26th May and the target point.

April 12 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 12 in Physics History - Births – Physicists born on April 12

Edward Walter Maunder (12 Apr 1851 - 21 Mar 1928)

He was an English astronomer who first started the British Civil Services Commission examination for the post of photographic and spectroscopic assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. He worked at the observatory for the next forty years measuring the sunspots and checking historic records. He found a lack of reports on sunspots from 1645 to 1715. Instead of questioning this, he started researching and found that there are indeed decades-long times when the sun has very few sunspots. Now we call these periods as Maunder minima.

Ferdinand von Lindemann (12 Apr 1852 - 6 Mar 1939)

He was a German mathematician who proved that π is not a solution to any algebraic equation with a rational coefficient. This explained the insoluble natural or classical Greek mathematical problem of constructing a square with the same area as a given circle using a ruler and compasses alone. He discussed Hermite’s methods that he used to prove that ‘e’ is transcendental. He extended Hermite’s results in 1882 to show that π was also transcendental.

April 12 in Physics History - Deaths – Physicists died on April 12

Charles Messier (26 Jun 1730 - 12 Apr 1817)

He was a French astronomer who first compiled a systematic catalog of “M objects” and discovered 15 comets. His catalog contained nebulae, 103-star clusters, and galaxies. He concluded the alphanumeric names for objects like M1, M2, etc.

Geoffrey F. Chew (5 Jun 1924 - 12 Apr 2019)

He was an American physicist who led the group of S-matrix theorists researching the strong interaction and the bootstrap principle. He was a graduate student of Enrico Fermi. His group calculated the interactions of bound-states without assuming that there is a point-particle field theory underneath.

Igor Tamm (8 Jul 1895 - 12 Apr 1971)

He was a Soviet physicist who shared the Noble Prize with Pavel A  Cherenkov, and Ilya M. Frank for physics for his works in explaining Cherenkov radiation. He developed the theoretical interpretation of the Cherenkov effect which states that the radiation of electrons moves faster than the speed of light through matter. He also developed a method for studying the interaction of nuclear particles and contributed towards the methods for the control of thermonuclear reactions.

April 12 in Physics History - Events – Physics Events of April 12

First Man To Orbit The Earth

On this day, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961. The control of the spacecraft was locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. It had a radio, television, and life-supporting equipment. He ejected and made a planned descent landing with his parachute but the Soviet Union denied this to save its reputation. After 7 years, he died in a plane crash.

The First Yo-Yo Toy In Space

The first yo-yo toy was taken into space in the Space Shuttle Discovery mission 51-D in 1985. With this yellow plastic Duncan Imperial yo-yo, other toys were exhibited during a time in orbit. Astronauts did the tricks with toys but the yo-yo sleeper trick couldn’t work without normal gravity. While spinning, the gyroscope showed exceptional stability. The flywheel slowed without normal gravity.

Space Shuttle Columbia Was Launched

Columbia, the American Space Shuttle was launched into space in 1981. John W. Young was the mission commander.