Today in History – February 29, 1940 – The Nobel Prize in Physics was presented to Ernest Lawrence “for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements”. Due to WWII, the prize could not be awarded in Sweden and was awarded instead in [...]

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James Chadwick and the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues Today in History – February 27, 1932 – Chadwick publishes his discovery of the neutron. Until 1932, the atom was known to consist of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by enough negatively charged electrons to make the atom electrically neutral. Most of the atom was [...]

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Today in History – February 25, 1837 – Thomas Davenport patents the electric motor and electric railway. Thomas Davenport, an American blacksmith, first invented the DC electrical motor in 1834 and used it to make a small model of electrical railway in 1835. He patented a device for “Improvements in propelling machinery by magnetism and [...]

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Today in History – February 23, 1893 – Rudolf Diesel patents the diesel engine in Germany. Rudolf Diesel’s goal was to improve on the efficiency of the gasoline-engine that used the Otto cycle. His new concept for the engine was to compress the air in the cylinder adiabatically. Once this high level of compression causes [...]

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Today in History – February 22, 1876 – Johns Hopkins opens as first research university in America. At his inauguration, Johns Hopkins first president, Daniel Coit Gilman asked: What are we aiming at? The encouragement of research … and the advancement of individual scholars, who by their excellence will advance the sciences they pursue, and [...]

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