OCTOBER 25 – EVENTS – Science events on October 25th
In 1990, the first transplant operation of a lung from a live donor to a recipient is performed by Dr. Vaughn A. Starnes, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California. A mother was the living donor to her 12-year-old daughter. Dr Starnes is a world-renowned pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons who has performed several transplantation "firsts," including transplanting a heart and lung into a four-month old baby - the youngest ever. Lung transplantation was first attempted in 1963, and heart-lung transplantation in 1968. The first successful heart-lung transplant, by Dr. Bruce Reitz, was at Stanford in 1981. The world's first successful lung transplants were at Toronto General Hospital, Ont. (Single lung, 1983; double,1986).
In 1987, at Giza, Egypt, the second of Cheops' solar boats was first viewed using a specialized video camera. It was passed through a hole drilled one of the limestone slabs covering the pit in which the boat had lain undisturbed for 4,600 years. The hole was drilled over the three preceding days, with careful technique to retain the original air in the sealed chamber. After extensive video records were made, the entrance hole was resealed. The first funeral craft of the pharaoh Cheops (aka Khufu) was discovered 26 May 1954. It had been built from sacred sycamore and cedar woods, ready to carry his soul to heaven and sealed in a stone-slab covered pit beside his pyramid. It was eventually removed for museum display.« [Image: Museum display of the first Cheops boat discovered.]
In 1962, Belgium's first nuclear powered generation of electricity began with the inauguration of the BR-3 power plant at Mol by Minister Spinoy. The BR-3 Pressurized Water Reactor was the firstPWR-type in Europe. Construction began Jan 1956 and it ceased operation 30 Jun 1987 at the end of its Westinghouse license. The BR-1 was a research reactor put into operation at Mol in 1956 with thermal power of 4 MW. The BR-2 was a materials testing reactor at Mol in 1963 with thermal power 80 MW. Presently, Belgium produces 55% of their electricity from seven newer nuclear units, at Doel and Tihange, which generated almost 44 TWh in 1998.
In 1960, the Accutron 214, the world's first electronic wristwatch by Bulova, was placed on sale in New York City. The original circuit used a germanium PNP transistor circuit with a 360-Hz tuning fork, used for timing accuracy. In 1977 it was replaced by quartz watches. The Accutron has the potential accuracy of better than 2 seconds per day, remarkable in its day of mechanical watches. In 1953, tuning fork watch development began in Switzerland and prototype watches were made in 1955. Its Swiss engineer was Max Hetzel, who moved in 1959 to continue his development of the Bulova Accutron in New York with William Bennett. The CEO of Bulova at the time was Omar Bradley, 5 Star General, US Army, Retired.
In 1955, the first domestic microwave oven was sold by Tappan. In 1947, Raytheon demonstrated the "Radarange," the world's first microwave oven. Ratheon's commercial, refrigerator-sized microwave ovens cost between $2,000 and $3,000. In 1952, Raytheon entered into a licensing agreement with Tappan Stove Company which had a consumer distribution and marketing infrastructure. In 1955, Tappan introduced the first domestic microwave oven, a 220-volt more compact wall-unit the size of a conventional oven, but less powerful microwave generating system. It had two cooking speeds (500 or 800 watts), stainless steel exterior, glass shelf, top browning element and a recipe card drawer. However, at $1,300 sales were slow.« [Image: Oven shown on cover of Tappan "Commercial Electronic" Replacement Parts Catalog revised issue of 15 May 1964.]
In 1881, Leslie L. Curtis of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, patented an air brush painting device. His patent No. 248,579 describes an "Atomizer for Coloring Pictures," which was a "device for easy, accurate, and rapid distribution of coloring and shading upon drawings and paintings." Coloring matter could be projected upon the picture in the form of a fine spray. It was drawn up a tube from a bottle when air passed over an aperture in the upper end of the tube and was separated into a fine spray. The fineness of the spray could be regulated. Holes were provided in the rear of the air-tube to be covered with the thumb of the hand that held the container while in use. Removing the thumb caused the flow of coloring material from the fine nozzle to cease.
In 1671, Giovanni Cassini discovered Iapetus, one of Saturn's moons. Iapetus is the third largest and one of the stranger of the 18 moons of Saturn. Its leading side is dark with a slight reddish color while its trailing side is bright. The dark surface might be composed of matter that was either swept up from space or oozed from the moon's interior. This difference is so striking that Cassini noted that he could see Iapetus only on one side of Saturn and not on the other. In Greek mythology Iapetus was a Titan, the son of Uranus, the father of Prometheus and Atlas and an ancestor of the human race. Cassini (1625-1712), first director of the Paris Royal Observatory, also discovered other moons of Saturn (Tethys, Dione, Rhea) and the major gap in its rings.
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