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| NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 26 | |
| Before you look at today's web page, see if you can answer some of these questions about the events that happened on this day. Some of the names are very familiar. Others will likely stump you. Tickle your curiosity with these questions, then check your answers on today's web page. | |
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| Quotations for Today | |
| "The first to discover that the smog had assumed peculiar qualities was a man walking home late at night. He was seized with a paroxysm of choking. But he had little time to reflect on the fact that the fog had assumed an odd, penetrating odor. He sat down on the curb, toppled over and died. Others awakened to experience the same awful choking sensation. By morning, as the fourth day of fog began, more were dead and scores of people were complaining of difficulty in breathing. ... Dr. William Rongaus of the Donora Board of Health was certain that his town's tragedy was also the result of industrial fumes collecting in the motionless, humid air. Said he, bitterly: "It's plain murder." - Time Magazine reporting on the killer smog that settled over Donora, Pa., on 26 Sep 1948. "Physics and geometry are one family. "If a man is in need of rescue, an airplane can come in and throw flowers on him, and that's just about all. ... But a direct lift aircraft could come in and save his life." - Russian-born American developer of helicopters in quiz below (died 26 Oct 1972) | |
| QUIZ | |
| Births | |
| Giovanni Maria Lancisi, born 26 Oct, was an Italian clinician and anatomist, personal physician to three popes, who is considered the first modern hygienist. He obtained his M.D., a month before age 18 years. About two decades later, having examined the causes of sudden deaths, he published De motu cordis mortibus, on the problems of cardiac pathology. A decade after that, he identified malaria as being transmitted by flies, and not due to "bad air." In what century was he born? | |
| Deaths | |
| A Russian-born U.S. pioneer in aircraft design (1889-1972) is best known for his successful development of the helicopter. He also produced the first multi-engine airplane, the four-engined "The Grand." This revolutionary aircraft featured such things as an enclosed cabin. a lavatory, upholstered chairs and an exterior catwalk atop the fuselage so passengers could take a turn about in the air. Can you name this man? | |
| Events | |
| On 26 Oct 1948, a killing smog blanketed the small town of Donora, Pennsylvania, in the U.S.. The people of that working class community went to bed not knowing that a suffocating cloud of industrial gases would descend upon them during the night. The cloud, a poisonous mix of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and metal dust, came from the smokestacks of the local smelter where most of the town worked. Over the next five days, twenty residents died and half the town's population were hospitalized. What metal was produced by the smelting plant outside Donora? | |
| Answers | |
| When you have your answers ready to all the questions above, you'll find all the information to check them, and more, on the October 26 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers. | |
| Fast answers for the previous newsletter for October 25: 10 year cycle; Evangelista Torricelli; the decade containing the year 1955; Iapetus. | |
| Feedback | |
| If you enjoy this newsletter, the website, or wish to offer encouragement or ideas, please write. |
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