Posted by January 31st
1632 – Death of Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician
1868 – Birth of Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel laureate
1881 – birth of Irving Langmuir, American chemist, Nobel laureate
1896 – Birth of Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician
1929 – Birth of Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist, Nobel laureate
1958 – Explorer I – The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit.