George B. Kauffman California State University
April 1, 1844
April 2,1953
April 4,1939
April 5, 1954
April 6, 1876 April 7, 1926
April 8,1915
April 10, 1944 April 11, 1798
April 12, 1954
April 12, 1955 April 16, 1889
I
Selected Dates in American Chemistry
An elaborate and well-advertised "Scientific Convention," with orations by President John Tyler and other dignitaries, hegins in Washington, D.C. Francis Crick and James D. Watson mail their 900-word article on the structure of deoxyrihonucleic acid (DNA) to the editors of Noture. The synthesis of vitamin Bs is announced by Merck, Sharp, and Dohme Research Laboratories at American Chemical Society meeting. The National Foundation announces that four batches of commercially produced Salk polio vaccine have been discarded hecause of the discovery of live virus in them. A meeting is held in New York City for the purpose of organizing the American Chemical Society. In US. Patent 1,582,857, Alwin Mittasch and Wilhelm Michael describe the synthesis of hydrogen cyanide from carbon monoxide and ammonia. In U.S. Patent 1,211,394, Carl Bosch, Alwin Mittasch, and Christoph Beck claim "an active catalyst suitable for the catalytic oxidation of ammonia to nitrogen oxide comprising an oxygen compound of hismuth and an activator.'' Quinine is synthesized by R. Burns and William von Eggers Doering of Harvard University. Thomas P. Smith delivers the annual oration before the Chemical Society of Philadelphia, "A Sketch of the Revolutions in Chemistry." This is to he the first puhlication of an American chemical society. Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-67), Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, begins testimony before Personnel Security Board, Washington, D.C. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is licensed for public distribution. In a letter to ACS Secretary Dr. Meinhard Alsherg, August Kekul6 (1829-96) thanks the American Chemical Society for electing him an honorary member.
208 / Journal of Chemical Education
April 17,1972 F. P. Ottensmeyer, E. E. Schmidt, and A. J. Olhrecht apply two-dimensional signal averaging to dark field electron micrographs of 2,3,4,5-tetraacetoxymercurithiophene and reveal the image of an atom as light as sulfur (atomic number 16). April 22,1970 Earth Day, which focuses attention on ecology, pollution, and other environmental concerns. April 25, 1953 "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" by Francis Crick and James D. Watson appears in Noture. Apri127,1921 At the Mechanics Institute on South Plymouth Avenue in Rochester, N.Y., the American Chemical Society's Section on the History of Chemistry holds its first meeting. April 28,1970 At the Spring Meeting of the American Physical Society at Washington, D.C., Albert Ghiorso of the University of California, Berkeley announces his discovery (with Matti Nurmia, Kari A. Y. Eskola, James A. Harris, and Pirkko L. Eskola) of Element 105 by bombardment of 249Cf with I5N. He proposes the name hahnium (symbol, Ha) after Otto Hahn, the codiscoverer of nuclear fission. April 29, 1969 Atomic Energy Commission Director Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg announces that the Commission will name the National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago in honor of the late Dr. Enrico Fermi. April 30,1955 Element 101 (mendeleevium) is discovered by Albert Ghiorso, B. G. Harvey, G. R. Choppin, S. G. Thompson, and Glenn T. Seaborg of the University of California, Berkeley.
Author's Note: The author wishes to acknowledge the numerous inquiries concerning the complete calendar, which has not yet been published, and he welcomes any suggestions regarding a publisher who might he interested.
