Template:Selected anniversaries/April 16: Difference between revisions

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||1947: The Texas City disaster: an industrial accident ... in the Port of Texas City, Texas. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the port), her cargo of approximately 2,200 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated, initiating a subsequent chain-reaction of additional fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities. It killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. The disaster triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims. Pic.
||1947: The Texas City disaster: an industrial accident ... in the Port of Texas City, Texas. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the port), her cargo of approximately 2,200 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated, initiating a subsequent chain-reaction of additional fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities. It killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. The disaster triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims. Pic.
||1957: Johnny Torrio dies ... mob boss. He helped to build a criminal organization, the Chicago Outfit, in the 1920s; it was later inherited by his protégé, Al Capone. He also put forth the idea of the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s and later became an unofficial adviser to the Genovese crime family. Pic.


File:Rosalind Franklin.jpg|link=Rosalind Franklin (nonfiction)|1958: Chemist and X-ray crystallographer [[Rosalind Franklin (nonfiction)|Rosalind Franklin]] dies. She made contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
File:Rosalind Franklin.jpg|link=Rosalind Franklin (nonfiction)|1958: Chemist and X-ray crystallographer [[Rosalind Franklin (nonfiction)|Rosalind Franklin]] dies. She made contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

Revision as of 08:03, 31 March 2019

  • April 16, 1178 BC: A solar eclipse occurs. Homer's Odyssey contains a passage which may reference the eclipse: "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world."

    April 16, 1178 BC: A solar eclipse occurs. Homer's Odyssey contains a passage which may reference the eclipse: "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world."

  • 1491: Polymath Leonardo da Vinci designs a mechanical soldier. The first working prototype will take over a decade to complete, after which da Vinci will lose all funding for the project.

    1491: Polymath Leonardo da Vinci designs a mechanical soldier. The first working prototype will take over a decade to complete, after which da Vinci will lose all funding for the project.

  • 1495: Mathematician and astronomer Petrus Apianus born. His works on cosmography, Astronomicum Caesareum (1540) and Cosmographicus liber (1524), will be extremely influential in his time.

    1495: Mathematician and astronomer Petrus Apianus born. His works on cosmography, Astronomicum Caesareum (1540) and Cosmographicus liber (1524), will be extremely influential in his time.

  • 1673: Leibniz wrote to Oldenburg about series: "I conjecture that Mr. Collins himself does not speak of these summations of infinite series because he brings forward the example of the series 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, ... which if it is continued to infinity cannot be summed because the sum is not finite, like the sum of the triangular numbers, but infinite. But now I am cramped by the space of my paper."

    1673: Leibniz wrote to Oldenburg about series: "I conjecture that Mr. Collins himself does not speak of these summations of infinite series because he brings forward the example of the series 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, ... which if it is continued to infinity cannot be summed because the sum is not finite, like the sum of the triangular numbers, but infinite. But now I am cramped by the space of my paper."

  • 1736: Philosopher and crime-fighter Red Eyes prevents gang of math criminals from kidnapping Leibniz and Newton.

    1736: Philosopher and crime-fighter Red Eyes prevents gang of math criminals from kidnapping Leibniz and Newton.

  • 1705: Physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton knighted by Queen Anne at Trinity College.

    1705: Physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton knighted by Queen Anne at Trinity College.

  • 1958: Chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin dies. She made contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

    1958: Chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin dies. She made contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

  • 1958: Combat physician and alleged time-traveller Asclepius Myrmidon prevents Colonel Zersetzung from detonating the Tybee Bomb.

    1958: Combat physician and alleged time-traveller Asclepius Myrmidon prevents Colonel Zersetzung from detonating the Tybee Bomb.

  • 1958: The United States military announces that the search for hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb was unsuccessful.

    1958: The United States military announces that the search for hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb was unsuccessful.

  • 1962: Brainiac Explains lecture series explains why Colonel Zersetzung failed to detonate the Tybee Bomb.

    1962: Brainiac Explains lecture series explains why Colonel Zersetzung failed to detonate the Tybee Bomb.

  • 2008: Mathematician Edward Lorenz dies. He introduced the strange attractor notion, and coined the term butterfly effect.

    2008: Mathematician Edward Lorenz dies. He introduced the strange attractor notion, and coined the term butterfly effect.

  • 2008: Lorenz system diagram says it "owes everything to Papa Lorenz."

    2008: Lorenz system diagram says it "owes everything to Papa Lorenz."

  • 2017: Math photographer Cantor Parabola attends Minicon 52, taking a series of photographs with temporal superimpositions from Minicons 51 and 53.

    2017: Math photographer Cantor Parabola attends Minicon 52, taking a series of photographs with temporal superimpositions from Minicons 51 and 53.

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