Today in History – March 24, 1959 – the maser was patented by Charles Hard Townes (No. 2,879,439), who was a professor at Columbia University. “Maser” is an acronym for “Microwave Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation “.  He had the unique idea for a new microwave generator, based on the idea that excited [...]

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Today in History – March 22, 1985 – The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is adopted in response to studies documenting the harm caused to the environment and our own health by ozone-depleting substances. Ozone is a colorless gas, closely related to the oxygen in the air we breathe. The ozone molecule [...]

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Today in History – March 19, 1932 – the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia, was opened. It is the world’s largest steel-arch Bridge. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on bridge design and construction. For related educational resources, visit the Civil Engineering Education or Construction Engineering Education disciplinary communities. Also today in 1883 the [...]

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Today in History – March 18, 1965 – The first spacewalk. The Soviet Union had launched the Voskhod 2 carrying Aleksey Leonov and Pavel Belyayev aboard. On the second orbit Leonov conducted a 12 minute tethered spacewalk, first leaving the spacecraft through the air lock and becoming the first person to climb out of a [...]

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Today in History – March 16, 1926 – Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard launched the world’s first successful liquid-fuel rocket. Goddard’s rocket was a very small contraption connected to tanks with gasoline and liquid oxygen, and sitting atop a frame 10 feet tall. It screeched into the air for a few seconds, reaching an altitude of [...]

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