Today we are beginning our new segment called On This Day in History.
Two notable birthdays occurred on August 13.
In 1814, the Swedish physicist Anders Angstrom was born. There’s a crater on the moon that’s named after him because he helped advance the field of spectroscopy. Spectroscopy deals with the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation. Meanwhile, the angstrom unit — which was also named in honor of this physicist — is a unit of length that equals 10–10 meter and is used to express wavelengths.
In 1860, famous markswoman Annie Oakley was born in an Ohio log cabin. She was one of the stars of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show thanks to her sharpshooter skills.
There are also two cool events that have happened in the past during this particular day.
August 13 is considered a landmark day in metallurgy history. That’s because back in 1913 the first production of stainless steel in the United Kingdom was made possible by Harry Brearley of Sheffield, England.
Also on this day in history the three Apollo 11 astronauts completed their quarantine term after returning from the first moon landing. And, on August 13, 1969 a Manhattan ticker tape parade was held in honor of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
Book pictured above is authored by Montrew Dunham and illustrated by Meryl Henderson.
Finally, this year’s Perseid meteor shower is peaking on this day. So, if you didn’t catch the meteor shower yet then you can make time tonight to look up in the sky. Maybe you’ll be able to make history, too, if your shooting star wish comes true.
