Today in History – April 14, 1932 – First atom is split by a proton beam on a lithium target. Two physicists, Englishman Sir John Douglas Cockcroft and Irishman Ernest Walton developed the first nuclear particle accelerator, the Cockcroft-Walton generator. With this equipment, they succeeded in being the first to split the nucleus of an [...]

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Today in History – April 11, 1970 -  Apollo 13 was launched, but nearly ended in tragedy when there was a fire and an explosion on board that substantially damaged one side of the spacecraft. Saved by quick thinking, teamwork, and training of the astronauts and ground command allowed the astronauts were able to return [...]

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Today in History – April 10, 1662 – Robert Hooke’s first publication – a pamphlet on capillary action, to the Society for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning. The Society had been constituted, to promote experimental philosophy, by at a meeting of a dozen scientists in Gresham College on 28 Nov 1660. The Society subsequently [...]

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Today in History – April 9, 1967 – The Boeing 737 makes its maiden flight. Boeing initiated the design in 1958 and received its first order in 1965. Since then the Boeing 737 has become a top selling airplane with approximately 6,000 orders. John McMasters was an expert engineer at Boeing who had an endless [...]

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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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