Energy
Day 4 - First Electrolytic Production Of Bromine
Posted on January 4, 2011In 1891, Herbert H. Dow discovers way to produce bromine, opening the doors for major chemical production in the U.S.
Day 10 - Carl von Linde
Posted on January 10, 2011This scientist developed a way to extract oxygen from the air, making it available to hospitals and industries and for use as rocket fuel.
Day 16 - Fermium
Posted on January 16, 2011Fermium, a radioactive rare earth metal, was first isolated and identified by scientists in 1953 at University of California, Berkeley.
Day 23 - Marie Curie
Posted on January 23, 2011In 1911, Nobel Laureate Marie Curie’s nomination to the French Academy of Sciences is rejected by the Academy’s all-male membership.
Day 28 - Kathleen Lonsdale
Posted on January 28, 2011Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale determined the crystal pattern of molecules using X-ray crystallography, part of a lifetime of fundamental contributions to the study of the of molecules using x-rays.
Day 33 - Gasoline
Posted on February 2, 2011Leaded gasoline hit the U.S. market in Dayton, OH, 1923, when Thomas Midgley, Jr., of General Motors Research labs added tetraethyllead to gasoline.
Day 40 - Light Sticks
Posted on February 9, 2011Adam’s Peak Pilgrimage, Sri Lanka: Pilgrims of all religions flock to climb the steps on this steep mountain path, which is illuminated with light.
Day 42 - Frederick Soddy
Posted on February 11, 2011British radiochemist Frederick Soddy coins the word “isotope” for elements that appeared to occupy the same place on the periodic table.
Day 44 - Solar Cells
Posted on February 13, 2011In 1990, the U.S. space probe Voyager I captured a series of photographs of the sun on a voyage to the edge of the Solar System. Today, scientists are working to develop new materials and strategies for designing photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into electricity.
Day 46 - Chemistry and Microelectronics
Posted on February 15, 2011In 1897, Ferdinand Braun published a paper in the journal Annalen der Physik und Chemie describing his “Braun tube,” which was the first cathode-ray oscilloscope. He developed this as a method to record and study the time dependence of alternating currents.
Day 51 - The Chemical Revolution
Posted on February 20, 2011In 1773, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier described a new nomenclature for chemistry which clarified the distinction between elements and compounds.
Day 73 - Albert Einstein
Posted on March 14, 2011Physicist Albert Einstein, born this day in 1879, made contributions to the development of modern chemistry as well. His explanation of the photoelectric effect became the basis of the quantitative laws of photochemistry, as noted in this 2005 article.
Day 76 - Sugar Processing
Posted on March 17, 2011Norbert Rillieux’s strange-sounding invention, the Multiple Effect Evaporator under Vacuum, revolutionized sugar processing, making it safer, cheaper, and more efficient.
Day 77 - Gilman Hall
Posted on March 18, 2011Gilman Hall, chemistry building at the University of California, Berkeley, dedicated in 1918. Research done here has resulted in two Nobel Prizes.
Day 78 - Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot
Posted on March 19, 2011Frédéric Joliot-Curie worked with Marie Curie and married her daughter, Irène Curie. He and Irène did research on the structure of the atom, garnering the pair a Nobel Prize in 1935.
Day 81 - Robert A. Millikan
Posted on March 22, 2011An experiment performed by Robert Millikan in 1909 determined the size of the charge on an electron. He received the Nobel Prize for his work.
Day 88 - Electron Microscopy for Chemists
Posted on March 29, 2011In 1956, Soviet scientists claimed the development of a new form of electron microscope that enabled atoms to be seen for the first time. Today, advances in imaging are allowing chemists to probe materials with extraordinary resolution using transmission electron microscopy.
Day 90 - Robert Bunsen
Posted on March 31, 2011Robert Bunsen, born 1811, made many contributions to science, but is most widely recognized for a burner he created for use in flame tests.
Day 91 - Trick Candles
Posted on April 1, 2011A highly reactive metal used in this novelty item will put a spark in April Fools’ Day again and again.
Day 96 - The American Chemical Society
Posted on April 6, 2011The American Chemical Society (ACS) founded in 1876 in New York City. John W. Draper, a scientist interested in photochemistry, served as first president.
Day 98 - The Columbia dry cell battery
Posted on April 8, 2011In 1886, German scientist, Dr. Carl Gassner, was issued a German patent for the first “dry” cell. The following year, he received a U.S. patent for the dry cell battery, a forerunner to today’s Energizer battery.
Day 104 - Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators
Posted on April 14, 2011NASA’s Nimbus III weather satellite made the first civilian use of nuclear batteries, or “space batteries,” 1969. Officially known as Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), the batteries have provided spacecraft power for many years.
Day 106 - Humphry Davy
Posted on April 16, 2011Humphry Davy performed the first physiological experiment on nitrous oxide by inhaling it, 1799. (Don’t try this at home!)
Day 108 - Federation of African Societies of Chemistry (FASC)
Posted on April 18, 2011FASC and other African nations and Chemistry Societies played a critical role in obtaining UNESCO and UN support for the declaration of 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry (IYC).
Day 115 - Paul Cook
Posted on April 25, 2011Paul M. Cook, born 1924, created a chemistry lab in his house when he was 12 years old, and went on to develop high-performance materials used to build the electronic infrastructure that serve as the backbone of today’s wired world.
Day 118 - Fireflies
Posted on April 28, 2011Fireflies get their brilliant glow from a light-emitting pigment called luciferin. Similar substances cause the glow of other so-called bioluminescent or light-producing creatures, including certain fish.
Day 120 - J.J. Thomson
Posted on April 30, 2011Joseph John Thomson announced in 1897 the discovery of a particle lighter than all known elements — the electron.
Day 122 - Commercial Processes for Making Calcium Carbide and Acetylene
Posted on May 2, 2011In 1892, Canadian Thomas L. Willson accidentally discovered the electric-arc process for preparing calcium carbide.
Day 134 - The Birth of the American Chemical Enterprise at Jamestown
Posted on May 14, 2011The Birth of the Chemical Enterprise founded in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia as chemical practitioners from Europe settled in early Virginia.
Day 136 - Quantum Cascade Lasers
Posted on May 16, 2011In 1960, a synthetic ruby crystal laser was first operated at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. This first operable laser device helped propel studies in physical chemistry. Today, scientists continue making advances with quantum cascade lasers.
Day 140 - The Noyes Laboratory
Posted on May 20, 2011Chemical sciences in the United States have been immeasurably strengthened by the important and continuing interdisciplinary research conducted by Noyes Laboratory scientists.
Day 141 - Sandpaper
Posted on May 21, 2011Spring cleaning is often accompanied by a wealth of do-it-yourself projects using this ubiquitous abrasive.
Day 142 - The Fluid Bed Reactor
Posted on May 22, 2011First fluid bed reactor for gasoline production went on stream in 1942 to meet growing demand for high-octane fuels.
Day 144 - St. Elmo Brady
Posted on May 24, 2011In 1916 St. Elmo Brady became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States.
Day 145 - The Houdry Process
Posted on May 25, 2011Houdry process for gasoline production unveiled in 1937, conserved natural oil by doubling the amount of gasoline produced by other processes.
Day 150 - William Ramsay
Posted on May 30, 2011William Ramsay and Morris William Travers discovered krypton in 1898. Krypton is used in certain photographic flash lamps for high-speed photography.
Day 156 - Ibuprofen
Posted on June 5, 2011Ibuprofen, commonly used as an alternative to aspirin, received an environmental make-over of its industrial production process in 1997.
Day 158 - Luminol
Posted on June 7, 2011The chemiluminescence of luminol, which produces light rather than heat when it reacts with an oxidizing agent, has become a valuable tool in crime scene investigations.
Day 159 - Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal
Posted on June 8, 2011Edwin M. McMillan and Philip Abelson announced discovery of neptunium (Np, 93) in 1940. Today, neptunium’s 2.14 million year half-life makes it a challenge for nuclear waste storage and disposal.
Day 164 - Nickel Batteries
Posted on June 13, 2011Rechargeable Ni-Cd and NiMH batteries provide power for cordless phones, cordless power tools rechargeable batteries for consumer electronics and for hybrid cars.
Day 166 - Biodiesel
Posted on June 15, 2011Biodiesel, made from either waste fry oil or vegetable oil, shows excellent commercial promise as an alternative fuel to gasoline and oil.
Day 172 - “I’ll take ‘Chemistry’ for $200, Alex!”
Posted on June 21, 2011The game show Jeopardy will celebrate IYC by devoting a category of questions to chemistry on June 21. Spread the word and tune in!
Day 177 - James Smithson
Posted on June 26, 2011Death in 1829 of James Smithson, a fellow of the Royal Society of London, whose bequest founded the Smithsonian Institution.
Day 179 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer
Posted on June 28, 2011Birth in 1906 of Maria Goeppert-Mayer, who developed the shell model of the nucleus and received a Nobel Prize in 1963. Because of anti-nepotism rules – she was married to another professor — she spent decades teaching university physics as an unpaid volunteer, and did not receive an offer of paid full-time employment until 1959.
Day 181 - Humphry Davy
Posted on June 30, 2011Humphry Davy announced the isolation of the elements barium, calcium, “magnium” (magnesium), and strontium to the Royal Society in 1808. Earlier in his career, he isolated nitrous oxide, naming it “laughing gas” after testing its effects on his friend, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Day 207 - Pierre Curie
Posted on July 26, 2011A true marriage of scientific minds, Pierre Curie and Maria (Marie) Sklodowska wed on this day in 1895. Pierre and Marie Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903.
Day 213 - Joseph Priestley’s Discovery of Oxygen
Posted on August 1, 2011Joseph Priestley’s discovery of oxygen, 1774. Today, the American Chemical Society recognizes groundbreaking chemists with the Priestly Medal, the Society’s highest honor.
Day 237 - Michael Faraday
Posted on August 25, 20111867 death of Michael Faraday, whose many experiments contributed greatly to the understanding of electromagnetism. He published pioneering papers that led to the practical use of electricity.
Day 239 - The Development of the Pennsylvania Oil Industry
Posted on August 27, 2011Development of the Pennsylvania oil industry started in 1859, when Edwin Drake drilled the world’s first oil well.
Day 254 - Memorial Elements
Posted on September 11, 2011The four basic elements — water, air, earth and fire — provide us a rich tradition for honoring the dead.
Day 271 - Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann
Posted on September 28, 2011First meeting of Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn, 1908. Their collaboration led, 30 years later, to the experimental detection and interpretation of fission.
Day 279 - Chemicals from Coal Facility
Posted on October 6, 2011The Coal Facility in Kingsport, Tennessee — the first U.S. plant to use coal rather than petroleum to produce chemicals for plastics —began operating in 1983.
Day 281 - The Microwave Oven
Posted on October 8, 2011Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven, which uses a type of radiation to warm food quickly and efficiently. People now use the device on a daily basis to heat foods ranging from popcorn to frozen dinners. One this day in 1945, the patent application for the microwave cooking process was filed.
Day 283 - Ernest Orlando Lawrence
Posted on October 10, 2011Ernest Orlando Lawrence invented the cyclotron in 1930, paving the way for deep new insights into the innermost nature of matter.
Day 287 - Alfred Nobel
Posted on October 14, 2011Alfred Nobel receives the first of 355 patents, a Swedish patent for preparing nitroglycerin, in 1863. He died in 1896, leaving his considerable estate as an endowment for annual awards in chemistry, physics, medicine or physiology, literature, and peace.
Day 295 - Incandescent Light Bulbs
Posted on October 22, 2011October 22nd marks the anniversary of Thomas Edison’s successful test of his prototype for an incandescent light bulb.
Day 312 - Wilhelm Röntgen
Posted on November 8, 2011Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895. In 1901, he was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics, for his identification of this new form of energy.
Day 313 - In the Limelight
Posted on November 9, 2011In 1825, Thomas Drummond heated a ball of lime in front of a reflector, creating a brilliant white light. The discovery led to improvements in theater and lighthouse lighting.
Day 323 - Photoionization Detectors
Posted on November 19, 2011Photoionization detectors are light, portable instruments that are invaluable for assessing potential chemical hazards onsite.
Day 325 - Fire Extinguishers
Posted on November 21, 2011Fire extinguishers, which are effective at controlling small fires, work by removing the oxygen needed to maintain the combustion process.
Day 354 - Candles
Posted on December 20, 2011At the darkest time of the year, candles are an important symbol of hope and life in this month’s Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, Christian celebration of Christmas, and in the celebration of Kwanzaa.
Day 355 - Hand Warmers
Posted on December 21, 2011First Day of Winter –a pair of these will keep your hand warm via an exothermic reaction that, in essence, creates rust.
Day 357 - Paul B. Weisz
Posted on December 23, 2011Swedish chemist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, born 1722, discovered zeolite. Today, natural and synthetic zeolites are used as catalysts to boost the amount of gasoline obtainable from petroleum, thanks to pioneering work of another chemist, Paul B. Weisz.
Day 358 - Radiation Chemistry Commercialized
Posted on December 24, 2011Radiation chemistry, which uses high energy electrons to alter the structure of polymers, goes commercial Dec 24, 1957.