First Successful Test of Atomic Bomb
On July 16, 1945, members of America’s Manhattan Project held their first successful test of the atom bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Science
The Morrill Act
On July 2, 1862, the Morrill Act was signed into law, promoting a new direction for American education. The act encouraged the creation of land-grant colleges that offered study in agriculture, science, and engineering.
Birth of Barbara McClintock
Barbara McClintock was born Eleanor McClintock on June 16, 1902, in Hartford, Connecticut. She’s the first, and to date only woman to receive an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for her discovery of transposition, or genetic “switches” in genes.
Birth of Virginia Apgar
Dr. Virginia Apgar was born on June 7, 1909, in Westfield, New Jersey. She was a pioneer in the field of neonatology, the area of medicine that specializes in premature and ill newborns. Her work is credited with drastically reducing infant mortality worldwide.
Birth of Charles R. Drew
Doctor and medical researcher Charles R. Drew was born on June 3, 1904, in Washington, DC. During World War II, Drew developed programs and blood mobiles to help the war effort.
Birth of John Bardeen
Physicist John Bardeen was born on May 23, 1908, in Madison, Wisconsin. Bardeen helped develop the transistor, which made possible the invention of almost every modern electronic device.
American Diabetes Association
On April 2, 1940, the Committee for the Establishment of a National Diabetes Association was formed, paving the way for the creation of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Today it’s one of the top non-profit charity organizations in the country.
Bellevue Hospital
On March 31, 1736, a six-bed almshouse (home for the poor) was founded in New York City with construction starting only a year earlier. That almshouse would eventually become Bellevue Hospital, which is often cited as the oldest public hospital in the US.
Birth of Luther Burbank
Luther A. Burbank was born on March 7, 1849, in Lancaster, Massachusetts. A largely self-trained horticulturalist, Burbank developed more than 800 strains and varieties of flowers, fruits, vegetables, grasses, and more. He’s been called the “high priest of horticulture” and the “plant wizard.”