Category: Today’s Birthday

An Italian physician and cytologist, Golgi devised a way to stain nerve tissue and, using the technique, was able to clearly observe a neuron, now called a Golgi cell, along with its axon and dendrites branching off. The discovery led to the identification of the neuron as the basic structural unit of the nervous system. He also discovered the Golgi tendon organ and the Golgi apparatus. He shared the 1906 Nobel Prize with Santiago Ramón y Cajal. What discovery did Golgi make about malaria? Discuss

Kellerman was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer. Her 1907 performance of “water ballet” is often credited with popularizing the sport of synchronized swimming. Kellerman was also known for advocating the right of women to wear one-piece bathing suits and was once famously arrested for indecency for doing so herself. In 1908, a Harvard University professor named her the “Perfect Woman” because of the similarity of her physical attributes to what figure? Discuss

Pompidou was premier of France from 1962 to 1968 and president from 1969 to 1974. As Charles de Gaulle’s chief aide from 1958 to 1959, he helped draft the constitution of the Fifth Republic. He secretly negotiated a cease-fire in the Algerian War in 1961 and was appointed premier the following year. In 1968, he skillfully negotiated an end to the French student-worker strikes. Elected president in 1969, he continued de Gaulle’s policies. What job did Pompidou hold before he entered politics? Discuss

Garibaldi is considered an Italian national hero for his role in the Risorgimento, the movement to liberate and unify Italy. In 1848, after having spent time in South America learning guerilla warfare tactics, he returned to Italy to fight for its independence. He fought Austria in Milan and France in Rome. In 1860, he raised an army of 1,000 and attacked Sicily. By the end of his campaign, he commanded 30,000 men, with whom he seized Naples, before handing all of southern Italy over to whom? Discuss

Korzybski was a Polish-American linguist who developed a school of thought known as general semantics. He aimed to distinguish between words and the objects they describe, as well as between individual objects all described by the same word. He stressed the arbitrary nature of language and other symbols and the problems that result from misunderstanding their nature. Why did Korzybski once trick his students into eating dog biscuits during a lecture? Discuss

Cranmer became the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury after he helped Henry VIII in his negotiations with the pope over divorcing Catherine of Aragon. He annulled Henry’s marriage to Catherine, supported his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and later helped him divorce her. After Henry’s death in 1547, Cranmer became adviser to Edward VI. When the anti-Protestant Mary I became queen, Cranmer was tried, convicted of heresy, and burned at the stake. Why did he place his hand into the fire first? Discuss

Semmelweiss was a Hungarian physician who pioneered the use of antiseptics in obstetrical clinics. While working at a Vienna hospital, he became convinced that physicians were transmitting puerperal fever, also called childbed fever, to patients and began insisting that doctors thoroughly cleanse their hands. Though this greatly reduced the mortality rate from infection in childbirth, he was widely ridiculed by his colleagues and left Vienna. When was the value of his work finally recognized? Discuss

Ballard is an American oceanographer and marine geologist. While working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Research Institution, he pioneered the use of deep-diving submersibles, took part in the first manned exploration of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and discovered warm water springs and the unusual animal communities that grow up around them in the Galápagos Rift. He is best known for his dramatic discovery of the wreck of the Titanic in 1985. What other notable wrecks has Ballard located? Discuss

Mahalanobis was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure he used in his pioneering studies in anthropometry—the study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute and contributed to the design of large scale sample surveys. His survey methods have been used to study things like tea-drinking habits, crop acreage, and what else? Discuss

Rousseau was a Swiss-French philosopher and writer who had a lasting impact on politics, literature, and education. In particular, he strongly influenced the theories of the French Revolution and the romantics. Many of his ideas stemmed from his belief in the natural goodness of man, who he felt had been warped by society. His Confessions, published posthumously in 1782, was a frank account of his life and was a founding work of autobiography. Why was he forced to flee France in 1762? Discuss