(Encyclopedia) Mattis, James, 1950–, American general and secretary of defense (2017–18), b. Pullman, Wash., grad. Central Washington Univ. (1971). Commissioned as a second lieutenant (1972) in the…
(Encyclopedia) Thouless, David James, 1934–2019, British physicist, b. Bearsden, Scotland, Ph.D. Cornell, 1958. He was a professor at the Univ. of Birmingham, England (1965–78), Yale (1979–80), and…
George W. Bush's secretary of DefenseBorn: 7/9/1932Birthplace: Chicago, Ill. The ultimate Washington insider, Rumsfeld became President Bush's secretary of defense in January 2001. He held the…
scientist, writerBorn: 3/30/1909Birthplace: Vienna, Austria Vienna-born polymath who wrote about subjects ranging from classical music to psychology to white ants. But he's best known for his…
human sexuality expertBorn: 12/27/1915Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio human sexuality expert who, with his second wife and co-researcher, Virginia Johnson, studied sexual behavior and demystified the…
Born: 1902Birthplace: Amoy, China Transistor—Bardeen, Shockley and Brattain shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for Physics for the invention of the transistor. The transistor replaced the vacuum tube and…
Born: 1893Birthplace: Hamilton, Ohio Thio-barbituric acid derivatives—Volwiler and Tabern came up with Pentothal when they were seeking an anesthetic which could be injected directly into the…
Born: 1923Birthplace: Orange, N.J. Tetracycline—Conover's invention of tetracycline in 1952 was the first creation of an antibiotic made by chemically modifying a naturally-produced drug.…
Born: 1926Birthplace: Stratford, Conn. Magnetic core memory—Olsen and his Digital Equipment Corporation developed the first successful minicomputer. Digital also developed the MicroVAX which placed…
