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1919 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li>April – <a href="/facts/George_Ellery_Hale/WWnVuHra">George Ellery Hale</a> and collaborators publish their discovery that the magnetic polarity of <a href="/facts/Sunspot/7E8cWSGl">sunspot</a> pairs reverses on an 11-year <a href="/facts/Solar_cycle/QrP4Egea">solar cycle</a> and that the polarity varies by hemisphere, which becomes known as <a href="/facts/Hale%2527s_law/Ukl4kPdG">Hale's law</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li>The <a href="/facts/International_Astronomical_Union/GMFPImXo">International Astronomical Union</a> is established in Paris.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li>June 1 – The term <i>covalence</i> in relation to <a href="/facts/Chemical_bond/ArNUMnIB">chemical bonding</a> is first used by <a href="/facts/Irving_Langmuir/mPt8xwUp">Irving Langmuir</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Francis_William_Aston/DVoj9ebB">F. W. Aston</a> discovers multiple stable <a href="/facts/Isotope/KD9B1y6o">isotopes</a> for <a href="/facts/Neon/5bF1FwGL">neon</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="history-of-science">History of science</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Leonard_Eugene_Dickson/zJ3rPHDJ">Leonard Eugene Dickson</a> begins publication of <i><a href="/facts/History_of_the_Theory_of_Numbers/D33wCRbQ">History of the Theory of Numbers</a></i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Viggo_Brun/6ocjeNQk">Viggo Brun</a> proves <a href="/facts/Brun%2527s_theorem/NJWL5gNW">Brun's theorem</a> <i>B</i>2 for <a href="/facts/Twin_prime/272VWQbc">twin primes</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/G._H._Hardy/zBkDLb05">G. H. Hardy</a> rediscovers <a href="/facts/Pisot%25E2%2580%2593Vijayaraghavan_number/bkCgwe0Q">Pisot–Vijayaraghavan numbers</a> in the context of <a href="/facts/Diophantine_approximation/WGVMuWF4">Diophantine approximation</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>Dr <a href="/facts/George_Newman_(doctor)/V8bCGlew">George Newman</a> is appointed as the first <a href="/facts/Chief_Medical_Officer_(United_Kingdom)/yRKdBXTB">Chief Medical Officer</a> to the <a href="/facts/Department_of_Health_(United_Kingdom)/snoYk2Wm">Ministry of Health</a> in <a href="/facts/England_and_Wales/nRu8tsxR">England and Wales</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li>May 29 – <a href="/facts/Albert_Einstein/CNTet8qu">Einstein's</a> theory of <a href="/facts/General_relativity/jVsoIg8X">general relativity</a> is tested by <a href="/facts/Arthur_Eddington/b0jPBaSA">Arthur Eddington</a>'s observation of the "bending of light" during the total <a href="/facts/Solar_eclipse_of_May_29%2c_1919/b089U5jt">solar eclipse</a> on this day observed in <a href="/facts/Principe/C8HLuyCx">Principe</a>, and by <a href="/facts/Andrew_Crommelin/yB6pcSxW">Andrew Crommelin</a> in <a href="/facts/Sobral%2c_Cear%25C3%25A1/4tfY6Bvv">Sobral, Ceará</a>, <a href="/facts/Brazil/QHkG46GL">Brazil</a> (confirmed November 6).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Arnold_Sommerfeld/cJtpVHvn">Arnold Sommerfeld</a> and <a href="/facts/Walther_Kossel/kfmkh0p8">Walther Kossel</a> publish their <a href="/facts/Sommerfeld%25E2%2580%2593Kossel_displacement_law/2pjNlYeS">displacement law</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/James_Jeans/fFbJttMj">James Jeans</a> discovers that the dynamical constants of motion determine the distribution function for a system of particles.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Betz%2527s_law/6P1NaR8N">Betz's law</a> is published by German physicist <a href="/facts/Albert_Betz/6NT60QjV">Albert Betz</a>, indicating the maximum power that can be extracted from the wind, independent of the design of a wind turbine in open flow.</li></ul> <h2 id="psychology">Psychology</h2> <ul><li>In Berlin Dr <a href="/facts/Magnus_Hirschfeld/4Hpg6pMl">Magnus Hirschfeld</a> and <a href="/facts/Arthur_Kronfeld/sU6W9Xp9">Arthur Kronfeld</a> found the <i><a href="/facts/Institut_f%25C3%25BCr_Sexualwissenschaft/6gByI9Ph">Institut für Sexualwissenschaft</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>First crossings of the Atlantic Ocean by air. <ul><li>May 8–27 – United States Navy <a href="/facts/Curtiss_Aeroplane_and_Motor_Company/LSm6b46F">Curtiss</a> <a href="/facts/Flying_boat/UmALvlKC">flying boat</a> <a href="/facts/NC-4/jGyeVI6Y">NC-4</a> commanded by <a href="/facts/Albert_Cushing_Read/qo8zox4a">Albert Cushing Read</a> makes the first <a href="/facts/Transatlantic_flight/g9QekA7u">transatlantic flight</a>, from <a href="/facts/Naval_Air_Station_Rockaway/IYB2PA04">Naval Air Station Rockaway</a> to <a href="/facts/Lisbon/zFTcC99e">Lisbon</a> via Newfoundland and the <a href="/facts/Azores/yWF1EGs8">Azores</a>.</li> <li>June 14–15 – A <a href="/facts/Vickers_Vimy/m6PYItSL">Vickers Vimy</a> flown by <a href="/facts/John_Alcock_(aviator)/aItgFhbo">John Alcock</a> and <a href="/facts/Arthur_Whitten_Brown/MNyMhLo8">Arthur Whitten Brown</a> makes the first <a href="/facts/Transatlantic_flight_of_Alcock_and_Brown/hancaWFe">nonstop transatlantic flight</a>, from <a href="/facts/St._John%2527s%2c_Newfoundland/D7HoujDF">St. John's, Newfoundland</a>, to <a href="/facts/Clifden/nw81egpC">Clifden</a>, Ireland.</li> <li>July 2–6 – British <a href="/facts/Airship/8X3TSBdx">airship</a> <a href="/facts/R34_(airship)/q8QdvsYD">R34</a> makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible, and the first westbound flight, from <a href="/facts/RAF_East_Fortune/LFWERJWm">RAF East Fortune</a>, <a href="/facts/Scotland/VGwbbxB2">Scotland</a>, to <a href="/facts/Mineola%2c_New_York/GWYvEokQ">Mineola, New York</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>May 29 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Strite/InlN3ntA">Charles Strite</a> files a United States <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> for the electric pop-up bread <a href="/facts/Toaster/F3dEReUI">toaster</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>October 17 – Dr. <a href="/facts/Frank_Conrad/HaN1kbaa">Frank Conrad</a> begins broadcasting from <a href="/facts/KDKA-AM/TcwwVhM7">8XK</a> in <a href="/facts/Pittsburgh/42yPHyS0">Pittsburgh</a> (United States).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Lee_De_Forest/tMDkcLnV">Lee De Forest</a> files his first United States patent for the <a href="/facts/Phonofilm/APQSbbMx">Phonofilm</a> <a href="/facts/Sound-on-film/I2IC8PTC">sound-on-film</a> process.</li> <li>United States firearms designer <a href="/facts/John_Browning/8WCE1X2d">John Browning</a> finalizes the design of the <a href="/facts/M1919_Browning_machine_gun/Y2hcu05z">M1919 Browning machine gun</a>.</li> <li>United States firearms designer <a href="/facts/John_T._Thompson/KLAsHhpG">John T. Thompson</a> finalizes the design of the <a href="/facts/Thompson_submachine_gun/0Um3TzJz">Thompson submachine gun</a>.</li> <li>A United States patent for the self-folding <a href="/facts/Collar_(clothing)/aesNTKaj">shirt collar</a> is obtained by the <a href="/facts/PVH_(company)/jL6tyWJ8">Phillips-Jones Corporation</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Physics</a> – <a href="/facts/Johannes_Stark/3Cg0w2HF">Johannes Stark</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry/8Nb8Ajjy">Chemistry</a> – not awarded</li> <li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Medicine</a> – <a href="/facts/Jules_Bordet/0qVtytNm">Jules Bordet</a></li></ul></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 23 – <a href="/facts/Hans_Hass/epaFXe2E">Hans Hass</a> (died <a href="/facts/2013_in_science/WueRPaAd">2013</a>), <a href="/facts/Austrians/EaCmCnHx">Austrian</a> zoologist and oceanographer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li>February 25 – <a href="/facts/Karl_H._Pribram/Yr3ItFQY">Karl H. Pribram</a> (died <a href="/facts/2015_in_science/ztLIsTpJ">2015</a>), Austrian-American neuroscientist.</li> <li>April 1 – <a href="/facts/Joseph_Murray/K2IgJtvI">Joseph Murray</a> (died <a href="/facts/2012_in_science/LJKMAdSd">2012</a>), American <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Nobel Prize</a>-winning transplant surgeon.</li> <li>June 22 – <a href="/facts/Henri_Tajfel/TMX5cfx0">Henri Tajfel</a> (died <a href="/facts/1982_in_science/xCDCCS8N">1982</a>), <a href="/facts/Poland/eXJ7fd0D">Polish</a>-born <a href="/facts/Social_psychologist/VfEKM8U0">social psychologist</a>.</li> <li>July 26 – <a href="/facts/James_Lovelock/Bv24daYe">James Lovelock</a> (died <a href="/facts/2022_in_science/cqUnXMTh">2022</a>), English <a href="/facts/Environmentalist/L1XexdzQ">environmentalist</a> and <a href="/facts/Futurologist/DYr4WnmJ">futurologist</a>.</li> <li>August 12 – <a href="/facts/Margaret_Burbidge/ImYCgrBj">Margaret Burbidge</a>, born Eleanor Margaret Peachey (died <a href="/facts/2020_in_science/t6HkpHEr">2020</a>), English-born American <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>.</li> <li>August 30 – <a href="/facts/Maurice_Hilleman/wRLKT69w">Maurice Hilleman</a> (died <a href="/facts/2005_in_science/WSWthHoB">2005</a>), American <a href="/facts/Vaccinologist/QcXzLug2">vaccinologist</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>September 6 – <a href="/facts/Wilson_Greatbatch/K3qVaq6h">Wilson Greatbatch</a> (died <a href="/facts/2011_in_science/wT16UWvG">2011</a>), American <a href="/facts/Biomedical_engineer/TNAa3sqa">biomedical engineer</a>.</li> <li>September 21 – <a href="/facts/Mario_Bunge/GWxwT2dB">Mario Bunge</a> (died <a href="/facts/2020_in_science/t6HkpHEr">2020</a>), <a href="/facts/Argentina/aFSA5bAk">Argentine</a>-born philosopher of science.</li> <li>November 10 – <a href="/facts/Mikhail_Kalashnikov/cof37Xke">Mikhail Kalashnikov</a> (died 2013), Russian <a href="/facts/Small_arms/GuHx4aGE">small arms</a> designer.</li> <li>December 8 – <a href="/facts/Kateryna_Yushchenko_(scientist)/zDeqjrgm">Kateryna Yushchenko</a> (died <a href="/facts/2001_in_science/BeRcDMev">2001</a>), Ukrainian computer scientist and academic.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>January 15 – <a href="/facts/Rosa_Luxemburg/oPcTH5bM">Rosa Luxemburg</a> (born <a href="/facts/1871/KH3eqnP3">1871</a>), Polish <a href="/facts/Marxist_philosophy/p8VPKaTD">Marxist theorist</a>, <a href="/facts/Philosophy/zAH5PVD6">philosopher</a>, <a href="/facts/Economist/41nWfEgr">economist</a>, <a href="/facts/Anti-war_movement/Vokrkzdo">anti-war activist</a>, and <a href="/facts/Revolutionary_socialism/UWmMhWon">revolutionary socialist</a>.</li> <li>February 19 – <a href="/facts/Frederick_DuCane_Godman/s0rDJlsU">Frederick DuCane Godman</a> (born <a href="/facts/1834_in_science/bT4QNHSb">1834</a>), English <a href="/facts/Lepidopterist/GxdS438U">lepidopterist</a>, <a href="/facts/Entomologist/zTtUNTWm">entomologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Ornithologist/5reEUbx1">ornithologist</a>.</li> <li>April 4 – Sir <a href="/facts/William_Crookes/q8U8VVwR">William Crookes</a> (born <a href="/facts/1832_in_science/mwlEp7qT">1832</a>), English <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a> and <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li> <li>April 8 – <a href="/facts/Lor%25C3%25A1nd_E%25C3%25B6tv%25C3%25B6s/CP0YgoTC">Loránd Eötvös</a> (born <a href="/facts/1848_in_science/A16HGzWh">1848</a>), <a href="/facts/Hungarians/Aqot45Va">Hungarian</a> physicist.</li> <li>April 17 – <a href="/facts/Bernhard_Sigmund_Schultze/wd1PAIm4">Bernhard Sigmund Schultze</a> (born <a href="/facts/1827_in_science/0qqb4SaX">1827</a>), German <a href="/facts/Obstetrician/JbYHxtCd">obstetrician</a>.</li> <li>May 8 – <a href="/facts/LaMarcus_Adna_Thompson/ygo6ccsD">LaMarcus Adna Thompson</a> (born 1848), American inventor.</li> <li>c. June 1 – <a href="/facts/Caroline_Still_Anderson/tXdNRMAS">Caroline Still Anderson</a> (born 1848), African American physician, educator and activist.</li> <li>June 30 – <a href="/facts/John_William_Strutt%2c_3rd_Baron_Rayleigh/HcJyYdk5">John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh</a> (born <a href="/facts/1842_in_science/cTr4lNw4">1842</a>), English <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a>-winning physicist.</li> <li>July 15 – <a href="/facts/Emil_Fischer/5wxbfBtu">Emil Fischer</a> (born <a href="/facts/1852_in_science/BSfIEwWG">1852</a>), German Nobel Prize-winning chemist (<a href="/facts/Suicide/j92cWcay">suicide</a>).</li> <li>July 21 – <a href="/facts/Gustaf_Retzius/Un5c2k3x">Gustaf Retzius</a> (born <a href="/facts/1842_in_science/cTr4lNw4">1842</a>), Swedish <a href="/facts/Anatomist/p8TCWJuV">anatomist</a>.</li> <li>August 8 – <a href="/facts/Ernst_Haeckel/osqrW7hB">Ernst Haeckel</a> (born <a href="/facts/1834_in_science/bT4QNHSb">1834</a>), German <a href="/facts/Zoologist/6Kj13mBt">zoologist</a>.</li> <li>August 23 – <a href="/facts/Augustus_George_Vernon_Harcourt/keT6sFX9">Augustus George Vernon Harcourt</a> (born 1834), English chemist.</li> <li>November 23 – <a href="/facts/Henry_Gantt/IzKuhaec">Henry Gantt</a> (born <a href="/facts/1861_in_science/k7NHyVFh">1861</a>), American <a href="/facts/Project_engineer/JCQdz1bw">project engineer</a>.</li> <li>December 16 – <a href="/facts/Julia_Lermontova/UTqVGnLM">Julia Lermontova</a> (born <a href="/facts/1846_in_science/EVxflLUS">1846</a>), Russian chemist.</li> <li>December 29 – Sir <a href="/facts/William_Osler/xRwrwyzc">William Osler</a> (born <a href="/facts/1849_in_science/mmaQsEug">1849</a>), Canadian-born <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Hale, George E.; Ellerman, Ferdinand; Nicholson, S. B.; Joy, A. H. (April 1919). "The Magnetic Polarity of Sun-Spots". The Astrophysical Journal. 49: 153. Bibcode:1919ApJ....49..153H. doi:10.1086/142452. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086%2F142452" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1086%2F142452</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Charbonneau, P.; White, O. R. (1995-04-18). "Hale's Sunspot Polarity Law". www2.hao.ucar.edu. High Altitude Observatory. Archived from the original on 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2021-08-20. <a href="https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/Education/Sun/hales-sunspot-polarity-law" target="_blank">https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/Education/Sun/hales-sunspot-polarity-law</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Langmuir, Irving (1919). "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 41 (6): 868–934. doi:10.1021/ja02227a002. <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/1429026" target="_blank">https://zenodo.org/record/1429026</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Dyson, F. W.; Eddington, A. S.; Davidson, C. R. (1920). "A Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun's Gravitational Field, from Observations Made at the Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 220 (571–581): 291–333. Bibcode:1920RSPTA.220..291D. doi:10.1098/rsta.1920.0009. Paper received October 30, read November 6, published April 27, 1920. <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/1432106" target="_blank">https://zenodo.org/record/1432106</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft.; Mehra, Jagdish; Rechenberg, Helmut (1982). The Historical Development of Quantum Theory. Vol. 1, Part 1: The Quantum Theory of Planck, Einstein, Bohr and Sommerfeld 1900–1925: its Foundation and the Rise of Its Difficulties. Springer. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-387-95174-4. <a href="978-0-387-95174-4" target="_blank">978-0-387-95174-4</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>hirschfeld.in-berlin.de, The first Institute for Sexual Science. <a href="http://www.hirschfeld.in-berlin.de/aus_inst_en.html" target="_blank">http://www.hirschfeld.in-berlin.de/aus_inst_en.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Famous GLBT & GLBTI People – Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld stonewallsociety. <a href="http://www.stonewallsociety.com/famouspeople/magnus.htm" target="_blank">http://www.stonewallsociety.com/famouspeople/magnus.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Grossmann, Atina. Reforming Sex. Oxford University Press, 1995. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Tex-BuFgji0C&pg=PA16" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Tex-BuFgji0C&pg=PA16</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>In Memory of Arthur Kronfeld. <a href="http://www.sgipt.org/gesch/kronf/kronf_e.htm" target="_blank">http://www.sgipt.org/gesch/kronf/kronf_e.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Charles Panati (15 August 2016). Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. Book Sales. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-7858-3437-3. <a href="978-0-7858-3437-3" target="_blank">978-0-7858-3437-3</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Vitello, Paul (July 7, 2013). "Hans Hass, 94, early explorer of the world beneath the sea". The New York Times. p. A18. Retrieved 23 March 2014. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/science/earth/hans-hass-early-undersea-explorer-dies-at-94.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/science/earth/hans-hass-early-undersea-explorer-dies-at-94.html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Dove, Alan (April 2005). "Maurice Hilleman". Nature Medicine. 11 (4): S2. doi:10.1038/nm1223. ISSN 1546-170X. PMID 15812484. S2CID 13028372. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnm1223" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnm1223</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Perevozchikova, O. L. (2009). "Ekaterina Logvinovna Yushchenko". Cybernetics and Systems Analysis. 45 (6): 843. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>