On This Day in Fact and Fiction
April 1, 2025
1776: Mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Sophie Germain born. Germain's work on Fermat's Last Theorem will provide a foundation for mathematicians exploring the subject for hundreds of years after.
1898: Mathematician and anthropologist William James Sidis born. Sidis will become famous first for his precocity and later for his eccentricity and withdrawal from public life.
1973: Mathematician Robin Farquharson dies. Farquharson wrote an influential analysis of voting systems in his doctoral thesis, later published as Theory of Voting.
2003: Steve Bellovin publishes Request for Comment 5314, subsequently known as the evil bit protocol, a humorous April Fool's Day proposal.
"On This Day in Fact and Fiction" is sponsored by Gnomon Chronicles Industries.
