On this day (30 April) in 1897, Joseph J Thomson announced the discovery of the electron. It was the first time a subatomic particle had been discovered. This graphic takes a quick look at his discovery; for a more detailed explanation, check out this Institute of Physics article. For more on different models of the atom over the years, there’s this graphic highlighting key theories and models.
Today (19th April) marks the birthday of Glenn Seaborg. At the University of California, Berkeley, Seaborg and his colleagues discovered ten of the transuranium elements (elements after uranium in the Periodic Table).
Today (19th March) marks the birthday of Sir Norman Haworth – who also died on the 19th March. Haworth won a Nobel Prize in 1937 for his work on carbohydrates and vitamin C. He also developed a way of drawing 3D sugar structures, known as Haworth projections.
On this day back in 2005, the world’s first legally-binding climate change agreement came into force. The Kyoto protocol, to which 192 countries are a party, aimed to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases by 5.2% by 2012, relative to 1990. This graphic gives a brief overview of the agreement and the outcome of its first period.
Today, 23 January, marks the birthday of Gertrude B Elion, a chemist who jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on drug treatments and the discovery of several drugs used to treat a variety of diseases. This graphic takes a look at some of the key medicines she discovered.