Sunday, February 24, 2008

Today in History: February 24

  • 1663 English inventor Thomas Newcomen born; designed & built the first successful steam engine, at atmospheric (low) pressure.
  • 1803 The Supreme Court decides Marbury v. Madison establishing the principle of judicial review of laws.
  • 1839 American engineer William Otis patents the steam shovel.
  • 1871 Charles Darwin's Descent of Man is published.
  • 1896 French physicist Henri Becquerel announces discovery of radioacivity; 1903 Nobel.
  • 1968 The first pulsar (a neutron-star, collapsed stellar core) discovery published, by graduate student, Jocelyn Bell.
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