Science Teachers’ Assocation of NSW inc 2018–19 Calendar
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
1858, the Darwin-Wallace
theory of evolution by
natural selection was
first presented at the
Linnaean Society in
London by Lyell and
Hooker, after Darwin
received the letter from
Wallace outlining his
nearly identical theory.
1
1996, Dolly, a cloned
sheep, was born at
the Roslin Institute,
Edinburgh, after Ian
Wilmut and his team
replaced the nucleus
of an egg cell with the
nucleus from the parent
udder cell.
1906 birth of Hans
Albrecht Bethe, German-
US physicist who helped
shape classical physics
into quantum physics by
increasing understanding
of atomic processes.
2
3
4
1962, Telstar 1, world’s
first geosynchronous
active communications
satellite, launched from
Cape Canaveral, to relay
TV and telephone signals
between the US and
Europe.
9
10 11
1959, Mary Leakey
discovered an ancient
hominid skull in Olduvai
Gorge, East Africa, the
first specimen of this
species. Now classified as
Australopithecus boisei,
it has been dated to 1.8
m.y. BC. 1938 death of Henri
Farman, French aviator
and aircraft designer
who developed ailerons
in1908 to solve the
problems of lateral
control. His innovation
came into general use on
all planes.
16
17
23
24
25
NATIONAL TREE
DAY
30
6
1870 birth of Eugène
Freyssinet, French civil
engineer who developed
pre-stressed concrete
- concrete beams have
steel wire embedded
under tension to
strengthen them.
12 13
1774, Joseph Priestley,
British chemist, identified
a gas that he called
1918 birth of Paul D.
‘dephlogisticated air’
Boyer, US biochemist
-later known as oxygen.
who shared a 1997 Nobel
Prize for work explaining He obtained it by heating
the enzymatic process of ‘mercury rust’ and saw
ATP production. ATP fuels that in it a candle burned
brighter.
the metabolism in
cells of all living
things.
31
1
19
7
8
8
1928 birth of Carl R.
Woese, US micro-
biologist who classified
organisms Archaea as
a third domain of life,
distinct from the other
two domains of Bacteria
and Eukarya
14
20
21
1882 birth of Geoffrey De
Havilland, English aircraft
pilot, designer and
pioneer in long-distance
jet flying.
26
1949, British De Havilland
Comet, first jet-propelled
airliner, made its maiden
flight in England.
27
1820 birth of John
Tyndall, Irish physicist,
who demonstrated
why the sky is blue and
made many inventions
including a light pipe
that led to modern fibre
optics.
2
1945, the first atomic
bomb (uranium) used
in World War II was
dropped on Hiroshima,
Japan. Three days later
a plutonium bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki.
6
7
15
1955, Ian Donald, English
physician, made his first
investigation of the use
of ultrasound in medical
diagnosis to detect
tumours; later extended
its use to investigate
fetal growth during
pregnancy.
1920 birth of Rosalind
Franklin, English chemist
& X-ray crystallographer,
who contributed to
the discovery of the
molecular structure of
deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA).
1904 death of John
Simon, English
pathologist, whose
sanitary reforms led
to modern standards
of public health. From
1848 in UK, local boards
of health were set up,
responsible for drainage,
paving and water
supply.
INTERNATIONAL
FRIENDSHIP DAY
18
5 1920, the Panama Canal
was formally dedicated
after 30 years of complex
engineering effort.
9
3
28
1755 birth of Nicolas-
Jacques Conté,
French chemist who
devised a method of
manufacturing pencil
leads by mixing a finely
powdered graphite
with finely ground clay
particles, baked, and
used encased in wood.
22
1862 birth of Eduard
Brückner, German
climatologist, who
initiated scientific debate
on climate change as
a natural function of
the Earth system, or
influenced by man’s
activities, such as
deforestation.
29
4
1929 death of Aletta
Jacobs, Dutch physician,
first woman in
Netherlands to attend
university; she pioneered
family planning with the
world’s first birth control
clinic. 1858 birth of Christiaan
Eijkman, Dutch scientist
and physician who, by
demonstrating that
beriberi is caused by
poor diet, discovered the
importance of vitamins
for humans.
10 11
5
1883, the quagga, a
relative of the zebra,
went extinct when the
last mare at a Zoo in
Amsterdam died. It was
not realized until later
that she was the last of
her species.
12
The school theme for National Science Week in 2018 is ‘Game Changers and Change Makers’
Almost by definition, inventors and scientists are change makers. This calendar presents
— 4 . —
a selection of people and events that have changed the way we live and extended our knowledge and understanding of the world.