Timeline of United States discoveries
Encyclopedia
Timeline of United States discoveries encompasses the breakthroughs of human thought and knowledge of new scientific findings, phenomena, places, things, and what was previously unknown to exist. From a historical stand point, the timeline below of United States discoveries dates from the 18th century to the 21st century, which have been achieved by discoverers who are either native-born or naturalized citizens of the United States.
With an emphasis of discoveries
in the fields of astronomy
, physics
, chemistry
, medicine
, biology
, geology
, paleontology
, and archaeology
, United States citizens acclaimed in their professions have contributed much. For example, the “Bone Wars
,” beginning in 1877 and ending in 1892, was an intense period of rivalry between two American paleontologists, Edward Drinker Cope
and Othniel Charles Marsh
, who initiated several expeditions throughout North America
in the pursuit of discovering, identifying, and finding new species of dinosaur fossils
. In total, their large efforts resulted in 142 species of dinosaurs being discovered. With the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958, a vision and continued commitment by the United States of finding extraterrestrial and astronomical discoveries has helped the world to better understand our solar system
and universe
. As one example, in 2008, the Phoenix Mars Lander discovered the presence of frozen water on the planet Mars
of which scientists such as Peter H. Smith
of the University of Arizona
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
(LPL) had suspected before the mission confirmed its existence.
1796 Johnston Atoll
1798 Tabuaeran
1798 Teraina
1798 Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll, a territory of the United States, a Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, and a part of the wider United States Minor Outlying Islands
, is a 4.6 sq mi (11.9 km²) atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands
, roughly halfway between the U.S. state of Hawaii
and the U.S. territory of American Samoa
. The atoll consists of an extensive reef, two shallow lagoons, and some 50 sand and reef-rock islets and bars covered with lush, tropical vegetation. The islets of the atoll are all connected, except Sand Island and the two Home Islets in the west and Barren Island in the east. The largest island is Cooper Island in the north, followed by Kaula Island in the south. Cooper Island is privately owned by The Nature Conservancy
and managed as a nature reserve. The rest of the atoll is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
and is directly administered by the Office of Insular Affairs
, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. Palmyra Atoll's history is long and colorful. It was first sighted on June 14, 1798, by Captain Edmund Fanning
and officially discovered in 1802 by Captain Sawle of the American ship Palmyra.
1798 Kingman Reef
1822 Howland Island
1825 Baker Island
1831 Chloroform
1858 Hadrosaurus foulki
Hadrosaurus was a dubious genus of a hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived near what is now the coast of New Jersey in the late Cretaceous
, around 80 million years ago. It was likely bipedal for the purposes of running, but could use its forelegs to support itself while grazing. Like all hadrosaurids, Hadrosaurus was herbivorous. Its teeth suggest it ate twigs and leaves. In the summer of 1858 while vacationing in Haddonfield, New Jersey, William Parker Foulke
discovered the world's first nearly-complete skeleton of any species of dinosaur, the Hadrosaurus (named by Joseph Leidy
), an event that would rock the scientific world and forever change our view of natural history. To this day, Haddonfield, New Jersey is considered to be "ground zero" of dinosaur paleontology.
1859 Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll, better known as Midway Island or collectively as the Midway islands, is a territory of the United States and a part of the wider United States Minor Outlying Islands
that is located in the North Pacific Ocean near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian Islands
. As a 2.4-square-mile (6.2 km²) atoll, Midway Atoll is one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii
and Tokyo, Japan, approximately 140 nautical miles (259 kilometers) east of the International Date Line
, about 2,800 nautical miles (5,200 kilometers) west of San Francisco, California
, and 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 kilometers) east of Tokyo, Japan. Midway Atoll consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef and several sand islets. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide habitat for millions of seabirds. Because of the importance of marine and biological environment, Midway Atoll is an insular area known as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge that is administered and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. Midway Atoll is perhaps best known as the site of the Battle of Midway
, fought in World War II
on June 4–6, 1942 and the decisive turning point of the Pacific War
when the United States Navy
defeated an attack by the Empire of Japan
. First known as "Middlebrooks Islands", Midway Atoll was discovered by U.S. Captain N.C. Brooks aboard his ship, Gambia, on July 8, 1859.
1859 Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly, petrolatum or soft paraffin is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties. The raw material for petroleum jelly was discovered in 1859 by Robert Chesebrough
, a chemist from New York. In 1870, this product was branded as Vaseline Petroleum Jelly.
1873 Chemical potential
1875 Red Delicious
The Red Delicious is a clone
of apple
cultigen
, now comprising more than 50 cultivars. The Red Delicious apple was disvoered in 1875 by Jesse Hiatt on his farm in Peru, Iowa. Believing that the seedling was nothing more than nuisance. After chopping down the tree three times, Hiatt decided to let the tree grow and eventually, it produced an unknown and new harvest of red apples. Hiatt would eventually sell the rights to this type of apple to the Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards
who renamed it the Red Delicious.
1877 Deimos
Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars’ two moons. It was discovered by Asaph Hall
in 1877.
1877 Phobos
Phobos is the larger and closer of Mars' two small moons. It was discovered by Asaph Hall
in 1877.
1888 Cliff Palace
The Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples
is located in Mesa Verde National Park
in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in the southwestern corner of Colorado
, in the Southwestern United States
. The ancient ruins of Cliff Palace were co-discovered during a snowstorm in December 1888 by Richard Wetherill
and Charlie Mason who were searching for stray cattle on Chapin Mesa.
1889 Torosaurus
Torosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period about 70 million years ago in what is now North America. Torosaurus had an enormous head that measured 8 feet (2.5 m) in length. Its skull is one of the largest know up to date, no other land animal has ever had a skull larger than Torosaurus. Torosaurus frill made up about one-half the total skull length. The first fossils of Torosaurus were discovered in 1889, in Wyoming by John Bell Hatcher
. The American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh
would later name the specimen Torosaurus latus, in recognition of the bull-like size of its skull and its large eyebrow horns. Ever since, the specimen has been in display at the Peabody Museum
in New Heaven, Connecticut.
1891 Thescelosaurus
Thescelosaurus was a bipedal dinosaur with a sturdy build, small wide hands, and a long pointed snout from the Late Cretaceous Period, approximately 65.5 million years ago. As a herbivore, Thescelosaurus was not a tall dinosaur and probably browsed the ground selectively to find food. Its leg structure and proportionally heavy build suggests that it was not a fast runner like other dinosaurs. Thie first fossils of Thescelosaurus were co-discovered in 1891 by John Bell Hatcher
and William H. Utterback, in Wyoming. However, this discovery remained stored until Charles W. Gilmore
named the dinosaur in 1913.
1892 Amalthea
Amalthea is the third moon of Jupiter in order of distance from the planet. It was discovered on September 9, 1892, by Edward Emerson Barnard.
1899 Phoebe
Tyrannosaurus, a bipedal carnivore, is a genus of theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex, commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the last two million years of the Cretaceous Period, 67 to 65.5 million years ago. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist prior to the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event. In 1902, the first skeleton of Tyrannosaurus was discovered in Hell Creek, Montana by American paleontologist Barnum Brown
. In 1908, Brown discovered a better preserved skeleton of Tyrannosaurus.
1908 Seyfert galaxies
Seyfert galaxies are a class of galaxies with nuclei that produce spectral line emission from highly ionized gas, named after Carl Keenan Seyfert
, the astronomer who first identified the class in 1943 although they were first discovered by Edward A. Fath in 1908 while he was at the Lick Observatory
.
1909 Burgess shale
,_sidney_stevens_walcott_(1892-1977),_and_helen_breese_walcott_(1894-1965).jpg)
The formation of Burgess shale — located in the Canadian Rockies
of British Columbia
— is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. It is (Middle Cambrian
) old, one of the earliest soft-parts fossil beds. The rock unit is a black shale
, and crops out at a number of localities near the town of Field, British Columbia
in the Yoho National Park
. The Burgess Shale was discovered by American palaeontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott
in 1909, towards the end of the season's fieldwork. He returned in 1910 with his sons, establishing a quarry on the flanks of Fossil Ridge. The significance of soft-bodied preservation, and the range of organisms he recognized as new to science, led him to return to the quarry almost every year until 1924. At this point, aged 74, he had amassed over 65,000 specimens. Describing the fossils was a vast task, pursued by Walcott until his death in 1927.
1910 Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane, normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. It is derived from other petroleum
products during oil or natural gas processing. It is commonly used as a fuel for engines, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central heating. Propane was first identified as a volatile component in gasoline by Dr. Walter O. Snelling
of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1910.
1912 Smoking-cancer link
1914 Sinope
1915 Zener diode
s
1916 Barnard's Star
1916 Covalent bond
ing
1916 Heparin
1917 Vitamin A
1923 Oviraptor
1924 Uncle Sam Diamond
1925 Cepheid variables
1927 Electron diffraction
1928 Jones Diamond
1930 Pluto
Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century but culminated at the start of the 20th century with a quest for Planet X. Percival Lowell
proposed the Planet X hypothesis to explain apparent discrepancies in the orbits of the gas giants, particularly Uranus and Neptune, speculating that the gravity of a large unseen planet could have perturbed Uranus enough to account for the irregularities. The discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh
in 1930 initially appeared to validate Lowell's hypothesis, and Pluto
was considered the ninth planet until 2006.
1931 Heavy hydrogen
Heavy hydrogen is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance in the oceans of Earth of approximately one atom in 6500 of hydrogen (~154 PPM
). It was first predicted in 1926 by Walter Russell
and later discovered in 1931 by Harold Urey
.
1931 Cosmic radio waves
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. While trying to track down a source of electrical interference on telephone transmissions, Karl Guthe Jansky
of Bell Telephone Laboratories discovered radio waves emanating from stars in outer space while investigating static that interfered with short wave transatlantic voice transmissions. Thus, the field of radio astronomy was born.
1932 Positron
s
The existence of positrons was first postulated in 1928 by Paul Dirac
as a consequence of the Dirac equation
and later discovered in 1932 by Carl D. Anderson, who gave the positron its name.
1932 Homeostasis
Homeostasis is the property of a system, either open or closed, that regulates its internal environment so as to maintain a stable, constant condition. It was first proposed and coined by Walter Bradford Cannon
, a former professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School
, and popularized it in his book The Wisdom of the Body.
1933 Heavy water
1933 Polyvinylidene chloride
1936 Elliptical galaxies
1936 Muon
s
1936 Vitamin E
1936 Sodium thiopental
1937 Niacin
1937 Electron capture
1938 Fluropolymers
1938 Animal echolocation
1938 Carme
1938 Lysithea
1940 Plutonium
1943 Streptomycin
1944 Americium
1944 Curium
1945 Promethium
1948 Warfarin
1948 Miranda
1948 Serotonin
1948 Tetracycline
1949 Nereid
1949 Berkelium
1950 Californium
1951 Barium star
s
1951 Ananke
1952 Einsteinium
1952 Rapid eye movement
1953 DNA structure
In 1953, based on X-ray diffraction images and the information that the bases were paired, James D. Watson
along with Francis Crick
co-discovered what is now widely accepted as the first accurate double-helix model of DNA structure.
1955 Mendelevium
Mendelevium is a synthetic element with the symbol Md (formerly Mv) and the atomic number 101. A metallic radioactive transuranic element of the actinides, mendelevium is usually synthesized by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles and was named after the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev
, who was responsible for the Periodic Table
. Mendelevium was co-discovered by Albert Ghiorso
, Bernard G. Harvey, Gregory R. Choppin, Stanley G. Thompson, and Glenn T. Seaborg
in 1955.
1955 Antiproton
The antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton. It was discovered by University of California, Berkeley physicists Thomas Ypsilantis
, Emilio Segrè, Clyde Wiegand
, and Owen Chamberlain
in 1955.
1956 Porous silicon
Porous silicon (pSi) is a form of the chemical element silicon which has an introduced nanoporous holes in its microstructure, rendering a large surface to volume ratio in the order of 500m2/cm3. It was first discovered by accident in 1956 at Bell Labs by Arthur Uhlir Jr. and Ingeborg Uhlir.
1956 Kaon
A kaon is any one of a group of four mesons distinguished by the fact that they carry a quantum number called strangeness. It was first discovered by Leon Lederman and a group of scientists from Columbia University at Brookhaven National Laboratory
.
1956 Antineutron
1956 Neutrino
1956 Nucleic acid hybridization
1958 Van Allen radiation belt
1959 Antiproton
1960 Seafloor spreading
1961 Eta meson
1964 Xi baryon
1964 Cosmic microwave background radiation
1964 Quark
1964 1930 Lucifer
1964 Hepatitis B virus
1965 Aspartame
1965 Pulsating white dwarves
1968 Up quark
1968 Down quark
1969 Mosher's acid
1969 Interstellar formaldehyde
1970 Reverse transcriptase
1972 Opiate receptors
1974 Australopithecus "Lucy"
Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of bone representing about 40% of the skeleton of an individual Australopithecus afarensis. Lucy is reckoned to have lived 3.2 million years ago. This hominid
was significant as the skeleton shows evidence of small skull capacity akin to that of ape
s and of bipedal upright walk akin to that of humans
, providing further evidence that bipedalism preceded increase in brain size in human evolution. While working in collaboration with a joint French-British-American team, Lucy was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia
on November 24, 1974, when American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson
, coaxed away from his paperwork by graduate student Tom Gray for a spur-of-the-moment survey, caught the glint of a white fossilized bone out of the corner of his eye, and recognized it as hominid. Later described as the first known member of Australopithecus afarensis
. Dr. Johanson's girlfriend suggested she be named "Lucy" after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
" which was played repeatedly during the night of the discovery.
1974 J/ψ mesons
The J/ψ is a subatomic particle, a flavor-neutral meson consisting of a charm quark and a charm anti-quark. Mesons formed by a bound state of a charm quark and a charm anti-quark are generally known as "charmonium". Its discovery was made independently by two research groups, one at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, headed by Burton Richter
, and one at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
, headed by Samuel Ting at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They accidentally discovered they had found the same particle, and both announced their discoveries on November 11, 1974.
1974 Charm quark
The charm quark is a second-generation quark with an electric charge of +2⁄3 e
. It is the third most massive of the quarks, at about 1.5 GeV/c2 and roughly one and a half times the mass of the proton. It was predicted in 1964 by Sheldon Lee Glashow
and James Bjorken
and first observed in November 1974, with the simultaneous discovery of the J/ψ|J/ψ meson charm particle at Stanford Linear Accererator Center by a group led by Burton Richter
and at Brookhaven National Laboratory
by a group led by Samuel C. C. Ting
.
1974 Binary pulsar
s
A binary pulsar is a pulsar with a binary companion, often another pulsar, white dwarf or neutron star. The first binary pulsar, PSR 1913+16 or the "Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar" was discovered in 1974 at Arecibo
by Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.
and Russell Hulse, for which they won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1974 Leda
1974 Seaborgium
1975 1983 Bok
1975 Themisto
1975 Amarillo Starlight
1976 D meson
s
1977 Tau lepton
1977 Rings of Uranus
The planet Uranus
has a system of rings intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn
and the simpler systems around Jupiter
and Neptune
. The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot
, Edward W. Dunham, and Douglas J. Mink
. More than 200 years ago, William Herschel
also reported observing rings, but modern astronomers are skeptical that he could actually have noticed them, as they are very dark and faint.
1977 Upsilon mesons
The upsilon meson is a flavorless meson formed from a bottom quark and its antiparticle. It was discovered by the E288 collaboration, headed by Leon Lederman, at Fermilab in 1977, and was the first particle containing a bottom quark to be discovered because it is the lightest that can be produced without additional massive particles. It has a mean lifetime of 1.21×10−20 second and a mass about 10 GeV.
1977 Bottom quark
The bottom quark is a third-generation quark with a charge of −1⁄3e
. The bottom quark was discovered by the E288 experiment at Fermilab in 1977 when collisions produced bottomonium.
1978 Restriction endonucleases
A restriction enzyme is an enzyme that cuts double-stranded or single stranded DNA at specific recognition nucleotide sequences known as restriction sites. Such enzymes, found in bacteria and archaea, are thought to have evolved to provide a defense mechanism against invading viruses. Inside a bacterial host, the restriction enzymes selectively cut up foreign DNA in a process called restriction; host DNA is methylated by a modification enzyme to protect it from the restriction enzyme’s activity. The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded, in 1978, to Daniel Nathans
, Werner Arber
, and Hamilton O. Smith
for the discovery of restriction endonucleases.
1978 Charon
1979 Metis
1979 Thebe
1979 Rings of Jupiter
1980 Oncogene
1980 Pandora
1980 Prometheus
1980 Atlas
1981 Larissa
1984 Whydah wreckage
First launched in 1715 from London, England, the Whydah was a three-masted ship of galley-style design measuring 105 feet (32 m) in length, rated at 300 tons burden, and could travel at speeds up to 14.95 mi/h. Christened Whydah after the West African slave trading kingdom of Ouidah
, the vessel was configured as a heavily-armed trading and transport ship for use in the Atlantic slave trade
, carrying goods from England to exchange for slaves in West Africa
. It would then travel to the Caribbean to trade the slaves for precious metals, sugar, indigo, and medicinal ingredients, which would then be transported back to England. Captained by the English pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy
, the Whydah, on April 26, 1717, sailed into a violent storm dangerously close to Cape Cod
and was eventually driven onto the shoals at Wellfleet, Massachusetts
. At midnight she hit a sandbar in 16 feet (4.9 m) of water some 500 feet (152.4 m) from the coast of what is now Marconi Beach. Pummelled by 70 miles (112.7 km)-an-hour winds and 30 to 40 feet (12.2 m) waves, the main mast snapped, pulling the ship into some 30 feet (9.1 m) of water where she violently capsized. After years of exhaustive searching, it was in 1984 that world headlines were made when American archeological explorer Barry Clifford
found the only solidly-identified pirate shipwreck ever discovered, the Whydah. Two-hundred thousand artifacts and sunken treasures were discovered in the shipwreck as well.
1985 Puck
Puck is an inner satellite of Uranus
. It was discovered in December 1985 by the Voyager 2
spacecraft.
1985 RMS Titanic wreckage
The RMS Titanic was an Olympic class
passenger liner owned by the White Star Line
and was built at the Harland and Wolff
shipyard in Belfast, in what is now Northern Ireland. At the time of her construction, she was the largest passenger steamship in the world. Shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912, four days into the ship's maiden voyage, Titanic struck an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on April 15, 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. After nearly 74 years of being lost at sea on the bottom of the ocean floor, a joint Franco-American expedition led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert D. Ballard
, discovered the wreckage of the RMS Titanic two miles (3 km) beneath the waves of the North Atlantic on September 1, 1985. Ballard was then forced to wait a year for weather conditions favorable to a manned mission to view the wreck at close range. In 1986, Ballard and his two-man crew, in the ALVIN
submersible, made the first two and-a-half hour descent to the ocean floor to view the wreck first-hand. Over the next few days, they descended again and again and, using the Jason Jr.
remote camera, recorded the first scenes of the ruined interior of the luxury liner.
1986 Portia
Portia is an inner satellite of Uranus
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2
on January 3, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 1.
1986 Juliet
Juliet is an inner satellite of Uranus
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2
on January 3, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 2.
1986 Cressida
Cressida is an inner satellite of Uranus
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2
on January 9, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 3.
1986 Rosalind
1986 Belinda
1986 Desdemona
1986 Cordelia
1986 Ophelia
1986 Bianca
1986 Tumor suppressor gene
1989 Rings of Neptune
1989 Proteus
1989 Despina
1989 Galatea
1989 Thalassa
1989 Naiad
1989 Bismarck wreckage
1990 Strawn-Wagner Diamond
The Strawn-Wagner Diamond is a rare 3.03 carat diamond that is certified by the American Gem Society
(AGS) as the world's most perfect diamond in terms of its cut and the highest grade possible, the "Triple Zero". The Strawn-Wagner Diamond was discovered in 1990 at the Crater of Diamonds State Park by Shirley Strawn of Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
1993 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system objects. The collision provided new information about Jupiter and highlighted its role in reducing space debris in the inner solar system. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was co-discovered photographically by the husband and wife scientific team of Carolyn S. Shoemaker
and Eugene M. Shoemaker along with Canadian-born astronomer David H. Levy
on March 24, 1993, using the 0.46-m (18-in.) Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory
in California. Its discovery was a serendipitous product of their continuing search for "near-Earth objects", and the "9" indicates that it was the ninth short-period comet (period less than 200 years) discovered by this team.
1995 Top quark
1995 Comet Hale-Bopp
1998 USS Yorktown (CV-5) wreckage
1998 Embryonic stem cell lines
2003 Sedna
2003 Psamathe
2003 Mab
2003 Perdita
2003 Cupid
2004 Orcus
2005 Makemake
2005 Eris
Eris, formal designation 136199 Eris, is the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest body known to orbit the Sun directly. It is approximately 2,500 kilometres in diameter and 27% more massive than the dwarf planet Pluto. Eris was discovered in 2005 at W. M. Keck Observatory by American astronomer Michael E. Brown
.
2005 Dysnomia
Dysnomia, officially (136199) Eris I Dysnomia, is the only known moon of the dwarf planet Eris. In conjunction of finding Eris, American astronomer Michael E. Brown
discovered Eris' satellite, Dysnomia, at W. M. Keck Observatory in 2005.
2005 Hydra
Hydra is the outer-most natural satellite of Pluto
. It was discovered along with Nix in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope's
Pluto Companion Search Team, which is composed of Hal A. Weaver, Alan Stern
, Max J. Mutchler, Andrew J. Steffl, Marc W. Buie
, William J. Merline, John R. Spencer, Eliot F. Young, and Leslie A. Young.
2005 Nix
Nix is a natural satellite of Pluto. It was discovered along with Hydra
in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope's Pluto Companion Search Team, composed of Hal A. Weaver, Alan Stern
, Max J. Mutchler, Andrew J. Steffl, Marc W. Buie
, William J. Merline, John R. Spencer, Eliot F. Young, and Leslie A. Young.
2005 KV63 at the Valley of the Kings
2007 Human genome and variation mapping
2007 Di-positronium
2010 GFAJ-1
With an emphasis of discoveries
Discovery (observation)
Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something "old" that had been unknown. With reference to science and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing new reasoning to explain the knowledge gathered through such...
in the fields of astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
, and archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, United States citizens acclaimed in their professions have contributed much. For example, the “Bone Wars
Bone Wars
The Bone Wars, also known as the "Great Dinosaur Rush", refers to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh...
,” beginning in 1877 and ending in 1892, was an intense period of rivalry between two American paleontologists, Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
and Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh was an American paleontologist. Marsh was one of the preeminent scientists in the field; the discovery or description of dozens of news species and theories on the origins of birds are among his legacies.Born into a modest family, Marsh was able to afford higher education...
, who initiated several expeditions throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the pursuit of discovering, identifying, and finding new species of dinosaur fossils
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
. In total, their large efforts resulted in 142 species of dinosaurs being discovered. With the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958, a vision and continued commitment by the United States of finding extraterrestrial and astronomical discoveries has helped the world to better understand our solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
. As one example, in 2008, the Phoenix Mars Lander discovered the presence of frozen water on the planet Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
of which scientists such as Peter H. Smith
Peter Smith (scientist)
Peter H. Smith is a Senior Research Scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona, where he holds the inaugural Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science...
of the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is a research center for planetary science located in Tucson, Arizona. It is also a graduate school, constituting the Department of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona...
(LPL) had suspected before the mission confirmed its existence.
Eighteenth century
1747 Charge conservationCharge conservation
In physics, charge conservation is the principle that electric charge can neither be created nor destroyed. The net quantity of electric charge, the amount of positive charge minus the amount of negative charge in the universe, is always conserved...
- In physics, charge conservation is the principle that electric chargeElectric chargeElectric charge is a physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when near other electrically charged matter. Electric charge comes in two types, called positive and negative. Two positively charged substances, or objects, experience a mutual repulsive force, as do two...
can neither be created nor destroyed. The quantity of electric charge, the amount of positive charge minus the amount of negative charge in the universe, is always conservedConserved quantityIn mathematics, a conserved quantity of a dynamical system is a function H of the dependent variables that is a constant along each trajectory of the system. A conserved quantity can be a useful tool for qualitative analysis...
. As part of his groundbreaking work in electricity, Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
around the year 1747 discovered the principle of charge conservation when he came to the conclusion that the two states of electricity, positive and negative, the charge is never created or destroyed but instead transferable from one place to another.
1796 Johnston Atoll
Johnston Atoll
Johnston Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about west of Hawaii. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island and East Island , an additional two...
- Johnston Atoll, a territory of the United States, a Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, and a part of the wider United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsThe United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
, is a 50-square-mile (130 km2) atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about 750 miles (1,400 kilometers) west of the U.S. state of HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island (Akau) and East Island (Hikina), an additional two artificial islands formed by coral dredging. The sovereignty of Johnston Atoll was disputed and claimed by the Kingdom of HawaiiKingdom of HawaiiThe Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
beginning in 1858 until Hawaii itself was eventually annexed by the United States as the Hawaii Territory in 1898. Johnston Atoll is now administered and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. In 1796, Johnston Atoll was discovered accidentally by U.S. Captain Joseph Pierpoint when his ship, the American brig Sally, ran aground.
1798 Tabuaeran
Tabuaeran
Tabuaeran, also known as Fanning Island or Fanning Atoll is one of the Line Islands of the central Pacific Ocean, and part of Kiribati. It is an atoll located at...
- Tabuaeran, also known as Fanning Island or Fanning Atoll (both Gilbertese and English names are recognized) is one of the Line IslandsLine IslandsThe Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands, is a chain of eleven atolls and low coral islands in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawaiian Islands, that stretches for 2,350 km in a northwest-southeast direction, making it one of the longest islands chains of the world...
located in the central Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. With a population of approximately 2,500, much of the island's economy relies upon the cruise industry. Formerly under British rule, Tabuaeran now is a part of the Republic of Kiribati. Tabuaeran was discovered on June 11, 1798 by U.S. Captain Edmund FanningEdmund FanningEdmund Fanning was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific."-Life:...
, at 3 a.m., while on a voyage to ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
aboard his ship, Betsy.
1798 Teraina
Teraina
Teraina, also known as Washington Island is a coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean and part of the Northern Line Islands which belongs to Kiribati. Obsolete names of Teraina are Prospect Island and New York Island. The island is located approximately 4.71° North latitude and 160.76° West...
- Teraina, also known as Washington Island, is an inhabited coral atoll located in the central Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
that is 282 nautical miles (522.3 km) north of the equatorEquatorAn equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
, 75 miles (120.7 km) northwest of TabuaeranTabuaeranTabuaeran, also known as Fanning Island or Fanning Atoll is one of the Line Islands of the central Pacific Ocean, and part of Kiribati. It is an atoll located at...
, 238 miles (383 km) northwest of Christmas IslandChristmas IslandThe Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
, and 120 miles (193.1 km) southeast of the U.S. territory of Palmyra AtollPalmyra AtollPalmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
. Formerly under British rule, Teraina is now a part of the Republic of Kiribati. Obsolete names of Teraina are Prospect Island and New York Island. The island consists of nine PolynesianPolynesiansThe Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
villages. Teraina was discovered by U.S. Captain Edmund FanningEdmund FanningEdmund Fanning was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific."-Life:...
, in the American ship Betsy, on June 12, 1798.
1798 Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
United States Minor Outlying Islands
The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
, is a 4.6 sq mi (11.9 km²) atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, roughly halfway between the U.S. state of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and the U.S. territory of American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
. The atoll consists of an extensive reef, two shallow lagoons, and some 50 sand and reef-rock islets and bars covered with lush, tropical vegetation. The islets of the atoll are all connected, except Sand Island and the two Home Islets in the west and Barren Island in the east. The largest island is Cooper Island in the north, followed by Kaula Island in the south. Cooper Island is privately owned by The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
and managed as a nature reserve. The rest of the atoll is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
and is directly administered by the Office of Insular Affairs
Office of Insular Affairs
The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions...
, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. Palmyra Atoll's history is long and colorful. It was first sighted on June 14, 1798, by Captain Edmund Fanning
Edmund Fanning
Edmund Fanning was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific."-Life:...
and officially discovered in 1802 by Captain Sawle of the American ship Palmyra.
1798 Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, east-west and north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at...
- Kingman Reef, a territory of the United States, a Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, and a part of the wider United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsThe United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
, is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, 9.5 nautical miles (18 kilometers) east-west and 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian IslandsHawaiian IslandsThe Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
and the U.S. territory of American SamoaAmerican SamoaAmerican Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
. It is the northernmost of the Northern Line Islands and lies 36 nautical miles (67 kilometers) northwest of the next closest island, the U.S. territory of Palmyra AtollPalmyra AtollPalmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
, and 930 nautical miles (1,720 kilometers) south of Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, HawaiiHonolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. Kingman Reef is now administered and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. First known as "Dangerous Reef", Kingman Reef was discovered on June 14, 1798 by U.S. Captain Edmund FanningEdmund FanningEdmund Fanning was an American explorer and sea captain, known as the "Pathfinder of the Pacific."-Life:...
.
Nineteenth century
1821 South Orkney IslandsSouth Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. They have a total area of about ....
- The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern OceanSouthern OceanThe Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
, about 375 miles (603.5 km) northeast of the tip of the Antarctic PeninsulaAntarctic PeninsulaThe Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica. It extends from a line between Cape Adams and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands....
. As part of the British Antarctic TerritoryBritish Antarctic TerritoryThe British Antarctic Territory is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes and , forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole...
, the islands have a total area of about 240 square miles (621.6 km²). In December 1821, Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer as commander of the James Monroe, along with British sealer George Powell, co-discovered the South Orkney Islands.
1822 Howland Island
Howland Island
Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
- Howland Island, a territory of the United States and a part of the United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsThe United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
, is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. The island lies almost halfway between the U. S state of Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbor is Baker IslandBaker IslandBaker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...
, 37 nautical miles (68 kilometers) to the south. Now known as a National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
, Howland Island is an insular areaInsular areaAn insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States...
administered and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
. First known as "Worth Island", Howland Island as it later was named, was discovered by U.S. Captain George B. Worth aboard the whaler Oena in 1822.
1825 Baker Island
Baker Island
Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...
- Baker Island, a territory of the United States and a part of the United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsThe United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
, is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
about 1,700 miles (3,100 kilometers) southwest of Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, HawaiiHonolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. The island lies almost halfway between the U.S. state of HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Its nearest neighbor is Howland IslandHowland IslandHowland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
, 37 nautical miles (68 kilometers) to the north. Now known as a National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
, Baker Island is an insular areaInsular areaAn insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States...
administered and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife ServiceUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
. According to an article in Pacfici Magazine dated in 2000, Baker island was reportedly first sighted in 1825 by U.S. Captain Obed Starbuck in the ship Lopez. The newly discovered island was named New Nantucket (and also as Phoebe). It was in 1832 that U.S. Captain Michael Baker, after whom the island is now named, also came to the island aboard the whaler Gideon Howard.
1831 Chloroform
Chloroform
Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes. The colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous...
- Chloroform is a chemical compound known as trihalomethanes that does not undergo combustion in air, although it will burn when mixed with more flammable substances. Chloroform was first discovered in July 1831 by American physician Samuel GuthrieSamuel Guthrie (United States physician)Samuel Guthrie was an American physician from Hounsfield, New York. He invented a form of percussion powder and also the punch lock for igniting it, which made the flintlock musket obsolete...
, independently a few months later by French chemist Eugène SoubeiranEugène SoubeiranEugène Soubeiran was a French scientist who served as chief pharmacist at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. He was one of three researchers who discovered chloroform independently of one another...
and then by German chemist Justus von LiebigJustus von LiebigJustus von Liebig was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. As a professor, he devised the modern laboratory-oriented teaching method, and for such innovations, he is regarded as one of the...
.
1858 Hadrosaurus foulki
Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus is a valid genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. In 1858, a skeleton of a dinosaur from this genus was the first dinosaur skeleton known from more than isolated teeth to be found in North America. In 1868, it became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton...
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
, around 80 million years ago. It was likely bipedal for the purposes of running, but could use its forelegs to support itself while grazing. Like all hadrosaurids, Hadrosaurus was herbivorous. Its teeth suggest it ate twigs and leaves. In the summer of 1858 while vacationing in Haddonfield, New Jersey, William Parker Foulke
William Parker Foulke
William Parker Foulke discovered the first full dinosaur skeleton in North America in Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1858....
discovered the world's first nearly-complete skeleton of any species of dinosaur, the Hadrosaurus (named by Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy was an American paleontologist.Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore College. His book Extinct Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska contained many species not previously described and many previously...
), an event that would rock the scientific world and forever change our view of natural history. To this day, Haddonfield, New Jersey is considered to be "ground zero" of dinosaur paleontology.
1859 Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
Midway Atoll, better known as Midway Island or collectively as the Midway islands, is a territory of the United States and a part of the wider United States Minor Outlying Islands
United States Minor Outlying Islands
The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
that is located in the North Pacific Ocean near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. As a 2.4-square-mile (6.2 km²) atoll, Midway Atoll is one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
and Tokyo, Japan, approximately 140 nautical miles (259 kilometers) east of the International Date Line
International Date Line
The International Date Line is a generally north-south imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, passing through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that designates the place where each calendar day begins...
, about 2,800 nautical miles (5,200 kilometers) west of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, and 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 kilometers) east of Tokyo, Japan. Midway Atoll consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef and several sand islets. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide habitat for millions of seabirds. Because of the importance of marine and biological environment, Midway Atoll is an insular area known as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge that is administered and managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. Midway Atoll is perhaps best known as the site of the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
, fought in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
on June 4–6, 1942 and the decisive turning point of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
when the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
defeated an attack by the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. First known as "Middlebrooks Islands", Midway Atoll was discovered by U.S. Captain N.C. Brooks aboard his ship, Gambia, on July 8, 1859.
1859 Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...
Petroleum jelly, petrolatum or soft paraffin is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties. The raw material for petroleum jelly was discovered in 1859 by Robert Chesebrough
Robert Chesebrough
Sir Robert Augustus Chesebrough, was a chemist and the inventor of petroleum jelly, which he trade-named as Vaseline. In 1875 he founded the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company that in 1955 became Chesebrough-Ponds, a leading manufacturer of personal care products. Chesebrough patented the process...
, a chemist from New York. In 1870, this product was branded as Vaseline Petroleum Jelly.
1873 Chemical potential
Chemical potential
Chemical potential, symbolized by μ, is a measure first described by the American engineer, chemist and mathematical physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs. It is the potential that a substance has to produce in order to alter a system...
- In thermodynamics, physics, and chemistry, chemical potential, symbolized by μ, is a term introduced by the American engineer, chemist, and mathematical physicist Josiah Gibbs in his 1873 paper A Method of Geometrical Representation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Substances by Means of Surfaces.
1875 Red Delicious
Red Delicious
The Red Delicious is a clone of apple cultigen, now comprising more than 50 cultivars, that was recognized in Madison County, Iowa, United States, in 1880...
The Red Delicious is a clone
Clone
-Biological:* Clone—In biology and agriculture, any organism whose genetic information is identical to that of a parent organism from which it was created; natural reproductive processes producing clones include parthenogenesis and apomixis...
of apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
cultigen
Cultigen
A cultigen is a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans; it is the result of artificial selection. These "man-made" or anthropogenic plants are, for the most part, plants of commerce that are used in horticulture, agriculture and forestry...
, now comprising more than 50 cultivars. The Red Delicious apple was disvoered in 1875 by Jesse Hiatt on his farm in Peru, Iowa. Believing that the seedling was nothing more than nuisance. After chopping down the tree three times, Hiatt decided to let the tree grow and eventually, it produced an unknown and new harvest of red apples. Hiatt would eventually sell the rights to this type of apple to the Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards
Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards
Stark Brothers Nurseries were the marketers of the Red Delicious and the Golden Delicious apple.-History:In 1816, James Hart Stark moved from Kentucky to Louisiana, Missouri. He brought with him a bundle of apple scions. From his bundle he started a nursery business...
who renamed it the Red Delicious.
1877 Deimos
Deimos (moon)
Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars's two moons . It is named after Deimos, a figure representing dread in Greek Mythology. Its systematic designation is '.-Discovery:Deimos was discovered by Asaph Hall, Sr...
Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars’ two moons. It was discovered by Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall III was an American astronomer who is most famous for having discovered the moons of Mars in 1877...
in 1877.
1877 Phobos
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
Phobos is the larger and closer of Mars' two small moons. It was discovered by Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall III was an American astronomer who is most famous for having discovered the moons of Mars in 1877...
in 1877.
1888 Cliff Palace
Cliff Palace
The Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples is located in Mesa Verde National Park in their former homeland region...
The Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The structure built by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
is located in Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
in their former homeland region. The cliff dwelling and park are in the southwestern corner of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, in the Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. The ancient ruins of Cliff Palace were co-discovered during a snowstorm in December 1888 by Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill , a member of a prominent Colorado ranching family, was an amateur explorer in the discovery, research and excavation of sites associated with the Ancient Pueblo People...
and Charlie Mason who were searching for stray cattle on Chapin Mesa.
1889 Torosaurus
Torosaurus
Torosaurus is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period , between 70 and 65 million years ago. It possessed one of the largest skulls of any known land animal. The frilled skull reached in length...
Torosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period about 70 million years ago in what is now North America. Torosaurus had an enormous head that measured 8 feet (2.5 m) in length. Its skull is one of the largest know up to date, no other land animal has ever had a skull larger than Torosaurus. Torosaurus frill made up about one-half the total skull length. The first fossils of Torosaurus were discovered in 1889, in Wyoming by John Bell Hatcher
John Bell Hatcher
John Bell Hatcher was an American paleontologist and fossil hunter best known for discovering Torosaurus.-Biography:...
. The American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh was an American paleontologist. Marsh was one of the preeminent scientists in the field; the discovery or description of dozens of news species and theories on the origins of birds are among his legacies.Born into a modest family, Marsh was able to afford higher education...
would later name the specimen Torosaurus latus, in recognition of the bull-like size of its skull and its large eyebrow horns. Ever since, the specimen has been in display at the Peabody Museum
Peabody Museum
The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh, the early paleontologist...
in New Heaven, Connecticut.
1891 Thescelosaurus
Thescelosaurus
Thescelosaurus was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur that appeared at the very end of the Late Cretaceous period in North America. It was a member of the last dinosaurian fauna before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event around 65.5 million years ago...
John Bell Hatcher
John Bell Hatcher was an American paleontologist and fossil hunter best known for discovering Torosaurus.-Biography:...
and William H. Utterback, in Wyoming. However, this discovery remained stored until Charles W. Gilmore
Charles W. Gilmore
Charles Whitney Gilmore was an American paleontologist, who named dinosaurs in North America and Mongolia, including the Cretaceous sauropod Alamosaurus, Alectrosaurus, Archaeornithomimus, Bactrosaurus, Brachyceratops, Chirostenotes, Mongolosaurus, Parrosaurus, Pinacosaurus, Styracosaurus and...
named the dinosaur in 1913.
1892 Amalthea
Amalthea (moon)
Amalthea is the third moon of Jupiter in order of distance from the planet. It was discovered on September 9, 1892, by Edward Emerson Barnard and named after Amalthea, a nymph in Greek mythology. It is also known as '....
Amalthea is the third moon of Jupiter in order of distance from the planet. It was discovered on September 9, 1892, by Edward Emerson Barnard.
1899 Phoebe
Phoebe (moon)
Phoebe is an irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by William Henry Pickering on 17 March 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken starting on 16 August 1898 at the Boyden Observatory near Arequipa, Peru, by DeLisle Stewart...
- Phoebe is an irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by William Henry PickeringWilliam Henry PickeringWilliam Henry Pickering was an American astronomer, brother of Edward Charles Pickering. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883.-Work:...
on March 17, 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken starting on August 16, 1898 at Arequipa, Peru by DeLisle StewartDeLisle StewartDeLisle Stewart was an American astronomer.In 1896 he became a staff member of Harvard College Observatory, and from 1898 to 1901 he worked at that observatory's station at Arequipa, Peru, where he took the photographic plates that William Henry Pickering used to discover Saturn's moon Phoebe...
.
Twentieth century
1902 TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
Barnum Brown
Barnum Brown , a paleontologist born in Carbondale, Kansas, and named after the circus showman P.T. Barnum, discovered the second fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex during a career that made him one of the most famous fossil hunters working from the late Victorian era into the early 20th century.Sponsored...
. In 1908, Brown discovered a better preserved skeleton of Tyrannosaurus.
1908 Seyfert galaxies
Seyfert galaxy
Seyfert galaxies are a class of galaxies with nuclei that produce spectral line emission from highly ionized gas, named after Carl Keenan Seyfert, the astronomer who first identified the class in 1943...
Seyfert galaxies are a class of galaxies with nuclei that produce spectral line emission from highly ionized gas, named after Carl Keenan Seyfert
Carl Keenan Seyfert
Carl Keenan Seyfert was an American astronomer.He is best known for his 1943 research paper on high-excitation line emission from the centers of some spiral galaxies, which are named Seyfert galaxies after him...
, the astronomer who first identified the class in 1943 although they were first discovered by Edward A. Fath in 1908 while he was at the Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
.
1909 Burgess shale
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
— is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. It is (Middle Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
) old, one of the earliest soft-parts fossil beds. The rock unit is a black shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
, and crops out at a number of localities near the town of Field, British Columbia
Field, British Columbia
Field is an unincorporated settlement of approximately 300 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia,Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park....
in the Yoho National Park
Yoho National Park
Yoho National Park is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide in southeastern British Columbia. Yoho NP is bordered by Kootenay National Park on the southern side and Banff National Park on the eastern side...
. The Burgess Shale was discovered by American palaeontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott
Charles Doolittle Walcott
Charles Doolittle Walcott was an American invertebrate paleontologist. He became known for his discovery in 1909 of well-preserved fossils in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada.-Early life:...
in 1909, towards the end of the season's fieldwork. He returned in 1910 with his sons, establishing a quarry on the flanks of Fossil Ridge. The significance of soft-bodied preservation, and the range of organisms he recognized as new to science, led him to return to the quarry almost every year until 1924. At this point, aged 74, he had amassed over 65,000 specimens. Describing the fossils was a vast task, pursued by Walcott until his death in 1927.
1910 Propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
Propane is a three-carbon alkane, normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. It is derived from other petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
products during oil or natural gas processing. It is commonly used as a fuel for engines, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central heating. Propane was first identified as a volatile component in gasoline by Dr. Walter O. Snelling
Walter O. Snelling
Walter Otheman Snelling was a chemist and explosives expert who discovered propane and was a pioneer in the development of liquefied petroleum gas. He is often referred to as the founder of the LPG industry....
of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1910.
1912 Smoking-cancer link
- Dr. Isaac Adler was the first to strongly suggest that lung cancer is related to smoking in 1912.
1914 Sinope
Sinope (moon)
Sinope is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Lick Observatory in 1914, and is named after Sinope of Greek mythology....
- Sinope is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter discovered by Seth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer.Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois and was raised in rural Illinois...
at Lick ObservatoryLick ObservatoryThe Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
in 1914.
1915 Zener diode
Zener diode
A Zener diode is a special kind of diode which allows current to flow in the forward direction in the same manner as an ideal diode, but will also permit it to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain value known as the breakdown voltage, "Zener knee voltage" or "Zener...
s
- A Zener diode is a type of diode that permits current in the forward direction like a normal diode, but also in the reverse direction if the voltage is larger than the breakdown voltageBreakdown voltageThe breakdown voltage of an insulator is the minimum voltage that causes a portion of an insulator to become electrically conductive.The breakdown voltage of a diode is the minimum reverse voltage to make the diode conduct in reverse...
known as "Zener knee voltage" or "Zener voltage". The device was named after Clarence ZenerClarence ZenerClarence Melvin Zener was the American physicist who first described the property concerning the breakdown of electrical insulators. These findings were later exploited by Bell Labs in the development of the Zener diode, which was duly named after him...
, who discovered this electrical property.
1916 Barnard's Star
Barnard's star
Barnard's Star, also known occasionally as Barnard's "Runaway" Star, is a very low-mass red dwarf star approximately six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus . In 1916, the American astronomer E.E...
- Barnard's Star is a very low-mass red dwarf star. At a distance of about 1.8 parsecs from the Solar SystemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, or just under six light-years, Barnard's Star is the nearest known star in the constellation OphiuchusOphiuchusOphiuchus is a large constellation located around the celestial equator. Its name is from the Greek "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping the snake that is represented by the constellation Serpens. Ophiuchus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century...
, and the fourth-closest known individual star to the Sun, after the three components of the Alpha CentauriAlpha CentauriAlpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
system. In 1916, Barnard's Star was discovered by American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard, whom the star was named after.
1916 Covalent bond
Covalent bond
A covalent bond is a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms when they share electrons is known as covalent bonding....
ing
- The idea of covalent bonding can be traced several years to Gilbert N. LewisGilbert N. LewisGilbert Newton Lewis was an American physical chemist known for the discovery of the covalent bond , his purification of heavy water, his reformulation of chemical thermodynamics in a mathematically rigorous manner accessible to ordinary chemists, his theory of Lewis acids and...
, who in 1916 described the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. He introduced the so called Lewis notationLewis structureLewis structures are diagrams that show the bonding between atoms of a molecule and the lone pairs of electrons that may exist in the molecule. A Lewis structure can be drawn for any covalently bonded molecule, as well as coordination compounds...
or electron dot notation or The Lewis Dot Structure in which valence electrons are represented as dots around the atomic symbols.
1916 Heparin
Heparin
Heparin , also known as unfractionated heparin, a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan, is widely used as an injectable anticoagulant, and has the highest negative charge density of any known biological molecule...
- Heparin, a highly-sulfated glycosaminoglycan, is widely used as an injectable anticoagulant and has the highest negative charge density of any known biological molecule. It can also be used to form an inner anticoagulant surface on various experimental and medical devices such as test tubes and renal dialysis machines. It was discovered by Jay McLean and William Henry HowellWilliam Henry HowellWilliam Henry Howell, Ph.D., M.D., LL.D., Sc.D. was an American physiologist. He pioneered the use of heparin as a blood anti-coagulant....
in 1916.
1917 Vitamin A
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...
- Vitamin A, a bi-polar molecule formed with bi-polar covalent bonds between carbon and hydrogen, is linked to a family of similarly shaped molecules, the retinoids, which complete the remainder of the vitamin sequence. Its important part is the retinyl group, which can be found in several forms. In foods of animal origin, the major form of vitamin A is an ester, primarily retinyl palmitate, which is converted to an alcohol in the small intestine. Vitamin A can also exist as an aldehyde, or as an acid. The discovery of vitamin A stemmed from research dating back to 1906, indicating that factors other than carbohydrates, proteins, and fats were necessary to keep cattle healthy. By 1917 one of these substances was independently discovered by Elmer McCollumElmer McCollumElmer Verner McCollum was an American biochemist known for his work on the influence of diet on health.-Life and education:McCollum was born on a farm near Fort Scott, Kansas, where he spent his first seventeen years...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Lafayette MendelLafayette MendelLafayette Benedict Mendel was an American biochemist known for his work in nutrition including the study of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, lysine and tryptophan....
and Thomas Osborne at Yale University.
1923 Oviraptor
Oviraptor
Oviraptor is a genus of small Mongolian theropod dinosaur, first discovered by the paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, and first described by Henry Fairfield Osborn, in 1924...
- Oviraptor is a genus of small Mongolian theropod dinosaur that lived during the late Campanian stage about 75 million years ago. In 1923, Roy Chapman AndrewsRoy Chapman AndrewsRoy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the fragmented China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia...
discovered the first and so far the only fossils of Oviraptor to ever be found at the Djadochta FormationDjadochta FormationThe Djadochta Formation is situated in central Asia and dates from the Late Cretaceous Period. Laid down in the early Campanian, possibly starting in the latest Santonian, it is dated somewhat uncertainly at about 84-75 mya...
in Inner MongoliaInner MongoliaInner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
. This species of dinosaur was named and described by Henry Fairfield OsbornHenry Fairfield OsbornHenry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. ForMemRS was an American geologist, paleontologist, and eugenicist.-Early life and career:...
in 1924.
1924 Uncle Sam Diamond
Uncle Sam (diamond)
Uncle Sam is the nickname for the largest diamond ever discovered in the United States. It was found in 1924 in Murfreesboro, Arkansas at the Prairie Creek pipe mine, which later became known as the Crater of Diamonds State Park...
- Uncle Sam is a 40.23-carat white diamond, the largest diamond ever found in North America. Discovered in 1924 at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, the diamond was named after its discoverer, Wesley Oley Basham, who went by the nickname "Uncle Sam". Over the years, the Uncle Sam diamond was cut twice with the second cutting resulting in a 12.42-carat, emerald-cut gem.
1925 Cepheid variables
Extragalactic astronomy
Extragalactic astronomy is the branch of astronomy concerned with objects outside our own Milky Way Galaxy. In other words, it is the study of all astronomical objects which are not covered by galactic astronomy, the next level of galactic astronomy....
- Extragalactic astronomy is the branch of astronomy concerned with objects outside the Milky Way Galaxy. In other words, it is the study of all astronomical objects which are not covered by galactic astronomy. It was started by Edwin HubbleEdwin HubbleEdwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer who profoundly changed the understanding of the universe by confirming the existence of galaxies other than the Milky Way - our own galaxy...
when, in 1925, he discovered the existence of Cepheid variableCepheid variableA Cepheid is a member of a class of very luminous variable stars. The strong direct relationship between a Cepheid variable's luminosity and pulsation period, secures for Cepheids their status as important standard candles for establishing the Galactic and extragalactic distance scales.Cepheid...
s in the Andromeda Galaxy. This discovery proved the existence of a galaxy over one million light-years away and thus extragalactic astronomy was created.
1927 Electron diffraction
Electron diffraction
Electron diffraction refers to the wave nature of electrons. However, from a technical or practical point of view, it may be regarded as a technique used to study matter by firing electrons at a sample and observing the resulting interference pattern...
- Electron diffraction is a collective scattering phenomenon with electrons being scattered by atoms in a regular crystal array. This can be understood in analogy to the Huygens principle for the diffraction of light. The incoming plane electron wave interacts with the atoms, and secondary waves are generated which interfere with each other. In 1927, two Americans named Clinton DavissonClinton DavissonClinton Joseph Davisson , was an American physicist who won the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of electron diffraction. Davisson shared the Nobel Prize with George Paget Thomson, who independently discovered electron diffraction at about the same time as Davisson.-Early...
and Lester GermerLester GermerLester Halbert Germer was an American physicist. With Clinton Davisson, he proved the wave-particle duality of matter in the Davisson–Germer experiment, which was important to the development of the electron microscope. These studies supported the theoretical work of De Broglie. He also studied...
had proven de Broglie's theory by discovering electron diffraction. This confirmation of the wavelike nature of an electron was discovered independently of Englishman George Paget ThomsonGeorge Paget ThomsonSir George Paget Thomson, FRS was an English physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognised for his discovery with Clinton Davisson of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction.-Biography:...
.
1928 Jones Diamond
Jones Diamond
The “Jones Diamond,” also known as the “Punch Jones Diamond,” "The Grover Jones Diamond," or "The Horseshoe Diamond," was an 34.48 carat alluvial diamond found in Peterstown, West Virginia by members of the Jones family...
- The Jones Diamond is a bluish-white diamond weighing 34.48 carats (6.896 g), measuring 5/8 of an inch (15.8 mm) across, and possessing 12 diamond-shaped faces. It is considered to be the largest alluvial diamond from North America. The Jones Diamond was discovered by William P. "Punch" Jones and his father Grover while pitching horseshoes in 1928. They thought the stone was a piece of quartz which was common in the area. Keeping it in a cigar box in their tool shed for 14 years, the Jones's sent the gem to the geology department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1942 where they were informed that it was an alluvial diamond and not a quartz crytal. The diamond was then sent to the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington D.C. for safekeeping until 1964, when it returned to the Jones family who kept it for another 20 years in a safe deposit box at their local bank in Virginia. In 1984, the Jones family finally sold the diamond at Sotheby'sSotheby'sSotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
auction in New York City to a private collector of jewelry.
1930 Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
Percival Lowell
Percival Lawrence Lowell was a businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death...
proposed the Planet X hypothesis to explain apparent discrepancies in the orbits of the gas giants, particularly Uranus and Neptune, speculating that the gravity of a large unseen planet could have perturbed Uranus enough to account for the irregularities. The discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh
Clyde Tombaugh
Clyde William Tombaugh was an American astronomer. Although he is best known for discovering the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930, the first object to be discovered in what would later be identified as the Kuiper Belt, Tombaugh also discovered many asteroids; he also called for serious scientific...
in 1930 initially appeared to validate Lowell's hypothesis, and Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
was considered the ninth planet until 2006.
1931 Heavy hydrogen
Heavy hydrogen is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance in the oceans of Earth of approximately one atom in 6500 of hydrogen (~154 PPM
Parts-per notation
In science and engineering, the parts-per notation is a set of pseudo units to describe small values of miscellaneous dimensionless quantities, e.g. mole fraction or mass fraction. Since these fractions are quantity-per-quantity measures, they are pure numbers with no associated units of measurement...
). It was first predicted in 1926 by Walter Russell
Walter Russell
Walter Bowman Russell was an American artist and mystic known for his achievements as a painter, sculptor, author and builder and less well known as a natural philosopher and for his unified theory in physics and cosmogony. He posited that the universe was founded on a unifying principle of...
and later discovered in 1931 by Harold Urey
Harold Urey
Harold Clayton Urey was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934...
.
1931 Cosmic radio waves
Radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jansky observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of...
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. While trying to track down a source of electrical interference on telephone transmissions, Karl Guthe Jansky
Karl Guthe Jansky
Karl Guthe Jansky was an American physicist and radio engineer who in August 1931 first discovered radio waves emanating from the Milky Way. He is considered one of the founding figures of radio astronomy.- Early life :...
of Bell Telephone Laboratories discovered radio waves emanating from stars in outer space while investigating static that interfered with short wave transatlantic voice transmissions. Thus, the field of radio astronomy was born.
1932 Positron
Positron
The positron or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron. The positron has an electric charge of +1e, a spin of ½, and has the same mass as an electron...
s
The existence of positrons was first postulated in 1928 by Paul Dirac
Paul Dirac
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics...
as a consequence of the Dirac equation
Dirac equation
The Dirac equation is a relativistic quantum mechanical wave equation formulated by British physicist Paul Dirac in 1928. It provided a description of elementary spin-½ particles, such as electrons, consistent with both the principles of quantum mechanics and the theory of special relativity, and...
and later discovered in 1932 by Carl D. Anderson, who gave the positron its name.
1932 Homeostasis
Homeostasis
Homeostasis is the property of a system that regulates its internal environment and tends to maintain a stable, constant condition of properties like temperature or pH...
Homeostasis is the property of a system, either open or closed, that regulates its internal environment so as to maintain a stable, constant condition. It was first proposed and coined by Walter Bradford Cannon
Walter Bradford Cannon
Walter Bradford Cannon, M.D. was an American physiologist, professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School. He coined the term fight or flight response, and he expanded on Claude Bernard's concept of homeostasis...
, a former professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, and popularized it in his book The Wisdom of the Body.
1933 Heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
- Harold UreyHarold UreyHarold Clayton Urey was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934...
discovered the isotope deuterium in 1931 and was later able to concentrate it in water. Urey's mentor Gilbert Newton Lewis isolated the first sample of pure heavy water by electrolysis in 1933.
1933 Polyvinylidene chloride
Polyvinylidene chloride
Polyvinylidene chloride is a polymer derived from vinylidene chloride.-History:Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker, accidentally discovered polyvinylidene chloride in 1933. While cleaning laboratory glassware, he came across a vial he could not scrub clean...
- Polyvinylidene chloride is a polymer derived from vinylidene chloride. Its use can be found in water-based coating, the production of household items and industrial products. Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker, accidentally discovered polyvinylidene chloride in 1933.
1936 Elliptical galaxies
Elliptical galaxy
An elliptical galaxy is a galaxy having an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless brightness profile. They range in shape from nearly spherical to highly flat and in size from hundreds of millions to over one trillion stars...
- An elliptical galaxy is a galaxy having an approximately elliptical shape and a smooth, nearly featureless brightness profile. They range in shape from nearly spherical to highly flattened and in size from hundreds of millions to over one trillion starStarA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s. It was originally described by Edwin HubbleEdwin HubbleEdwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer who profoundly changed the understanding of the universe by confirming the existence of galaxies other than the Milky Way - our own galaxy...
in his 1936 work “The Realm of the Nebulae”
1936 Muon
Muon
The muon |mu]] used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with a unitary negative electric charge and a spin of ½. Together with the electron, the tau, and the three neutrinos, it is classified as a lepton...
s
- The muon is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with negative electric charge and a spin of 1⁄2. It was discovered by Carl D. Anderson and Seth Henry Neddermeyer in 1936 while they studied cosmic radiation.
1936 Vitamin E
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is used to refer to a group of fat-soluble compounds that include both tocopherols and tocotrienols. There are many different forms of vitamin E, of which γ-tocopherol is the most common in the North American diet. γ-Tocopherol can be found in corn oil, soybean oil, margarine and dressings...
- Tocopherol, a class of chemical compounds of which many have vitamin E activity, describes a series of organic compounds consisting of various methylated phenols. During feeding experiments with rats Herbert McLean EvansHerbert McLean EvansHerbert McLean Evans was a U.S. anatomist and embryologist.He was born in Modesto, California. In 1908, he obtained his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, eventually becoming its associate professor of anatomy...
concluded in 1922 that besides vitamins B and C, an unknown vitamin existed. Although every other nutrition was present, the rats were not fertile. This condition could be changed by additional feeding with wheat germ. It took several years until 1936 when the substance was isolated from wheat germ and the formula C29H50O2 was determined by Herbert McLean Evans and K.S. Bishop. The structure was determined shortly thereafter in 1938.
1936 Sodium thiopental
Sodium thiopental
Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal , thiopental, thiopentone sodium, or Trapanal , is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anaesthetic...
- Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal, thiopentone sodium, or trapanal, is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate. It was discovered in the early 1936 by Ernest H. VolwilerErnest H. VolwilerErnest Henry Volwiler spent his entire career at Abbott Laboratories working his way from staff chemist to CEO....
and Donalee L. Tabern while working for Abbott Laboratories.
1937 Niacin
Niacin
"Niacin" redirects here. For the neo-fusion band, see Niacin .Niacin is an organic compound with the formula and, depending on the definition used, one of the forty to eighty essential human nutrients.Niacin is one of five vitamins associated with a pandemic deficiency disease: niacin deficiency...
- Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin which prevents the deficiency disease pellagra. Niacin was extracted from livers by Conrad ElvehjemConrad ElvehjemConrad A. Elvehjem, , was internationally known as a biochemist in nutrition. In 1937 he identified a molecule found in fresh meat and yeast as a new vitamin, nicotinic acid, now called niacin...
who later discovered the active ingredient, then referred to as the "pellagra-preventing factor" and the "anti-blacktongue factor."
1937 Electron capture
Electron capture
Electron capture is a process in which a proton-rich nuclide absorbs an inner atomic electron and simultaneously emits a neutrino...
- Electron capture is a decay mode for isotopes that will occur when there are too many protons in the nucleus of an atom and insufficient energy to emit a positron. However, it continues to be a viable decay mode for radioactive isotopes that can decay by positron emission. K-electron capture was discovered by Luis AlvarezLuis AlvarezLuis W. Alvarez was an American experimental physicist and inventor, who spent nearly all of his long professional career on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley...
, who demonstrated it in 1937 and reported it in The Physical Review in April 1938.
1938 Fluropolymers
Fluoropolymer
A fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon based polymer with multiple strong carbon–fluorine bonds. It is characterized by a high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases.-History:Fluoropolymers were accidentally discovered in 1938 by Dr. Roy J...
- A fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon based polymer with multiple strong carbon–fluorine bondCarbon–fluorine bondThe carbon–fluorine bond is a bond between carbon and fluorine that is a component of all organofluorine compounds. It is the strongest single bond in organic chemistry—and relatively short—due to its partial ionic character. The bond also strengthens and shortens as more fluorines are...
s. It is characterized by a high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases. Fluoropolymers were discovered in 1938 by Dr. Roy Plunkett when he accidentally polymerized tetrafluoroethylene to form polytetrafluoroethylene.
1938 Animal echolocation
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...
- Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several animals such as dolphins, shrews, bats, and whales. The term was coined by Donald Griffin and Robert Galambos, who discovered its use by bats in 1938.
1938 Carme
Carme (moon)
Carme is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Mount Wilson Observatory in California in July 1938. It is named after the mythological Carme, mother by Zeus of Britomartis, a Cretan goddess....
- Carme is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer.Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois and was raised in rural Illinois...
at Mount Wilson ObservatoryMount Wilson ObservatoryThe Mount Wilson Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a 5,715 foot peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles...
in California in July 1938.
1938 Lysithea
Lysithea (moon)
Lysithea is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson in 1938 at Mount Wilson Observatory and is named after the mythological Lysithea, daughter of Oceanus and one of Zeus' lovers....
- Lysithea is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer.Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois and was raised in rural Illinois...
in 1938 at Mount Wilson ObservatoryMount Wilson ObservatoryThe Mount Wilson Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a 5,715 foot peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles...
.
1940 Plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
- Plutonium is a synthetic transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-white appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. Plutonium was co-discovered by Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
, A.C. Wahl, and J.W. Kennedy in 1940.
1943 Streptomycin
Streptomycin
Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis. It is derived from the actinobacterium Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin is a bactericidal antibiotic. Streptomycin cannot be given...
- Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis. Streptomycin cannot be given orally as it must be administered by regular intramuscular injection. In 1943, Albert SchatzAlbert Schatz (scientist)Albert Schatz was the co-discoverer of streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy used to treat tuberculosis and a number of other diseases...
discovered Streptomycin.
1944 Americium
Americium
Americium is a synthetic element that has the symbol Am and atomic number 95. This transuranic element of the actinide series is located in the periodic table below the lanthanide element europium, and thus by analogy was named after another continent, America.Americium was first produced in 1944...
- Americium is a synthetic element that has the symbol Am and atomic number 95. A radioactive metallic element, americium is an actinide that is used in commercial ionization chamber smoke detectors, as well as in neutron sources and industrial gauges. Americium was co-discovered by Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
, Ralph James, L. Morgan, and Albert Ghiorso during their work on the Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
in 1944.
1944 Curium
Curium
Curium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Cm and atomic number 96. This radioactive transuranic element of the actinide series was named after Marie Skłodowska-Curie and her husband Pierre Curie. Curium was first intentionally produced and identified in summer 1944 by the group of...
- Curium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Cm and atomic number 96. A radioactive metallic transuranic element of the actinide series, curium is produced by bombarding plutonium with alpha particles (helium ions) and was named after Marie CurieMarie CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
and her husband Pierre CuriePierre CuriePierre Curie was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity, and Nobel laureate. He was the son of Dr. Eugène Curie and Sophie-Claire Depouilly Curie ...
. Curium was co-discovered by Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
, Ralph A. James, and Albert GhiorsoAlbert GhiorsoAlbert Ghiorso was an American nuclear scientist and co-discoverer of a record 12 chemical elements on the periodic table. His research career spanned five decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1990s.-Early life:...
at the University of California at Bekeley in 1944.
1945 Promethium
Promethium
Promethium is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. It is notable for being the only exclusively radioactive element besides technetium that is followed by chemical elements with stable isotopes.- Prediction :...
- Promethium is a chemical element whose existence was first predicted by Bohuslav BraunerBohuslav BraunerBohuslav Brauner was a Czech chemist.Brauner was a student of Robert Bunsen at the University of Heidelberg and later of Henry Roscoe at the University of Manchester. Brauner became lecturer for chemistry at the University of Prague in 1883 and professor in 1890...
in 1902. It was first discovered and proven to exist at Oak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
(ORNL) in 1945 by Jacob A. MarinskyJacob A. MarinskyJacob Akiba Marinsky was a chemist who was the co-discoverer of the element promethium.Marinsky was born in Buffalo, New York, and attended the University at Buffalo, entering at age 16 and receiving a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1939.During World War II he was employed as a chemist for the...
, Lawrence E. GlendeninLawrence E. GlendeninLawrence Elgin Glendenin was an American chemist who co-discovered the element promethium.- Biography :Glendenin was born in Bay City, Michigan on November 8, 1918...
, and Charles D. CoryellCharles D. CoryellCharles DuBois Coryell was an American chemist who was one of the discoverers of the element promethium....
by separation and analysis of the fission products of uranium fuel irradiated in the Graphite Reactor.
1948 Warfarin
Warfarin
Warfarin is an anticoagulant. It is most likely to be the drug popularly referred to as a "blood thinner," yet this is a misnomer, since it does not affect the thickness or viscosity of blood...
- Warfarin is an anticoagulant and pesticide. It was initially used as a pesticide but was later found to be effective and relatively safe for preventing thrombosis and embolism in many disorders and is currently the most widely used anticoagulant worldwide. It was discovered by Karl Paul LinkKarl Paul LinkKarl Paul Gerhard Link was an American biochemist best known for his discovery of the anticoagulant warfarin.-Training and early career:...
and chemists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
1948 Miranda
Miranda (moon)
-External links:* at * at The Nine8 Planets* at Views of the Solar System* * from the...
- Miranda is the smallest and innermost of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
' five major moons. It was discovered by Gerard KuiperGerard KuiperGerard Peter Kuiper , Netherlands – December 24, 1973, Mexico City) was a Dutch-American astronomer after whom the Kuiper belt was named.-Early life:...
on February 2, 1948 at McDonald ObservatoryMcDonald ObservatoryThe McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near the unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Fowlkes and Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas...
.
1948 Serotonin
Serotonin
Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...
- Seratonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter synthesized in serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) and enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal tract of animals including humans. It was isolated and named in 1948 by Maurice M. Rapport, Arda Green, and Irvine PageIrvine PageIrvine Heinly Page was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and was an American physiologist who played an important part in the field of hypertension for almost 60 years....
of the Cleveland ClinicCleveland ClinicThe Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
.
1948 Tetracycline
- Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum polyketide antibiotic indicated for use against many bacterial infections. It is commonly used to treat acne today, and played a historical role in stamping out cholera in the developed world. It was discovered by Benjamin Minge DuggarBenjamin Minge DuggarBenjamin Minge Duggar was an American plant physiologist, born at Gallion, Hale County, Alabama. He studied at several Southern schools, including Alabama Polytechnic Institute , and at Harvard, Cornell , and in Germany, Italy, and France...
in 1948.
1949 Nereid
Nereid (moon)
Nereid , also known as Neptune II, is the third-largest moon of Neptune. It has a highly eccentric orbit. Nereid was discovered by Gerard Kuiper in 1949 and was the second moon of Neptune to be discovered.- Discovery and naming :...
- Nereid, also known as Neptune II, is a moon of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. Nereid was discovered on May 1, 1949 by Gerard KuiperGerard KuiperGerard Peter Kuiper , Netherlands – December 24, 1973, Mexico City) was a Dutch-American astronomer after whom the Kuiper belt was named.-Early life:...
, who proposed the name in the report of his discovery. It is named after the Nereids, sea-nymphs of Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
.
1949 Berkelium
Berkelium
Berkelium , is a synthetic element with the symbol Bk and atomic number 97, a member of the actinide and transuranium element series. It is named after the city of Berkeley, California, the location of the University of California Radiation Laboratory where it was discovered in December 1949...
- Berkelium is a synthetic element with the symbol Bk and atomic number 97. A radioactive metallic element in the actinide series, berkelium was first synthesized by bombarding americium with alpha particles (helium ions) and was named for the University of California at Berkeley. Berkelium was co-discovered in December 1949 by Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
, Stanley G. Thompson, and Albert GhiorsoAlbert GhiorsoAlbert Ghiorso was an American nuclear scientist and co-discoverer of a record 12 chemical elements on the periodic table. His research career spanned five decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1990s.-Early life:...
.
1950 Californium
Californium
Californium is a radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Cf and atomic number 98. The element was first made in the laboratory in 1950 by bombarding curium with alpha particles at the University of California, Berkeley. It is the ninth member of the actinide series and was the...
- Californium is a radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Cf and atomic number 98. The element was first produced by bombarding curium with alpha particles (helium ions) at the University of California, Berkeley. It was the sixth transuranic element to be synthesized. Californium is one of the highest atomic mass elements to have been produced in weighable amounts. It is named for the U.S. state of CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and the University of California. Californium was co-discovered by Stanley G. Thompson, Albert GhiorsoAlbert GhiorsoAlbert Ghiorso was an American nuclear scientist and co-discoverer of a record 12 chemical elements on the periodic table. His research career spanned five decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1990s.-Early life:...
, and Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
in 1950.
1951 Barium star
Barium star
Barium stars are G to K class giants, whose spectra indicate an overabundance of s-process elements by the presence of singly ionized barium, Ba II, at λ 455.4nm. Barium stars also show enhanced spectral features of carbon, the bands of the molecules CH, CN and C2...
s
- Barium stars are G to K class giants, whose spectra indicate an overabundance of s-process elements by the presence of singly ionized barium, Ba II, at λ 455.4 nm. Barium stars also show enhanced spectral features of carbon, the bands of the molecules CH, CN and C2. The class was originally recognized and defined by William Bidelman and Philip Keenan.
1951 Ananke
Ananke (moon)
Ananke is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Mount Wilson Observatory in 1951 and is named after the mythological Ananke, the personification of Necessity, and the mother of the Moirae by Zeus...
- Ananke is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes NicholsonSeth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer.Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois and was raised in rural Illinois...
at Mount Wilson ObservatoryMount Wilson ObservatoryThe Mount Wilson Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a 5,715 foot peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles...
in 1951.
1952 Einsteinium
Einsteinium
Einsteinium is a synthetic element with the symbol Es and atomic number 99. It is the seventh transuranic element, and an actinide.Einsteinium was discovered in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952, and named after Albert Einstein...
- Einsteinium is a metallic synthetic element. On the periodic table, it is represented by the symbol Es and atomic number 99. It is the seventh transuranic element, and an actinide. It was named in honor of Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. Einsteinium was discovered by Albert Ghioirso in December 1952.
1952 Rapid eye movement
- Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a normal stage of sleep characterized by rapid movements of the eyes. REM sleep is classified into two categories: tonic and phasic. The phenomenon of REM sleep and its association with dreaming was discovered by Eugene AserinskyEugene AserinskyEugene Aserinsky , a pioneer in sleep research, was a graduate student at University of Chicago in 1953 when he discovered REM sleep. He made the discovery after hours spent studying the eyelids of sleeping subjects...
and Nathaniel KleitmanNathaniel KleitmanNathaniel Kleitman was Professor Emeritus in Physiology at the University of Chicago. Author of the seminal 1939 book Sleep and Wakefulness, he is recognized as the father of American sleep research...
with assistance from William C. DementWilliam C. DementWilliam Charles Dement is a pioneering US sleep researcher, and founder of the Sleep Research Center, the world's first sleep laboratory, at Stanford University. He is a leading authority on sleep, sleep deprivation, and the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and...
, a medical student at the time, in 1952 during their tenures at the University of Chicago. Kleitman and Aserinsky's seminal article was published September 10, 1953.
1953 DNA structure
DNA structure
In molecular biology, the term double helix refers to the structure formed by double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. The double helical structure of a nucleic acid complex arises as a consequence of its secondary structure, and is a fundamental component in determining its...
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
along with Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
co-discovered what is now widely accepted as the first accurate double-helix model of DNA structure.
1955 Mendelevium
Mendelevium
Mendelevium is a synthetic element with the symbol Md and the atomic number 101. A metallic radioactive transuranic element in the actinide series, mendelevium is usually synthesized by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles. It was named after Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, who created the...
Mendelevium is a synthetic element with the symbol Md (formerly Mv) and the atomic number 101. A metallic radioactive transuranic element of the actinides, mendelevium is usually synthesized by bombarding einsteinium with alpha particles and was named after the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev , was a Russian chemist and inventor. He is credited as being the creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements...
, who was responsible for the Periodic Table
Periodic table
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus...
. Mendelevium was co-discovered by Albert Ghiorso
Albert Ghiorso
Albert Ghiorso was an American nuclear scientist and co-discoverer of a record 12 chemical elements on the periodic table. His research career spanned five decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1990s.-Early life:...
, Bernard G. Harvey, Gregory R. Choppin, Stanley G. Thompson, and Glenn T. Seaborg
Glenn T. Seaborg
Glenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
in 1955.
1955 Antiproton
Antiproton
The antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton. Antiprotons are stable, but they are typically short-lived since any collision with a proton will cause both particles to be annihilated in a burst of energy....
The antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton. It was discovered by University of California, Berkeley physicists Thomas Ypsilantis
Thomas Ypsilantis
Thomas John Ypsilantis was an American physicist. He was best known for the co-discovery of the antiproton in 1955, along with Owen Chamberlain, Emilio Segrè, and Clyde Wiegand. His field of research was the construction of detectors for use in particle physics...
, Emilio Segrè, Clyde Wiegand
Clyde Wiegand
Clyde Wiegand was an American physicist.He was best known for the co-discovery of the antiproton in 1955, along with Owen Chamberlain, Emilio Segrè, and Thomas Ypsilantis. He was also a large contributor to the research of the atomic bomb.He died at his home in Oakland, California of prostate...
, and Owen Chamberlain
Owen Chamberlain
Owen Chamberlain was an American physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery, with collaborator Emilio Segrè, of antiprotons, a sub-atomic antiparticle.-Biography:...
in 1955.
1956 Porous silicon
Porous silicon
Porous silicon is a form of the chemical element silicon which has introduced nanoporous holes in its microstructure, rendering a large surface to volume ratio in the order of 500 m2/cm3.-History:...
Porous silicon (pSi) is a form of the chemical element silicon which has an introduced nanoporous holes in its microstructure, rendering a large surface to volume ratio in the order of 500m2/cm3. It was first discovered by accident in 1956 at Bell Labs by Arthur Uhlir Jr. and Ingeborg Uhlir.
1956 Kaon
Kaon
In particle physics, a kaon is any one of a group of four mesons distinguished by the fact that they carry a quantum number called strangeness...
A kaon is any one of a group of four mesons distinguished by the fact that they carry a quantum number called strangeness. It was first discovered by Leon Lederman and a group of scientists from Columbia University at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
.
1956 Antineutron
Antineutron
The antineutron is the antiparticle of the neutron with symbol . It differs from the neutron only in that some of its properties have equal magnitude but opposite sign. It has the same mass as the neutron, and no net electric charge, but has opposite baryon number...
- The antineutron is the antiparticle of the neutron. An antineutron has the same mass as a neutron, and no net electric charge. However, it is different from a neutron by being composed of anti-quarks, rather than quarks. It was discovered by Bruce CorkBruce CorkBruce Cork was a physicist who discovered the antineutron in 1956 while working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.-External links:* *...
, William Wenzell, Glenn Lambertson, and Oreste Piccioni in 1956.
1956 Neutrino
Neutrino
A neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with a half-integer spin, chirality and a disputed but small non-zero mass. It is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected...
- Neutrinos are elementary particles that travel close to the speed of light, lack an electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed, and are thus extremely difficult to detect. The neutrino was first postulated in 1930 by Wolfgang PauliWolfgang PauliWolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
and later discovered in 1956 by Clyde CowanClyde CowanClyde Lorrain Cowan Jr was the co-discoverer of the neutrino, along with Frederick Reines. The discovery was made in 1956, detected in the neutrino experiment....
, Frederick ReinesFrederick ReinesFrederick Reines was an American physicist. He was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics for his co-detection of the neutrino with Clyde Cowan in the neutrino experiment, and may be the only scientist in history "so intimately associated with the discovery of an elementary particle and the...
, F. B. Harrison, H. W. Kruse, and A. D. McGuire.
1956 Nucleic acid hybridization
- Hybridization, discovered by Alexander RichAlexander RichAlexander Rich, MD is a biologist and biophysicist. He is the William Thompson Sedgwick Professor of Biophysics at MIT and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rich earned both an A.B. and an M.D. from Harvard University. He was a post-doc of Linus Pauling along with James Watson...
and David R. Davies in 1956, is the process of combining complementary, single-stranded nucleic acids into a single molecule.
1958 Van Allen radiation belt
Van Allen radiation belt
The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles around Earth, which is held in place by Earth's magnetic field. It is believed that most of the particles that form the belts come from solar wind, and other particles by cosmic rays. It is named after its discoverer, James...
- The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energy charged particles around Earth, held in place by Earth's magnetic field. On the sun side, it is compressed because of the solar wind and on the other side, it is elongated to around three earth radii. This creates a cavity called the Chapman Ferraro Cavity, in which the Van Allen radiation belts reside. The existence of the belt was confirmed by the Explorer 1 and Explorer 3Explorer 3Explorer 3 was an artificial satellite of the Earth, nearly identical to the first United States artificial satellite Explorer 1 in its design and mission...
missions in early 1958, under Dr. James Van AllenJames Van AllenJames Alfred Van Allen was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa.The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following the 1958 satellite missions in which Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged particles.- Life and career :* September...
at the University of Iowa.
1959 Antiproton
Antiproton
The antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton. Antiprotons are stable, but they are typically short-lived since any collision with a proton will cause both particles to be annihilated in a burst of energy....
- The antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton. It was discovered in 1955 by University of California, Berkeley physicists Owen ChamberlainOwen ChamberlainOwen Chamberlain was an American physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery, with collaborator Emilio Segrè, of antiprotons, a sub-atomic antiparticle.-Biography:...
and Emilio Segrè for which they earned the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1960 Seafloor spreading
Seafloor spreading
Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics....
- Seafloor spreading occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. It was first proposed by Harry Hammond HessHarry Hammond HessHarry Hammond Hess was a geologist and United States Navy officer in World War II.Considered one of the "founding fathers" of the unifying theory of plate tectonics, Rear Admiral Harry Hammond Hess was born on May 24, 1906 in New York City...
and Robert Sinclair Dietz in 1960.
1961 Eta meson
- The eta meson is a meson made of a mix of up quark, down quark, strange quark, quarks, and anti-quarks. It was discovered by a team at the University of California, Berkeley using the BevatronBevatronThe Bevatron was a historic particle accelerator — specifically, a weak-focusing proton synchrotron — at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S.A., which began operating in 1954. The antiproton was discovered there in 1955, resulting in the 1959 Nobel Prize in physics for Emilio...
.
1964 Xi baryon
- In particle physics, subatomic particle (Xi) is a name given to a range of baryons with one up or down quark and two heavier quarks. They are sometimes called the cascade particles because of their unstable state, they decay rapidly into lighter particles through a chain of decays. The first discovery of the Xi particle was at Brookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
in 1964.
1964 Cosmic microwave background radiation
Cosmic microwave background radiation
In cosmology, cosmic microwave background radiation is thermal radiation filling the observable universe almost uniformly....
- In cosmology, the cosmic microwave background radiation CMB is a form of electromagnetic radiation filling the universe. The CMB's discovery in 1964 by astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert WilsonRobert R. WilsonRobert Rathbun Wilson was an American physicist who was a group leader of the Manhattan Project, a sculptor, and an architect of Fermi National Laboratory , where he was also the director from 1967–1978....
was the culmination of work initiated in the 1940s, earning them a Nobel Prize in 1978.
1964 Quark
Quark
A quark is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are never directly...
- A quark is a type of elementary particle found in nucleons and other subatomic particles. They are a major constituent of matter, along with leptons. The quark model was first postulated independently by physicist Murray Gell-MannMurray Gell-MannMurray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
in 1964.
1964 1930 Lucifer
1930 Lucifer
1930 Lucifer is a main-belt asteroid discovered on October 29, 1964 by E. Roemer at Flagstaff .- External links :*...
- 1930 Lucifer was a main-belt asteroid discovered at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff StationUnited States Naval Observatory Flagstaff StationThe United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station , is a scientific astronomical observatory operated as a Navy Echelon V command and the national dark-sky observing Facility/observatory subordinate to the United States Naval Observatory . USNO and NOFS are commands within the CNMOC claimancy,...
(NOFS) in Flagstaff, Arizona on October 29, 1964 by American astronomer Elizabeth RoemerElizabeth RoemerElizabeth Roemer is an American astronomer whose research interests center on comets and asteroids.She discovered the asteroids 1930 Lucifer and 1983 Bok...
.
1964 Hepatitis B virus
Hepatitis B virus
Hepatitis B is an infectious illness caused by hepatitis B virus which infects the liver of hominoidea, including humans, and causes an inflammation called hepatitis. Originally known as "serum hepatitis", the disease has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa, and it is endemic in China...
- The Hepatitis B virus was discovered in 1965 by Baruch Blumberg, while working at the National Institutes of Health.
1965 Aspartame
Aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it...
- Aspartame is the name for an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener, aspartyl-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester; that is, a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the amino acidsaspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame in the course of producing an anti-ulcer drug candidate.
1965 Pulsating white dwarves
Pulsating white dwarf
A pulsating white dwarf is a white dwarf star whose luminosity varies due to non-radial gravity wave pulsations within itself. Known types of pulsating white dwarfs include DAV, or ZZ Ceti, stars, with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres and the spectral type DA, pp. 891, 895; DBV, or V777 Her,...
- A pulsating white dwarf is a white dwarfWhite dwarfA white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
star whose luminosity varies due to non-radial gravity wave pulsations within itself. The first pulsating white dwarf was discovered by Arlo U. LandoltArlo U. LandoltArlo U. Landolt is an American astronomer. Landolt has worked principally in photometry and has published a number of widely used lists of standard stars. In 1995, he received the George van Biesbroeck Prize from the American Astronomical Society...
when he observed in 1965 and 1966 that the luminosity of HL Tau 76HL Tau 76HL Tau 76 is a variable white dwarf star of the DAV type. It was observed by G. Haro and W. J. Luyten in 1961, and was the first variable white dwarf discovered when, in 1968, Arlo U. Landolt found that it varied in brightness with a period of approximately 749.5 seconds, or 12.5 minutes...
varied with a period of approximately 12.5 minutes.
1968 Up quark
Up quark
The up quark or u quark is the lightest of all quarks, a type of elementary particle, and a major constituent of matter. It, along with the down quark, forms the neutrons and protons of atomic nuclei...
- The up quark is a first-generation quark with a charge of +(2/3)eElementary chargeThe elementary charge, usually denoted as e, is the electric charge carried by a single proton, or equivalently, the absolute value of the electric charge carried by a single electron. This elementary charge is a fundamental physical constant. To avoid confusion over its sign, e is sometimes called...
. The existence of up quarks was first postulated when Murray Gell-MannMurray Gell-MannMurray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
and George ZweigGeorge ZweigGeorge Zweig was originally trained as a particle physicist under Richard Feynman and later turned his attention to neurobiology...
developed the quark model in 1964, and the first evidence for them was found in deep inelastic scattering experiments in 1968.
1968 Down quark
Down quark
The down quark or d quark is the second-lightest of all quarks, a type of elementary particle, and a major constituent of matter. It, along with the up quark, forms the neutrons and protons of atomic nuclei...
- The down quark is a first-generation quark with a charge of −. It is the second-lightest of all the six of quarks, the lightest being the up quark. Down quarks are most commonly found in nucleons. Its protons contains one down quark and two up quarks, while neutrons contain two down quarks and one up quark. Down quarks were theorized by Murray Gell-MannMurray Gell-MannMurray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
and George ZweigGeorge ZweigGeorge Zweig was originally trained as a particle physicist under Richard Feynman and later turned his attention to neurobiology...
when they discovered the quark model in 1968.
1969 Mosher's acid
Mosher's acid
Mosher's acid, or α-methoxy-α-trifluoromethylphenylacetic acid is a carboxylic acid which was first used by Harry Stone Mosher as a chiral derivatizing agent. It is a chiral molecule, consisting of R and S enantiomers.-Applications:...
- Mosher's acid, or α-methoxytrifluorophenylacetic acid, discovered by Harry S. Mosher in 1969, is a carboxylic acid which was first used as a chiral derivitizing agent.
1969 Interstellar formaldehyde
Interstellar formaldehyde
Interstellar formaldehyde was first discovered in 1969 by L. Snyder et al.. using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Formaldehyde was detected by means of the 111 - 110 ground state rotational transition at 4830 MHz.-Initial discovery:Formaldehyde was first discovered in interstellar...
- Interstellar formaldehyde was first discovered in 1969 by Lewis Snyder, David Buhl, B. Zuckerman and Patrick Palmer using the National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryNational Radio Astronomy ObservatoryThe National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc for the purpose of radio astronomy...
. Formaldehyde was detected by means of the 111 - 110 ground state rotational transition at 4830 MHz.
1970 Reverse transcriptase
Reverse transcriptase
In the fields of molecular biology and biochemistry, a reverse transcriptase, also known as RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, is a DNA polymerase enzyme that transcribes single-stranded RNA into single-stranded DNA. It also helps in the formation of a double helix DNA once the RNA has been reverse...
- In biochemistry, a reverse transcriptase, also known as RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, is a DNA polymerase enzyme that transcribes single-stranded RNA into double-stranded DNA. It was discovered by Howard Temin at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and independently by David BaltimoreDavid BaltimoreDavid Baltimore is an American biologist, university administrator, and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He served as president of the California Institute of Technology from 1997 to 2006, and is currently the Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology at Caltech...
in 1970 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1972 Opiate receptors
- Opioid receptors are a group of G protein-coupled receptors with opioids as ligands. The endogenous opioids are dynorphins, enkephalins, endorphins, endomorphins, and nociceptin. The opioid receptors are ~40% identical to somatostatin receptors (SSTRs). Opiate receptors were discovered in 1972 by the American neuroscientist and pharmacologist named Candace PertCandace PertCandace Beebe Pert is an American neuroscientist and pharmacologist who discovered the opiate receptor, the cellular binding site for endorphins in the brain.-History:...
.
1974 Australopithecus "Lucy"
Lucy (Australopithecus)
Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of bone representing about 40% of the skeleton of an individual Australopithecus afarensis. The specimen was discovered in 1974 at Hadar in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression. Lucy is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years...
Hominini
Hominini is the tribe of Homininae that comprises Homo, and the two species of the genus Pan , their ancestors, and the extinct lineages of their common ancestor . Members of the tribe are called hominins...
was significant as the skeleton shows evidence of small skull capacity akin to that of ape
Ape
Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
s and of bipedal upright walk akin to that of humans
Homo (genus)
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
, providing further evidence that bipedalism preceded increase in brain size in human evolution. While working in collaboration with a joint French-British-American team, Lucy was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia
Hadar, Ethiopia
Hadar is a village in Ethiopia, on the southern edge of the Afar Triangle with a latitude and longitude of approximately . The village is known for the nearby archaeological site....
on November 24, 1974, when American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson
Donald Johanson
Donald Carl Johanson is an American paleoanthropologist. Along with Maurice Taieb, and Yves Coppens he is known for the discovery of the skeleton of the female hominid australopithecine known as "Lucy", in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia.-Early years:Johanson was born in Chicago,...
, coaxed away from his paperwork by graduate student Tom Gray for a spur-of-the-moment survey, caught the glint of a white fossilized bone out of the corner of his eye, and recognized it as hominid. Later described as the first known member of Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct hominid that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago. A. afarensis was slenderly built, like the younger Australopithecus africanus. It is thought that A...
. Dr. Johanson's girlfriend suggested she be named "Lucy" after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, for The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...
" which was played repeatedly during the night of the discovery.
1974 J/ψ mesons
The J/ψ is a subatomic particle, a flavor-neutral meson consisting of a charm quark and a charm anti-quark. Mesons formed by a bound state of a charm quark and a charm anti-quark are generally known as "charmonium". Its discovery was made independently by two research groups, one at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, headed by Burton Richter
Burton Richter
Burton Richter is a Nobel Prize-winning American physicist. He led the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center team which co-discovered the J/ψ meson in 1974, alongside the Brookhaven National Laboratory team led by Samuel Ting. This discovery was part of the so-called November Revolution of particle...
, and one at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
, headed by Samuel Ting at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They accidentally discovered they had found the same particle, and both announced their discoveries on November 11, 1974.
1974 Charm quark
Charm quark
The charm quark or c quark is the third most massive of all quarks, a type of elementary particle. Charm quarks are found in hadrons, which are subatomic particles made of quarks...
The charm quark is a second-generation quark with an electric charge of +2⁄3 e
Elementary charge
The elementary charge, usually denoted as e, is the electric charge carried by a single proton, or equivalently, the absolute value of the electric charge carried by a single electron. This elementary charge is a fundamental physical constant. To avoid confusion over its sign, e is sometimes called...
. It is the third most massive of the quarks, at about 1.5 GeV/c2 and roughly one and a half times the mass of the proton. It was predicted in 1964 by Sheldon Lee Glashow
Sheldon Lee Glashow
Sheldon Lee Glashow is a Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist. He is the Metcalf Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Boston University.-Birth and education:...
and James Bjorken
James Bjorken
James Daniel "BJ" Bjorken is one of the world's foremost theoretical physicists. He was a Putnam Fellow in 1954, received a BS in physics from MIT in 1956, and obtained his PhD from Stanford University in 1959...
and first observed in November 1974, with the simultaneous discovery of the J/ψ|J/ψ meson charm particle at Stanford Linear Accererator Center by a group led by Burton Richter
Burton Richter
Burton Richter is a Nobel Prize-winning American physicist. He led the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center team which co-discovered the J/ψ meson in 1974, alongside the Brookhaven National Laboratory team led by Samuel Ting. This discovery was part of the so-called November Revolution of particle...
and at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
by a group led by Samuel C. C. Ting
Samuel C. C. Ting
Samuel Chao Chung Ting is an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in 1976, with Burton Richter, for discovering the subatomic J/ψ particle...
.
1974 Binary pulsar
Binary pulsar
A binary pulsar is a pulsar with a binary companion, often a white dwarf or neutron star. Binary pulsars are one of the few objects which allow physicists to test general relativity in the case of a strong gravitational field...
s
A binary pulsar is a pulsar with a binary companion, often another pulsar, white dwarf or neutron star. The first binary pulsar, PSR 1913+16 or the "Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar" was discovered in 1974 at Arecibo
Arecibo Observatory
The Arecibo Observatory is a radio telescope near the city of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. It is operated by SRI International under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation...
by Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr.
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. is an American astrophysicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his discovery with Russell Alan Hulse of a "new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation."...
and Russell Hulse, for which they won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1974 Leda
Leda (moon)
Leda , also known as ', is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Mount Palomar Observatory on September 14, 1974, after three nights' worth of photographic plates had been taken...
- Leda is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles T. KowalCharles T. KowalCharles Thomas Kowal was an American astronomer.He discovered two moons of Jupiter: Leda in 1974 and Themisto in 1975, although the latter was lost and not rediscovered until 2000....
at the Palomar ObservatoryPalomar ObservatoryPalomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...
on September 14, 1974.
1974 Seaborgium
Seaborgium
Seaborgium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Sg and atomic number 106.Seaborgium is a synthetic element whose most stable isotope 271Sg has a half-life of 1.9 minutes. A new isotope 269Sg has a potentially slightly longer half-life based on the observation of a single decay...
- Seaborgium is a chemical element with the symbol Sg and atomic number 106. Seaborgium is a synthetic element whose most stable isotope 271Sg has a half-life of 1.9 minutes. Chemistry experiments with seaborgium have firmly placed it in group 6 as a heavier homologue to tungsten. Seaborgium was named in honor of the American chemist Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
and discovered in 1974 by Albert GhiorsoAlbert GhiorsoAlbert Ghiorso was an American nuclear scientist and co-discoverer of a record 12 chemical elements on the periodic table. His research career spanned five decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1990s.-Early life:...
.
1975 1983 Bok
1983 Bok
1983 Bok is an asteroid discovered June 9, 1975 by Elizabeth Roemer. It is named for astronomer Bart Jan Bok.See also: List of asteroids...
- 1983 Bok is a minor planet discovered on June 9, 1975 by American astronomer Elizabeth RoemerElizabeth RoemerElizabeth Roemer is an American astronomer whose research interests center on comets and asteroids.She discovered the asteroids 1930 Lucifer and 1983 Bok...
at Kitt Peak National ObservatoryKitt Peak National ObservatoryThe Kitt Peak National Observatory is a United States astronomical observatory located on 2,096 m Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation, southwest of Tucson...
in Arizona. As a minor planet, 1983 Bok was named in honor of Bart J. and Priscilla Fairfield BokPriscilla Fairfield BokPriscilla Fairfield Bok was an American astronomer and the wife of Dutch-born astronomer Bart Bok, whom she married in 1929. The two worked together over much of the twentieth century. They mapped the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy and studied the make-up and changes of star clusters...
.
1975 Themisto
Themisto (moon)
Themisto , also known as ', is a small prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1975, lost, and then rediscovered in 2000.- Discovery and naming :...
- Themisto is a small prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles T. KowalCharles T. KowalCharles Thomas Kowal was an American astronomer.He discovered two moons of Jupiter: Leda in 1974 and Themisto in 1975, although the latter was lost and not rediscovered until 2000....
and Elizabeth RoemerElizabeth RoemerElizabeth Roemer is an American astronomer whose research interests center on comets and asteroids.She discovered the asteroids 1930 Lucifer and 1983 Bok...
in 1975.
1975 Amarillo Starlight
Amarillo Starlight
The Amarillo Starlight is the largest diamond found by a park visitor in the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas since 1972, when it was established as a state park. The Amarillo Starlight was found by W. W. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas in 1975 while he was vacationing at the park with his family...
- The Amarillo Starlight is a 16.37-carat white diamond that was discovered in 1975 by W. W. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas while vacationing at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. The Amarillo Starlight was later cut into a 7.54-carat marquise shape.
1976 D meson
D meson
The D mesons are the lightest particle containing charm quarks. They are often studied to gain knowledge on the weak interaction. The strange D mesons were called the "F mesons" prior to 1986.-Overview:...
s
- D mesons are the lightest particle containing charm quarks. They are often studied to gain knowledge on the weak interaction. Since the D meson is the lightest meson containing a charm quark, it must change the charm quark into another quark to decay. D mesons were discovered in 1976 during the Mark IMark I (detector)The Mark I, also known as the SLAC-LBL Magnetic Detector, was a particle detector that operated at the interaction point of the SPEAR collider from 1973 to 1977. It was the first 4π detector, i.e...
experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator CenterStanford Linear Accelerator CenterThe SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S...
.
1977 Tau lepton
- The tau lepton is a negatively charged elementary particle with a lifetime of 2.9×10−13 s and a mass of 1,777 MeV/c2. It was detected in a series of experiments between 1974 and 1977 by Martin Lewis PerlMartin Lewis PerlMartin Lewis Perl is an American physicist, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995 for his discovery of the tau lepton.His parents were Jewish emigrants to the US from the Polish area of Russia....
with his colleagues at the Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryThe Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
.
1977 Rings of Uranus
Rings of Uranus
The planet Uranus has a system of rings intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn and the simpler systems around Jupiter and Neptune. The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Douglas J. Mink...
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
has a system of rings intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
and the simpler systems around Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
and Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot
James L. Elliot
James Ludlow Elliot was an American astronomer and scientist who, as part of a team, discovered the rings around the planet Uranus. Elliot was also part of a team that observed global warming on Triton, the largest moon of Neptune....
, Edward W. Dunham, and Douglas J. Mink
Douglas J. Mink
Douglas J. Mink is an American software developer and a data archivist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Mink was part of the team that discovered the rings around the planet Uranus....
. More than 200 years ago, William Herschel
William Herschel
Sir Frederick William Herschel, KH, FRS, German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel was a German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer. Born in Hanover, Wilhelm first followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, but emigrated to Britain at age 19...
also reported observing rings, but modern astronomers are skeptical that he could actually have noticed them, as they are very dark and faint.
1977 Upsilon mesons
The upsilon meson is a flavorless meson formed from a bottom quark and its antiparticle. It was discovered by the E288 collaboration, headed by Leon Lederman, at Fermilab in 1977, and was the first particle containing a bottom quark to be discovered because it is the lightest that can be produced without additional massive particles. It has a mean lifetime of 1.21×10−20 second and a mass about 10 GeV.
1977 Bottom quark
Bottom quark
The bottom quark, also known as the beauty quark, is a third-generation quark with a charge of − e. Although all quarks are described in a similar way by the quantum chromodynamics, the bottom quark's large bare mass , combined with low values of the CKM matrix elements Vub and Vcb, gives it a...
The bottom quark is a third-generation quark with a charge of −1⁄3e
Elementary charge
The elementary charge, usually denoted as e, is the electric charge carried by a single proton, or equivalently, the absolute value of the electric charge carried by a single electron. This elementary charge is a fundamental physical constant. To avoid confusion over its sign, e is sometimes called...
. The bottom quark was discovered by the E288 experiment at Fermilab in 1977 when collisions produced bottomonium.
1978 Restriction endonucleases
Restriction enzyme
A Restriction Enzyme is an enzyme that cuts double-stranded DNA at specific recognition nucleotide sequences known as restriction sites. Such enzymes, found in bacteria and archaea, are thought to have evolved to provide a defense mechanism against invading viruses...
A restriction enzyme is an enzyme that cuts double-stranded or single stranded DNA at specific recognition nucleotide sequences known as restriction sites. Such enzymes, found in bacteria and archaea, are thought to have evolved to provide a defense mechanism against invading viruses. Inside a bacterial host, the restriction enzymes selectively cut up foreign DNA in a process called restriction; host DNA is methylated by a modification enzyme to protect it from the restriction enzyme’s activity. The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded, in 1978, to Daniel Nathans
Daniel Nathans
Daniel Nathans was an American microbiologist.He was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the last of nine children born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. During the Great Depression his father lost his small business and was unemployed for a long period of time...
, Werner Arber
Werner Arber
Werner Arber is a Swiss microbiologist and geneticist. Along with American researchers Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans, Werner Arber shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction endonucleases...
, and Hamilton O. Smith
Hamilton O. Smith
Hamilton Othanel Smith is an American microbiologist and Nobel laureate.Smith was born on August 23, 1931, and graduated from University Laboratory High School of Urbana, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but in 1950 transferred to the University of California,...
for the discovery of restriction endonucleases.
1978 Charon
Charon (moon)
Charon is the largest satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto. It was discovered in 1978 at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station. Following the 2005 discovery of two other natural satellites of Pluto , Charon may also be referred to as Pluto I...
- Charon, discovered by James W. ChristyJames W. ChristyJames Walter Christy is an American astronomer.On June 22, 1978 while working at the United States Naval Observatory, he discovered that Pluto had a moon, which he named Charon shortly afterwards...
on June 22, 1978 while working at the United States Naval ObservatoryUnited States Naval ObservatoryThe United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...
, is the largest moon of the dwarf planet Pluto.
1979 Metis
Metis (moon)
Metis , also known as ', is the innermost moon of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1979 in images taken by Voyager 1, and was named in 1983 after the first wife of Zeus, Metis...
- Metis is the innermost moon of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1979 by Stephen Synnott in images taken by Voyager 1Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
.
1979 Thebe
Thebe (moon)
Thebe also known as ', is the fourth of Jupiter's moons by distance from the planet. It was discovered by Stephen P. Synnott in images from the Voyager 1 space probe taken on March 5, 1979, while orbiting around Jupiter...
- Thebe is the fourth of Jupiter's moons by distance from the planet. It was discovered by Stephen Synnott in images from the Voyager 1Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
space probe taken on March 5, 1979 while orbiting around Jupiter.
1979 Rings of Jupiter
Rings of Jupiter
The planet Jupiter has a system of rings, known as the rings of Jupiter or the Jovian ring system. It was the third ring system to be discovered in the Solar System, after those of Saturn and Uranus. It was first observed in 1979 by the Voyager 1 space probe and thoroughly investigated in the 1990s...
- The planet Jupiter has a system of rings, known as the rings of Jupiter or the Jovian ring system. It was the third ring system to be discovered in the Solar System, after those of Saturn and Uranus and was first observed in 1979 by the Voyager 1Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
space probe.
1980 Oncogene
Oncogene
An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. In tumor cells, they are often mutated or expressed at high levels.An oncogene is a gene found in the chromosomes of tumor cells whose activation is associated with the initial and continuing conversion of normal cells into cancer...
- An oncogene is a gene that is mutated or expressed at high levels, and thus helps turn a normal cell into a tumor cell. In the late 1970s, Robert WeinbergRobert WeinbergRobert Allan Weinberg is a Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research at MIT and American Cancer Society Research Professor; his research is in the area of oncogenes and the genetic basis of human cancer. Weinberg is also affiliated with the Broad Institute and is a founding member of the...
and his team of researchers began the search for a human oncogene. Using gene transfer techniques, researchers in his lab inserted DNA from human bladder tumor cells into normal animal cells. When the animal cells turned cancerous, Dr. Weinberg's associates began inserting smaller pieces of DNA into the normal cell. By 1980, they found a single fragment that turned the normal cell cancerous. This gene was found to belong to a sub-family of related genes, called rasRasRas is the name given to a family of related proteins found inside cells, including human cells. All Ras protein family members belong to a class of protein called small GTPase, and are involved in transmitting signals within cells...
, that was later discovered to play a role in causing bladder, lung, and colon cancer in both rats and humans. More results emerged in 1982 when Dr. Weinberg's laboratory discovered that a single, subtle genetic glitch in this oncogene topples the delicate balance between a bladder cell's normal and cancerous states.
1980 Pandora
Pandora (moon)
Pandora is an inner satellite of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from photos taken by the Voyager 1 probe, and was provisionally designated '. In late 1985 it was officially named after Pandora from Greek mythology. It is also designated as '.Pandora is the outer shepherd satellite of the F Ring...
- Pandora is an inner satellite of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from photos taken by Voyager 1Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 26.
1980 Prometheus
Prometheus (moon)
-Animations:-External links:* at ** anaglyph view of Prometheus...
- Prometheus is an inner satellite of Saturn that was discovered in 1980 from photos taken by Voyager 1Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
. It was provisionally designated S/1980 S 27.
1980 Atlas
Atlas (moon)
Atlas is an inner satellite of Saturn.Atlas was discovered by Richard Terrile in 1980 from Voyager photos and was designated '. In 1983 it was officially named after Atlas of Greek mythology, because it "holds the rings on its shoulders" like the Titan Atlas held the sky up above the Earth...
- Atlas is a moon of Saturn that was discovered by Richard Terrile in 1980 from Voyager photos and was designated S/1980 S 28.
1981 Larissa
Larissa (moon)
Larissa , also known as Neptune VII, is the fifth-closest inner satellite of Neptune. It is named after Larissa, a lover of Poseidon in Greek mythology and eponymous nymph of the city in Thessaly.- Discovery :...
- Larissa, also known as Neptune VII, is the fifth closest inner satellite of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. It was first discovered by Harold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky, and David J. TholenDavid J. TholenDavid James Tholen is an American astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii, who specializes in planetary and solar system astronomy.-Professional life:...
based on fortuitous ground-based stellar occultation observations on May 24, 1981, and given the temporary designation S/1981 N 1, being announced on May 29, 1981.
1984 Whydah wreckage
Whydah Gally
The Whydah Gally was the flagship of the pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy. The ship sank in a storm off Cape Cod on April 26, 1717, taking Bellamy and the majority of his crew with it.-History:...
Ouidah
Ouidah , also Whydah or Juda, is a city on the Atlantic coast of Benin.The commune covers an area of 364 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 76,555 people.-History:...
, the vessel was configured as a heavily-armed trading and transport ship for use in the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
, carrying goods from England to exchange for slaves in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. It would then travel to the Caribbean to trade the slaves for precious metals, sugar, indigo, and medicinal ingredients, which would then be transported back to England. Captained by the English pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy
Samuel Bellamy
Samuel Bellamy , aka "Black Sam" Bellamy, was an English pirate who operated in the early 18th century....
, the Whydah, on April 26, 1717, sailed into a violent storm dangerously close to Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
and was eventually driven onto the shoals at Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Wellfleet is a New England town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the town had a population of 2,749 at the 2000 census, which swells nearly sixfold during the summer...
. At midnight she hit a sandbar in 16 feet (4.9 m) of water some 500 feet (152.4 m) from the coast of what is now Marconi Beach. Pummelled by 70 miles (112.7 km)-an-hour winds and 30 to 40 feet (12.2 m) waves, the main mast snapped, pulling the ship into some 30 feet (9.1 m) of water where she violently capsized. After years of exhaustive searching, it was in 1984 that world headlines were made when American archeological explorer Barry Clifford
Barry Clifford
Barry Clifford is an underwater archaeological explorer best known for discovering the remains of the wrecked ship Whydah in 1984. The Whydah is the only fully verified pirate shipwreck ever discovered, and, as such, artifacts from the wreck provide unique insights into the material culture of 18th...
found the only solidly-identified pirate shipwreck ever discovered, the Whydah. Two-hundred thousand artifacts and sunken treasures were discovered in the shipwreck as well.
1985 Puck
Puck (moon)
Puck is an inner moon of Uranus. It was discovered in December 1985 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The name Puck comes from Celtic mythology and English folklore. The orbit of Puck lies between the rings of Uranus and the first of Uranus' large moons, Miranda. Puck is approximately spherical in...
Puck is an inner satellite of Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered in December 1985 by the Voyager 2
Voyager 2
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
spacecraft.
1985 RMS Titanic wreckage
The RMS Titanic was an Olympic class
Olympic class ocean liner
The Olympic-class ocean liners were a trio of ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line in the early 20th century...
passenger liner owned by the White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
and was built at the Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
shipyard in Belfast, in what is now Northern Ireland. At the time of her construction, she was the largest passenger steamship in the world. Shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912, four days into the ship's maiden voyage, Titanic struck an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on April 15, 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. After nearly 74 years of being lost at sea on the bottom of the ocean floor, a joint Franco-American expedition led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert D. Ballard
Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
, discovered the wreckage of the RMS Titanic two miles (3 km) beneath the waves of the North Atlantic on September 1, 1985. Ballard was then forced to wait a year for weather conditions favorable to a manned mission to view the wreck at close range. In 1986, Ballard and his two-man crew, in the ALVIN
Alvin
Alvin is a male given name.*Alvin Seville, Cartoon singing chipmunk from, "Alvin and the chipmunks "Alvin and the Chipmunks " and "Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakquel"*Alvin Adams, early 19th century businessman...
submersible, made the first two and-a-half hour descent to the ocean floor to view the wreck first-hand. Over the next few days, they descended again and again and, using the Jason Jr.
Jason Jr. (ROV)
Jason Junior, also called JJ, was a small remotely operated vehicle designed and built by the Deep Submergence Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute...
remote camera, recorded the first scenes of the ruined interior of the luxury liner.
1986 Portia
Portia (moon)
Portia is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 3 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 1. The moon is named after Portia, the heroine of William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice...
Portia is an inner satellite of Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2
Voyager 2
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 3, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 1.
1986 Juliet
Juliet (moon)
Juliet is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 3 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 2. It is named after the heroine of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet...
Juliet is an inner satellite of Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2
Voyager 2
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 3, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 2.
1986 Cressida
Cressida (moon)
Cressida is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 9 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 3. It was named after the Trojan daughter of Calchas, a tragic heroine who appears in William Shakespeare's play Troilus and...
Cressida is an inner satellite of Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2
Voyager 2
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 9, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 3.
1986 Rosalind
Rosalind (moon)
Rosalind is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 13 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 4. It was named after the daughter of the banished Duke in William Shakespeare's play As You Like It...
- Rosalind is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 13, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 4.
1986 Belinda
Belinda (moon)
- External links :* by *...
- Belinda is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 13, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 5.
1986 Desdemona
Desdemona (moon)
Desdemona is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 13 January 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 6. Desdemona is named after the wife of Othello in William Shakespeare's play Othello...
- Desdemona is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 13, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 6.
1986 Cordelia
Cordelia (moon)
Cordelia is the innermost moon of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 7. It was not detected again until the Hubble Space Telescope observed it in 1997...
- Cordelia is the inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 20, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 7.
1986 Ophelia
Ophelia (moon)
Ophelia is a moon of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 20, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 8. It was not seen until the Hubble Space Telescope recovered it in 2003. Ophelia was named after the daughter of Polonius, Ophelia, in...
- Ophelia is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 20, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 8.
1986 Bianca
Bianca (moon)
Bianca is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2 on January 23, 1986, and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 9. It was named after the sister of Katherine in Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew...
- Bianca is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
on January 23, 1986 and was given the temporary designation S/1986 U 9.
1986 Tumor suppressor gene
Tumor suppressor gene
A tumor suppressor gene, or anti-oncogene, is a gene that protects a cell from one step on the path to cancer. When this gene is mutated to cause a loss or reduction in its function, the cell can progress to cancer, usually in combination with other genetic changes.-Two-hit hypothesis:Unlike...
- A tumor suppressor gene, or anti-oncogene, is a gene that protects a cell from one step on the path to cancer. When this gene is mutated to cause a loss or reduction in its function, the cell can progress to cancer, usually in combination with other genetic changes. In 1986, Robert WeinbergRobert WeinbergRobert Allan Weinberg is a Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research at MIT and American Cancer Society Research Professor; his research is in the area of oncogenes and the genetic basis of human cancer. Weinberg is also affiliated with the Broad Institute and is a founding member of the...
and a team of researchers working under his direction made a seminal discovery when they isolated Rb, or the retinoblastoma proteinRetinoblastoma proteinThe retinoblastoma protein is a tumor suppressor protein that is dysfunctional in the majority types of cancer. One highly studied function of pRb is to prevent excessive cell growth by inhibiting cell cycle progression until a cell is ready to divide...
, the first known growth-suppressor gene.
1989 Rings of Neptune
Rings of Neptune
The rings of Neptune consist primarily of five principal rings predicted in 1984 by André Brahic and imaged in 1989 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft...
- The rings of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
were discovered in 1989 by the Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
spacecraft.
1989 Proteus
Proteus (moon)
Proteus , also known as Neptune VIII, is the second largest Neptunian moon, and Neptune's largest inner satellite. Discovered by Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989, it is named after Proteus, the shape-changing sea god of Greek mythology...
- Proteus, also known as Neptune VIII, is NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
's largest inner satellite. Proteus was discovered from the images taken by Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
during the Neptune flyby in 1989.
1989 Despina
Despina (moon)
Despina , also known as Neptune V, is the third closest inner satellite of Neptune. It is named after Despoina, a nymph who was a daughter of Poseidon and Demeter....
- Despina, also known as Neptune V, is the third closest inner satellite of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. Despina was discovered in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
. It was given the temporary designation S/1989 N 3.
1989 Galatea
Galatea (moon)
Galatea , also known as Neptune VI, is the fourth closest inner satellite of Neptune. It is named after Galatea, one of the Nereids of Greek legend.Galatea was discovered in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe...
- Galatea, also known as Neptune VI, is the fourth closest inner satellite of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. Galatea was discovered in late July 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
. It was given the temporary designation S/1989 N 4.
1989 Thalassa
Thalassa (moon)
Thalassa , also known as Neptune IV, is the second innermost satellite of Neptune. Thalassa was named after sea goddesss Thalassa, a daughter of Aether and Hemera from Greek mythology. "Thalassa" is also the Greek word for "sea"....
- Thalassa, also known as Neptune IV, is the second inner satellite of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. It was discovered sometime before mid-September 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
. It was given the temporary designation S/1989 N 5.
1989 Naiad
Naiad (moon)
Naiad , also known as Neptune III, is the innermost satellite of Neptune, named after the Naiads of Greek legend.Naiad was discovered sometime before mid-September 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2 probe. The last moon to be discovered during the flyby, it was designated...
- Naiad, also known as Neptune III, is the inner satellite of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
. It was discovered sometime before mid-September 1989 from the images taken by the Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
. The last moon to be discovered during the flyby, it was designated S/1989 N 6.
1989 Bismarck wreckage
German battleship Bismarck
Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...
- The German battleship Bismarck was one of the most famous warships of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As the lead ship of the Bismarck classBismarck class battleshipThe Bismarck class was a pair of battleships built by the German Kriegsmarine shortly before the outbreak of World War II. The ships were the largest warships built by the German Navy and the heaviest capital ships ever completed in Europe...
, and named after the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von BismarckOtto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, Bismarck displaced more than 50,000 tonnes fully loaded and was the largest warship then commissioned. Fleet Air Arm Swordfish biplanes launched from the carrier HMS Ark RoyalHMS Ark Royal (91)HMS Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design...
torpedoed the ship and jammed her rudder, allowing Royal Navy units to catch up with her. In the ensuing battle on the morning of May 27, 1941, Bismarck was heavily attacked for almost two hours before sinking. After the discovery of the wreckage of the RMS Titanic in 1985, Dr. Robert D. Ballard'sRobert BallardRobert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
next goal was to find and film the wreck of the Bismarck. The search for the wreck began in July 1988, but his first expedition brought no success. A second expedition was mounted in late May 1989, and on June 8, 1989, after combing an area of some 200 square miles (518 km²), Ballard and his team finally found Bismarck's remains. The wreck lies in the bottom of the Atlantic OceanAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
some 600 miles (965.6 km) west of Brest, France at a depth of 4,790 meters (15,700 ft).
1990 Strawn-Wagner Diamond
Strawn-Wagner Diamond
The Strawn-Wagner Diamond is the world's only perfect diamond so far found, weighing 3.09 carat It was found in 1990 by Shirley Strawn of Murfreesboro, Arkansas, in the Crater of Diamonds State Park public search field...
The Strawn-Wagner Diamond is a rare 3.03 carat diamond that is certified by the American Gem Society
American Gem Society
The American Gem Society is a trade association of retail jewelers, independent appraisers, suppliers, and selective industry members, which was founded in 1934 by Robert M. Shipley, who also founded the...
(AGS) as the world's most perfect diamond in terms of its cut and the highest grade possible, the "Triple Zero". The Strawn-Wagner Diamond was discovered in 1990 at the Crater of Diamonds State Park by Shirley Strawn of Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
1993 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system objects. This generated a large amount of coverage in the popular media, and the comet was closely observed by...
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system objects. The collision provided new information about Jupiter and highlighted its role in reducing space debris in the inner solar system. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was co-discovered photographically by the husband and wife scientific team of Carolyn S. Shoemaker
Carolyn S. Shoemaker
Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker is an American astronomer and is a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. She holds the record for most comets discovered by an individual.- Personal life :...
and Eugene M. Shoemaker along with Canadian-born astronomer David H. Levy
David H. Levy
David H. Levy is a Canadian astronomer and science writer most famous for his co-discovery in 1993 of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.-Biography:...
on March 24, 1993, using the 0.46-m (18-in.) Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...
in California. Its discovery was a serendipitous product of their continuing search for "near-Earth objects", and the "9" indicates that it was the ninth short-period comet (period less than 200 years) discovered by this team.
1995 Top quark
Top quark
The top quark, also known as the t quark or truth quark, is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Like all quarks, the top quark is an elementary fermion with spin-, and experiences all four fundamental interactions: gravitation, electromagnetism, weak interactions, and...
- The top quark is the third-generation up-type quark with a charge of +(2/3)e. It was discovered in 1995 by the CDFCollider Detector at FermilabThe Collider Detector at Fermilab experimental collaboration studies high energy particle collisions at the Tevatron,the world's former highest-energy particle accelerator...
and D0D0 experimentThe DØ experiment consists of a worldwide collaboration of scientists conducting research on the fundamental nature of matter...
experiments at Fermilab and is the most massive of known elementary particles.
1995 Comet Hale-Bopp
Comet Hale-Bopp
Comet Hale–Bopp was perhaps the most widely observed comet of the 20th century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades...
- Comet Hale-Bopp was arguably the most widely observed comet of the 20th century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades and it was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months when it passed near planet Earth. Hale-Bopp was discovered by Alan HaleAlan Hale (astronomer)-Biography:Hale was born in Tachikawa, Japan in 1958, but he grew up in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He served in the United States Navy from 1976 to 1983, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1980. His next job was at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he worked until 1986. While at the JPL, he...
and Thomas BoppThomas BoppThomas J. Bopp D.Sc is best known as co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995. He was a manager at a construction materials factory and an amateur astronomer at the time of the comet discovery. It was the first comet he had observed....
on July 23, 1995 at a great distance from the Sun, raising expectations that the comet would brighten considerably by the time it passed close to Earth. Although predicting the brightness of comets with any degree of accuracy is very difficult, Hale-Bopp met or exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997.
1998 USS Yorktown (CV-5) wreckage
USS Yorktown (CV-5)
was an aircraft carrier commissioned in the United States Navy from 1937 until she was sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. She was named after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and the lead ship of the Yorktown class which was designed after lessons learned from operations with the large...
- The third USS Yorktown in the United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, lead ship of the Yorktown classYorktown class aircraft carrierThe Yorktown class was a class of three aircraft carriers built by the U.S. and completed shortly before World War II. They bore the brunt of early action in that war, and the sole survivor of the class was to become the most decorated ship in the history of the U.S...
of aircraft carriers, was laid down on May 21, 1934 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Yorktown was launched on April 4, 1936, sponsored by First Lady Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, and commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, on September 30, 1937 with Captain Ernest D. McWhorter in command. Yorktown was hit by air-launched torpedoes during the Battle of MidwayBattle of MidwayThe Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
on June 6, 1942. HiryūJapanese aircraft carrier Hiryuwas a modified Sōryū-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was one of the carriers that began the Pacific War with the attack on Pearl Harbor...
, the sole surviving Japanese aircraft carrier, wasted little time in counter-attacking. The first wave of Japanese dive bombers badly damaged Yorktown with three bomb hits that snuffed out her boilers, immobilizing her, yet her damage control teams patched her up so effectively that the second wave's torpedo bombers mistook her for an undamaged carrier. Despite Japanese hopes to even the odds by eliminating two carriers with two strikes, Yorktown absorbed both Japanese attacks, the second wave mistakenly believing Yorktown had already been sunk and they were attacking EnterpriseUSS Enterprise (CV-6)USS Enterprise , colloquially referred to as the "Big E," was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Launched in 1936, she was a ship of the Yorktown class, and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to...
. After two torpedo hits, Yorktown lost power and developed a 26° list to port, which put her out of action and forced Admiral Frank J. Fletcher to move his command staff to the heavy cruiser Astoria. The second attempt at salvage, however, would never be made. Throughout the night of June 6 and into the morning of June 7, Yorktown remained stubbornly afloat. By 0530 on June 7, however, the men in the ships nearby noted that the carrier's list was rapidly increasing to port. At 0701, the ship turned over on her port side and sank in 3,000 fathoms (5,500 m) of water, her battle flags still flying. On May 19, 1998, the wreck of the Yorktown was discovered by Dr. Robert D. BallardRobert BallardRobert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
, American oceanographer and discoverer of the wreck of the RMS Titanic. The wreck of the Yorktown was found 3 miles (4.8 km) beneath the surface and was photographed.
1998 Embryonic stem cell lines
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
- A breakthrough in human embryonic stem cell research came in November 1998 when a group led by Dr. James ThomsonJames Thomson (cell biologist)James Alexander Thomson is an American developmental biologist best known for deriving the first human embryonic stem cell line in 1998 and for deriving human induced pluripotent stem cells in 2007.-Thomson's research:...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison first discovered a technique in order to isolate and grow cells which derived from human blastocysts, could one day lead to major medical advancements in organ transplantation as well as gene therapy and treatment of maladies such as paralysis, diabetes, cancer, and AIDS.
Twenty-first century
2001 Interstellar vinyl alcohol- Between May and June 2001, astronomers A. J. Apponi and Barry Turner co-discovered vinyl alcohol in the molecular cloud Sagittarius B using the National Science Foundation's 12-meter radio telescope at the Kitt Peak National ObservatoryKitt Peak National ObservatoryThe Kitt Peak National Observatory is a United States astronomical observatory located on 2,096 m Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation, southwest of Tucson...
.
2003 Sedna
90377 Sedna
90377 Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2003, which was about three times as far from the Sun as Neptune. For most of its orbit it is even further from the Sun, with its aphelion estimated at 960 astronomical units , making it one of the most distant known objects in the Solar System...
- 90377 Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object and a likely dwarf planet. For most of its orbit Sedna is farther from the Sun than any other known dwarf planet candidate. In 2003, Sedna was co-discovered by Michael E. BrownMichael E. BrownMichael E. Brown has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003....
, Chad TrujilloChad TrujilloChadwick A. "Chad" Trujillo is an astronomer and the co-discoverer of the dwarf planet Eris.Trujillo works with computer software and has examined the orbits of the numerous trans-Neptunian objects , which is the outer area of the solar system that he specialized in. In late August 2005, it was...
, and David Rabinowitz using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar ObservatoryPalomar ObservatoryPalomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...
.
2003 Psamathe
Psamathe (moon)
Psamathe , also known as Neptune X, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Neptune. It is named after Psamathe, one of the Nereids. This moon was discovered by Scott S. Sheppard and David C. Jewitt in 2003 using the 8.2 meter Subaru telescope...
- Psamathe, also known as Neptune X, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Neptune. Psamathe was co-discovered by Scott S. SheppardScott S. SheppardScott S. Sheppard is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science. Starting as a graduate student at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, he was credited with the discovery of many small moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and...
and David C. JewittDavid C. JewittDavid C. Jewitt is a professor of astronomy formerly at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, now at UCLA. He was born in 1958 in England, and is a 1979 graduate of the University of London. Jewitt received an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in...
in 2003.
2003 Mab
Mab (moon)
Mab , or Uranus XXVI , is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer in 2003 using the Hubble Space Telescope...
- Mab is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was co-discovered by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer in 2003 using the Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
.
2003 Perdita
Perdita (moon)
Perdita is an inner satellite of Uranus. Perdita's discovery was complicated. The first photographs of Perdita were taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986, but it was not recognized from the photographs for more than a decade. In 1999, the moon was noticed by Erich Karkoschka and reported...
- Perdita is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. Perdita's discovery was complicated. The first photographs of Perdita were taken by the Voyager 2Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
spacecraft in 1986, but it was not recognized from the photographs for more than a decade. In 1999, the moon was noticed by Erich KarkoschkaErich KarkoschkaErich Karkoschka is a planetary researcher at the Lunar and Planetary Lab of the University of Arizona. He discovered a satellite of Uranus, S/1986 U 10 on photographs taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft...
and reported. Because no further pictures could be taken to confirm its existence, it was officially demoted in 2001. However, in 2003, pictures taken by the Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
managed to pick up an object where Perdita was supposed to be, finally confirming its existence.
2003 Cupid
Cupid (moon)
Cupid is an inner satellite of Uranus. It was discovered by Mark Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer in 2003 using the Hubble Space Telescope. It was named after a character in William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens....
- Cupid is an inner satellite of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It was co-discovered by Mark Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer in 2003 using the Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
.
2004 Orcus
90482 Orcus
90482 Orcus is a trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt with a large moon. It was discovered on February 17, 2004 by Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University. Precovery images as early as November 8, 1951 were later identified...
- 90482 Orcus is a large Kuiper Belt object (KBO) with a large companion and is likely a dwarf planet. Orcus was co-discovered by Chad TrujilloChad TrujilloChadwick A. "Chad" Trujillo is an astronomer and the co-discoverer of the dwarf planet Eris.Trujillo works with computer software and has examined the orbits of the numerous trans-Neptunian objects , which is the outer area of the solar system that he specialized in. In late August 2005, it was...
, Michael E. BrownMichael E. BrownMichael E. Brown has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003....
, and David Rabinowitz in 2004.
2005 Makemake
- Makemake, formally designated (136472) Makemake, is the third-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar SystemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and one of the two largest Kuiper belt objects (KBO). Its diameter is roughly three-quarters that of PlutoPlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
. Makemake has no known satellites, which makes it unique among the largest KBOs. Makemake was first co-discovered in March 2005 by American astronomers Michael E. BrownMichael E. BrownMichael E. Brown has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003....
, Chad TrujilloChad TrujilloChadwick A. "Chad" Trujillo is an astronomer and the co-discoverer of the dwarf planet Eris.Trujillo works with computer software and has examined the orbits of the numerous trans-Neptunian objects , which is the outer area of the solar system that he specialized in. In late August 2005, it was...
, and David Rabinowitz at the Palomar ObservatoryPalomar ObservatoryPalomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...
.
2005 Eris
Eris (dwarf planet)
Eris, formal designation 136199 Eris, is the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth most massive body known to orbit the Sun directly...
Michael E. Brown
Michael E. Brown has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003....
.
2005 Dysnomia
Dysnomia (moon)
- References :...
Dysnomia, officially (136199) Eris I Dysnomia, is the only known moon of the dwarf planet Eris. In conjunction of finding Eris, American astronomer Michael E. Brown
Michael E. Brown
Michael E. Brown has been a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003....
discovered Eris' satellite, Dysnomia, at W. M. Keck Observatory in 2005.
2005 Hydra
Hydra (moon)
Hydra is the second outermost known natural satellite of Pluto. It was discovered along with Nix in June 2005, and is to be visited along with Pluto by the New Horizons mission in July 2015.- Discovery :...
Hydra is the outer-most natural satellite of Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
. It was discovered along with Nix in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope's
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
Pluto Companion Search Team, which is composed of Hal A. Weaver, Alan Stern
Alan Stern
S. Alan Stern is an American planetary scientist. He is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto....
, Max J. Mutchler, Andrew J. Steffl, Marc W. Buie
Marc W. Buie
Marc W. Buie is an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and went on to get a B.S. in Physics from Louisiana State University in 1980. After that he switched fields and earned his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona in...
, William J. Merline, John R. Spencer, Eliot F. Young, and Leslie A. Young.
2005 Nix
Nix (moon)
Nix is a natural satellite of Pluto. It was discovered along with Hydra in June 2005, and is to be visited along with Pluto by the New Horizons mission in July 2015.- Discovery :...
Nix is a natural satellite of Pluto. It was discovered along with Hydra
Hydra (moon)
Hydra is the second outermost known natural satellite of Pluto. It was discovered along with Nix in June 2005, and is to be visited along with Pluto by the New Horizons mission in July 2015.- Discovery :...
in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope's Pluto Companion Search Team, composed of Hal A. Weaver, Alan Stern
Alan Stern
S. Alan Stern is an American planetary scientist. He is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto....
, Max J. Mutchler, Andrew J. Steffl, Marc W. Buie
Marc W. Buie
Marc W. Buie is an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and went on to get a B.S. in Physics from Louisiana State University in 1980. After that he switched fields and earned his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona in...
, William J. Merline, John R. Spencer, Eliot F. Young, and Leslie A. Young.
2005 KV63 at the Valley of the Kings
KV63
KV63 is the most recently opened chamber in Egypt's Valley of the Kings pharaonic necropolis. Initially believed to be a royal tomb, it is now believed to have been a storage chamber for the mummification process....
- KV63 is the most recently opened chamber in Egypt's Valley of the KingsValley of the KingsThe Valley of the Kings , less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .The valley stands on the west bank of...
pharaonic necropolis. Initially believed to be a royal tomb, it is now believed to have been an ancient storage chamber for the mummification process. The 2005 discovery of KV63, located about 50 feet (15.2 m) away from King Tut's tomb, is credited to American Egyptologist Dr. Otto SchadenOtto SchadenOtto J. Schaden is an American Egyptologist. He is currently the Field Director of the Amenmesse Tomb Project of the University of Memphis . In addition to his ongoing work on the tomb of Amenmesse in the main arm of the Valley of the Kings, he has also cleared and reinvestigated tombs WV23, WV24,...
and his team from the University of Memphis.
2007 Human genome and variation mapping
Human genome
The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs plus the small mitochondrial DNA. 22 of the 23 chromosomes are autosomal chromosome pairs, while the remaining pair is sex-determining...
- The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs. Whereas a genome sequence lists the order of every DNA base in a genome, a genome map identifies the landmarks. A genome map is less detailed than a genome sequence and aids in navigating around the genome. While working at the National Institute of Health, Craig VenterCraig VenterJohn Craig Venter is an American biologist and entrepreneur, most famous for his role in being one of the first to sequence the human genome and for his role in creating the first cell with a synthetic genome in 2010. Venter founded Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research and the J...
discovered a technique for rapidly identifying all of the mRNAs present in a cell, and began to use it to identify human brain genes. The short cDNA sequence fragments discovered by this method are called expressed sequence tags. Through his scientific research of bringing the world one step closer to personalized medicine, Craig Venter was listed on Time Magazine's 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
2007 Di-positronium
Di-positronium
Di-positronium, or dipositronium, is a molecule consisting of two atoms of positronium. It was predicted to exist in 1946 by John Archibald Wheeler, and subsequently studied theoretically, but was not observed until 2007 in an experiment done by David Cassidy and Allen Mills at the University of...
- The di-positronium is a molecule consisting of two atoms of positronium. It was predicted to exist in 1946 by John Archibald WheelerJohn Archibald WheelerJohn Archibald Wheeler was an American theoretical physicist who was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in explaining the basic principles behind nuclear fission...
and subsequently studied theoretically, but was not observed until 2007 in an experiment done by David Cassidy and Allen Mills at the University of California, Riverside.
2010 GFAJ-1
GFAJ-1
GFAJ-1 is a strain of rod-shaped bacterium in the family Halomonadaceae. The extremophile was isolated from the hypersaline and alkaline Mono Lake in eastern California by a research team led by NASA astrobiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon...
- GFAJ-1 is a strain of rod-shaped bacterium in the family HalomonadaceaeHalomonadaceaeThe Halomonadaceae are a family of halophilic Proteobacteria.-History:The family was originally created in 1988 to contain the genera Halomonas and Deleya....
. In 2010, American geomicrobiologist Felisa Wolfe-SimonFelisa Wolfe-SimonFelisa Wolfe-Simon is an American microbial geobiologist and biogeochemist. As a NASA research fellow in residence at the US Geological Survey and a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, Wolfe-Simon led the team that discovered GFAJ-1, an extremophile bacterium that they claim is capable of...
, a NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
research fellow in residence at the United States Geological SurveyUnited States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
in Menlo Park, California, cultured sediments she and her colleagues collected along the shore of Mono Lake, California. Mono Lake is hypersaline and highly alkaline. It also has one of the highest natural concentrations of arsenic in the world. Wolfe-Simon reported that GFAJ-1 may incorporate arsenic into its biomolecules, including DNA. This discovery is a scientific breakthrough in the sense that a new pathway for life on Earth or other planets may be possible whereby organisms can can exist containing arsenic in place of phosphorus.
See also
- Bone WarsBone WarsThe Bone Wars, also known as the "Great Dinosaur Rush", refers to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh...
- Discovery of Pluto
- George Washington Carver Peanut Discoveries
- History of United States patent lawHistory of United States patent law"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;" From the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8....
- List of African-American inventors and scientists
- List of asteroids discovered by Carolyn Shoemaker
- Lemelson–MIT Prize
- NASA spin-off
- National Geographic SocietyNational Geographic SocietyThe National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
- National Inventors Hall of FameNational Inventors Hall of FameThe National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
- Native American contributionsNative American Contributions-A:abstract art- Abstract art was used by nearly all tribes and civilizations of North and South America. Native American art was believed to be primitive until the 1990s, when it served as inspiration for the modern American abstract art movement....
- Science and technology in the United StatesScience and technology in the United StatesThe United States came into being around the Age of Enlightenment , a period in which writers and thinkers rejected the superstitions of the past. Instead, they emphasized the powers of reason and unbiased inquiry, especially inquiry into the workings of the natural world...
- Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
- Technological and industrial history of the United States
- Timeline of United States inventionsTimeline of United States inventionsThe following articles cover the timeline of United States inventions* Timeline of United States inventions * Timeline of United States inventions * Timeline of United States inventions...
- United States Patent and Trademark OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark OfficeThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
- United States patent lawUnited States patent lawUnited States patent law was established "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;" as provided by the United States Constitution. Congress implemented these...
- Yankee ingenuityYankee ingenuityYankee ingenuity is an American English reference to the self-reliance of early colonial settlers of New England, United States. It describes an attitude of make-do with materials on hand. It is inventive improvisation, adaptation and overcoming of dire straits when faced with a dearth of...