Scientist of the Day

Charles Darwin, 72 years of age, published his last book on Oct. 10, 1881. The book had the catchy title, The Formation of Vegetable Mould by the...

The Prague Astronomical Clock entered the historical record on Oct. 9, 1410, when it was first mentioned in the town records, and now that date is...

Edward Wright, an English mathematical practitioner, was baptized Oct. 8, 1561 (the only sure date we have for Wright).

The famous Rainhill Trials began on Oct. 6, 1829, on a railroad track near Manchester, England, and ran through Oct. 14.

Matteo Ricci, an Italian/Chinese Jesuit missionary and mathematician, was born Oct. 6, 1552, in Macerata, in the Marches of Italy.

Francis of Assisi, Saint, died on Oct. 3, 1226, at the age of perhaps 45. Born into a reasonably wealthy family, he lived a lavish, carefree youth...

Peter Jacob Hjelm, a Swedish chemist, was born Oct. 2, 1746, in Sunnerbo, Småland, in southern Sweden.  He attended Uppsala University and then...

Hervé Faye, a French astronomer, was born Oct. 1, 1814, in Indre, in central France. He attended the École Polytechnique in Paris and there...

Decimus Burton, an English building and landscape architect, was born Sep. 30, 1800, in London. Decimus was the son of a notable London property...

Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet agronomist, was born on Sep. 29, 1898, in Poltava, Ukraine. He graduated from the Kiev Agricultural institute in 1925 and...

Sébastien Le Clerc, a French artist, engraver, and mathematician, was born on Sep. 26, 1637, in Metz. His father taught him how to draw and engrave...

William Le Baron Jenney, an American structural engineer and architect, was born Sep. 25, 1832. Trained as a civil engineer at Harvard and in...