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1921 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy-and-space-science">Astronomy and space science</h2> <ul><li>Commencement of <a href="/facts/Gas_Dynamics_Laboratory/rJMtC55t">Gas Dynamics Laboratory</a> the first <a href="/facts/Soviet/m7wWsPto">Soviet</a> research and development laboratory to focus on <a href="/facts/Rocket_technology/2Ib02w7f">rocket technology</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="cartography">Cartography</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Winkel_tripel_projection/lrp6vHsl">Winkel tripel projection</a> proposed.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/%C3%89tienne_Bi%C3%A9ler/3stghunW">Étienne Biéler</a> and <a href="/facts/James_Chadwick/nwStNAzI">James Chadwick</a> publish a key paper on the <a href="/facts/Strong_interaction/JjRsKcLg">strong interaction</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li>December 9 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Midgley_Jr./ga3B55Ax">Thomas Midgley</a> discovers the effective anti-knocking properties of <a href="/facts/Tetraethyllead/M33pHTTX">tetraethyllead</a>, which is used in "leaded" <a href="/facts/Gasoline/lcnxq5BS">gasoline</a> (petrol).</li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Danes/bUt1hyMQ">Danish</a> explorer <a href="/facts/Lauge_Koch/3TgyIufM">Lauge Koch</a> first sets foot on and names <a href="/facts/Kaffeklubben_Island/2pvFkggk">Kaffeklubben Island</a>, <a href="/facts/Extreme_points_of_Earth/XUSkDfp2">the northernmost point of land on Earth</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/John_Maynard_Keynes/4otHjBRu">John Maynard Keynes</a> publishes <i><a href="/facts/A_Treatise_on_Probability/nKaelLB6">A Treatise on Probability</a></i>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Marston_Morse/qYfc9fjk">Marston Morse</a> applies the <a href="/facts/Thue%E2%80%93Morse_sequence/1bvLMTBD">Thue–Morse sequence</a> to <a href="/facts/Differential_geometry/c04XmyLu">differential geometry</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Emmy_Noether/agcYrVLt">Emmy Noether</a> publishes <i>Idealtheorie in Ringbereichen</i>, developing <a href="/facts/Ideal_(ring_theory)/vCvytduX">ideal ring theory</a>, an important text in the field of <a href="/facts/Abstract_algebra/YNNE1CNz">abstract algebra</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li>First publication of <a href="/facts/Ludwig_Wittgenstein/wN9bAgMz">Ludwig Wittgenstein</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus/rSWRMIBg">Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus</a></i>, as "Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung" in <i>Annalen der Naturphilosophie</i>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Percy_Alexander_MacMahon/scUegUSn">Percy Alexander MacMahon</a> depicts <a href="/facts/Cairo_pentagonal_tiling/IYXIjHs0">Cairo pentagonal tiling</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>April–August – <a href="/facts/Nicolae_Paulescu/Iqd46R5p">Nicolae Paulescu</a> publishes papers on the preparation and therapeutic effects in animal subjects of an aqueous <a href="/facts/Pancreatic/r0WPGjAq">pancreatic</a> extract.</li> <li>July 18 – The first <a href="/facts/Bacillus_Calmette-Gu%C3%A9rin/1hG40pC8">BCG</a> vaccination against <a href="/facts/Tuberculosis/ggPyovAl">tuberculosis</a>.</li> <li>July 27 – Researchers at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Toronto/FpGjQNm9">University of Toronto</a> led by <a href="/facts/Biochemist/gAWNAY5v">biochemist</a> <a href="/facts/Frederick_Banting/gTqf4aEJ">Frederick Banting</a> announce the discovery of the <a href="/facts/Hormone/WFnBnINJ">hormone</a> <a href="/facts/Insulin/oXG0myt1">insulin</a>.</li> <li>American biochemist <a href="/facts/Elmer_McCollum/3sLJ3VxX">Elmer McCollum</a> identifies the presence of a component in <a href="/facts/Cod_liver_oil/vBltHkwy">cod liver oil</a> which cures <a href="/facts/Rickets/Fd1r1k78">rickets</a>, which he calls <a href="/facts/Vitamin_D/No0zQB2W">vitamin D</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Fidel_Pag%C3%A9s/uKWtGcr4">Fidel Pagés</a> pioneers <a href="/facts/Epidural_anesthesia/jlVdMFPe">epidural anesthesia</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li>July – <a href="/facts/Wolfgang_Pauli/Ugk4ubXk">Wolfgang Pauli</a> is awarded his <a href="/facts/Doctor_of_Philosophy/paJumdN8">Doctor of Philosophy</a> at <a href="/facts/Ludwig_Maximilian_University_of_Munich/eJtBcjAE">Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich</a> for his thesis <i>Über das Modell des Wasserstoff-Molekülions</i> ("About the Hydrogen Molecular Ion Model").</li> <li><a href="/facts/T._Kaluza/4Tlbf04y">T. Kaluza</a> demonstrates that a five-dimensional version of <a href="/facts/Albert_Einstein/CNTet8qu">Albert Einstein</a>'s equations unifies <a href="/facts/Gravitation/bqAN7DdQ">gravitation</a> and <a href="/facts/Electromagnetism/oAkmALHT">electromagnetism</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="psychology">Psychology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Hermann_Rorschach/WnPw50M0">Hermann Rorschach</a> publishes <i><a href="/facts/Psychodiagnostik/R0QYk3pz">Psychodiagnostik</a></i>, proposing the <a href="/facts/Rorschach_test/1Dh3htQL">inkblot test</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Ga%C3%ABtan_Gatian_de_Cl%C3%A9rambault/Q3AzjL8t">Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault</a> publishes <i><i>Les Psychoses passionelles</i></i>, a comprehensive review of <a href="/facts/Erotomania/ym6AxPIe">erotomania</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>Spring and summer – 14-year-old American farm boy <a href="/facts/Philo_Farnsworth/DkLaDoMT">Philo Farnsworth</a> devises the <a href="/facts/Image_dissector/SG5NJ4QW">image dissector</a>, the basis for the first version of television.</li> <li>October 18 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Strite/InlN3ntA">Charles Strite</a> is granted a <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> for the automatic electric pop-up bread <a href="/facts/Toaster/F3dEReUI">toaster</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li>October 25 – Hugo A. F. Abt is granted a patent for his design of <a href="/facts/Bascule_bridge/H7Hfx1Bv">bascule bridge</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>Henrik Brun devises the thermal string <a href="/facts/Undershirt/nWAa6tjb">vest</a> in Norway.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>The <a href="/facts/Vibraphone/sXguIYEL">vibraphone</a> in its original form is invented in the United States.</li></ul> <h2 id="institutions">Institutions</h2> <ul><li>Journalist <a href="/facts/E._W._Scripps/KU4Rvvkg">E. W. Scripps</a> and biologist <a href="/facts/William_Emerson_Ritter/82gR2ucL">William Emerson Ritter</a> found <i>Science Service</i>, later renamed <a href="/facts/Society_for_Science_and_the_Public/B047DeXP">Society for Science and the Public</a>, in the United States with the goal of keeping the public informed of scientific developments.</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/Albert_Einstein/CNTet8qu">Albert Einstein</a> – awarded 1922</li> <li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry/8Nb8Ajjy">Chemistry</a> – <a href="/facts/Frederick_Soddy/gR9Qk6tc">Frederick Soddy</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Physiology or Medicine</a> – not awarded</li></ul></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 18 – <a href="/facts/Yoichiro_Nambu/kt4CFEUa">Yoichiro Nambu</a> (died <a href="/facts/2015_in_science/ztLIsTpJ">2015</a>), Japanese-American <a href="/facts/Nuclear_physicist/fzQbt1aF">nuclear physicist</a>, recipient of the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Nobel Prize in Physics</a>.</li> <li>February 3 – <a href="/facts/Ralph_Asher_Alpher/TQutAYsV">Ralph Asher Alpher</a> (died <a href="/facts/2007_in_science/whoJWyrv">2007</a>), American cosmologist.</li> <li>March 11 – <a href="/facts/L%C3%A9opold_Reichling/BJqYHuGu">Léopold Reichling</a> (died <a href="/facts/2009_in_science/m9t2hRa2">2009</a>), <a href="/facts/Luxembourg/vRN04l7f">Luxembourg</a> <a href="/facts/Biologist/yJJGXyKR">biologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Naturalist/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a>.</li> <li>April 19 – <a href="/facts/Michel_Klein_(veterinarian)/eUf2DfaR">Michel Klein</a> (died <a href="/facts/2024_in_science/SGBFFyBW">2024</a>), Romanian-born French veterinarian.</li> <li>April 21 – <a href="/facts/John_R._Huizenga/vfHcChFU">John R. Huizenga</a> (died <a href="/facts/2014_in_science/mD8EVD7S">2014</a>), American nuclear physicist.</li> <li>April 30 <ul><li><a href="/facts/Roger_L._Easton/C1YEeP0r">Roger L. Easton</a> (died <a href="/facts/2014_in_science/mD8EVD7S">2014</a>), American <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>, principal inventor of the <a href="/facts/Global_Positioning_System/DKVLnzF3">Global Positioning System</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Ralph_A._Lewin/8YoyjM5t">Ralph A. Lewin</a> (died <a href="/facts/2008_in_science/NLKwU0lC">2008</a>), Anglo-American <a href="/facts/Biologist/yJJGXyKR">biologist</a>, "the father of green algae genetics".</li> <li><a href="/facts/Jennifer_Moyle/k8g1T1QU">Jennifer Moyle</a> (died <a href="/facts/2016_in_science/xaChyHmT">2016</a>), English research biochemist.</li></ul></li> <li>May 18 <ul><li><a href="/facts/Anthony_Epstein/72JxK0Yg">Anthony Epstein</a> (died 2024), British pathologist.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Olgierd_Zienkiewicz/JjM50o2T">Olgierd Zienkiewicz</a> (died 2009), British <a href="/facts/Civil_engineer/RjIFIjNe">civil engineer</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>June 1 – <a href="/facts/Giuliana_Tesoro/G1KDMoQM">Giuliana Tesoro</a> (died <a href="/facts/2002_in_science/LP4lLXeB">2002</a>), Italian-American <a href="/facts/Organic_chemist/djxhxaNg">organic chemist</a>.</li> <li>June 9 – <a href="/facts/Forrest_Bird/5pDXqszx">Forrest Bird</a> (died <a href="/facts/2015_in_science/ztLIsTpJ">2015</a>), American <a href="/facts/Biomedical_engineer/TNAa3sqa">biomedical engineer</a>.</li> <li>June 14 – <a href="/facts/George_R%C3%A9dei/8rYtvdn5">George Rédei</a> (died 2008), <a href="/facts/Hungarian_people/Aqot45Va">Hungarian</a> <a href="/facts/Biologist/yJJGXyKR">biologist</a>.</li> <li>June 15 – <a href="/facts/Gavriil_Ilizarov/gHrQX6w5">Gavriil Ilizarov</a> (died <a href="/facts/1992_in_science/puY1hQq9">1992</a>), <a href="/facts/Poland/eXJ7fd0D">Polish</a>-born <a href="/facts/Orthopedic_surgeon/ahXDk3gD">orthopedic surgeon</a>.</li> <li>June 26 – <a href="/facts/Anne_Beloff-Chain/Ha28G5JY">Anne Beloff-Chain</a> (died 1991), British <a href="/facts/Biochemist/gAWNAY5v">biochemist</a>.</li> <li>July 4 – <a href="/facts/Aron_Arthur_Moscona/Tl0S66lk">Aron Arthur Moscona</a> (died 2009), American <a href="/facts/Developmental_biology/9dLJhCCv">developmental biologist</a>.</li> <li>July 18 <ul><li><a href="/facts/Aaron_T._Beck/tvlnSLzG">Aaron T. Beck</a> (died <a href="/facts/2021_in_science/jWGfKMyf">2021</a>), American <a href="/facts/Psychiatrist/hS7EnAU6">psychiatrist</a>, "father of <a href="/facts/Cognitive_therapy/cATAANsE">cognitive therapy</a>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/John_Glenn/uJLQekqe">John Glenn</a> (died <a href="/facts/2016_in_science/xaChyHmT">2016</a>), American <a href="/facts/Astronaut/HB1bd6Lz">astronaut</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>August 16 – <a href="/facts/Rudolf_Tr%C3%BCmpy/KNM8r7Tm">Rudolf Trümpy</a> (died 2009), <a href="/facts/Swiss_people/3ecWX2K6">Swiss</a> <a href="/facts/Geologist/vGc0tBHB">geologist</a>.</li> <li>October 5 – <a href="/facts/Mahlon_Hoagland/gxenGNfl">Mahlon Hoagland</a> (died 2009), American biochemist, discoverer of <a href="/facts/Transfer_RNA/pR9T5XSl">transfer RNA</a> (tRNA).</li> <li>October 18 – <a href="/facts/Beatrice_Helen_Worsley/uVYbFM4K">Beatrice Helen Worsley</a> (died <a href="/facts/1972_in_science/y8NEuEaX">1972</a>), Mexican-born Canadian <a href="/facts/Computer_scientist/DavggjGL">computer scientist</a>.</li> <li>October 21 – <a href="/facts/Victor_A._McKusick/vuLzIW25">Victor A. McKusick</a> (died 2008), American "father of genetic medicine".</li> <li>December 2 – <a href="/facts/Isabella_Karle/HyCXGwCU">Isabella Karle</a> (died <a href="/facts/2017_in_science/qFe0XI9H">2017</a>), American physical chemist</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>January 20 – <a href="/facts/Mary_Watson_Whitney/rzLFJFza">Mary Watson Whitney</a>, American <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a> (born <a href="/facts/1847_in_science/lyIk6dUF">1847</a>)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>January 23 – <a href="/facts/Heinrich_Wilhelm_Gottfried_von_Waldeyer-Hartz/2llxn3kT">Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried von Waldeyer-Hartz</a> (born <a href="/facts/1836_in_science/nb0FPxUj">1836</a>), German <a href="/facts/Neuroanatomist/VJxVXoWm">neuroanatomist</a>.</li> <li>March 11 – <a href="/facts/Sherburne_Wesley_Burnham/pBGUQJyT">Sherburne Wesley Burnham</a> (born <a href="/facts/1838_in_science/rynCmVy0">1838</a>), American astronomer.</li> <li>March 29 – <a href="/facts/John_Burroughs/hHcQWHM6">John Burroughs</a> (born <a href="/facts/1837_in_science/gPd7datI">1837</a>), American <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a>.</li> <li>June 7 – <a href="/facts/Hans_Christian_Cornelius_Mortensen/6k61ygRX">Hans Christian Cornelius Mortensen</a> (born <a href="/facts/1856_in_science/5jhUepAI">1856</a>), <a href="/facts/Danes/bUt1hyMQ">Danish</a> <a href="/facts/Ornithologist/5reEUbx1">ornithologist</a>.</li> <li>August 29 – <a href="/facts/Joel_Asaph_Allen/yKTlVbdl">Joel Asaph Allen</a> (born <a href="/facts/1838_in_science/rynCmVy0">1838</a>), American <a href="/facts/Zoologist/6Kj13mBt">zoologist</a>.</li> <li>October 23 – <a href="/facts/John_Boyd_Dunlop/UAz4PwTC">John Boyd Dunlop</a> (born <a href="/facts/1840_in_science/fY8Ru4uU">1840</a>), British <a href="/facts/Inventor/P3LdUHBY">inventor</a>.</li> <li>December 12 – <a href="/facts/Henrietta_Swan_Leavitt/FI5xRzHN">Henrietta Swan Leavitt</a> (born <a href="/facts/1868_in_science/K35shjPr">1868</a>), American astronomer.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Chertok, Boris (31 January 2005). Rockets and People (Volume 1 ed.). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. pp. 164–165. Retrieved 29 May 2022. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_detail.html" target="_blank">https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_detail.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"The Collisions of Particles with Hydrogen Nuclei" (PDF). Philosophical Magazine. 42 (252): 923–940. 1921. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-31. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140819102746/http://www.nssp.uni-saarland.de/lehre/Vorlesung/Kernphysik_SS14/History/Papers/Chadwick_Bieler.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140819102746/http://www.nssp.uni-saarland.de/lehre/Vorlesung/Kernphysik_SS14/History/Papers/Chadwick_Bieler.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know. London: Quercus. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Macmahon, Major P. A. (1921). New Mathematical Pastimes. Cambridge: University Press. p. 101. <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924001535024/page/n115/mode/2up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/cu31924001535024/page/n115/mode/2up</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Carere, Suzanne (2007-07-25). "Age-old children's disease back in force". thestar.com. Toronto. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2012-01-26. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080517044348/http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/239341" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080517044348/http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/239341</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>United States patent#1,394,450. <a href="/wiki/File:United_States_patent_1,394,450,_%22Bread-Toaster%22,_1921.pdf" target="_blank">/wiki/File:United_States_patent_1,394,450,_%22Bread-Toaster%22,_1921.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>United States patent #1,394,519. <a href="http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/phrailb/patent2.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/phrailb/patent2.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"The story of Brynje". Norway: Brynje. Retrieved 2024-11-06. <a href="https://www.brynje.no/gb/en/historie" target="_blank">https://www.brynje.no/gb/en/historie</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Smith, Vicki; Collard, Patrizia; Nicolson, Paula (2012). Key Concepts In Counselling And Psychotherapy: A Critical A-Z Guide To Theory. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). p. 21. ISBN 978-0-335-24221-4. <a href="978-0-335-24221-4" target="_blank">978-0-335-24221-4</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>McHenry, Robert (1980). Liberty's Women. Springfield: G. & C. Merriam. p. 442. ISBN 978-0-87779-064-8. <a href="978-0-87779-064-8" target="_blank">978-0-87779-064-8</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>