On the shoulders of giants Archives

March 31, 2024April 5, 2024General, History, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#908 Johannes Gutenberg – inventor of the printing press

In the 1440s, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and changed the world. It is not very often where you can say […]

March 24, 2024April 5, 2024General, History, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#901 Alexander Cumming – inventor of the S-bend

Alexander Cumming invented the S-bend in 1775. Toilets have existed for thousands of years, but the S-band (now the U-bend) was an […]

March 17, 2024April 14, 2024I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants, Technology

#894 Shuji Nakamura – the inventor of the blue LED

Shuji Nakamura invented the blue LED, without which we wouldn’t be able to have white LEDs, and we would be damaging the […]

March 10, 2024April 14, 2024Computers, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#887 Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman – creators of RSA encryption

Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman were the creators of the RSA encryption that we use many times, possibly hundreds of […]

March 3, 2024October 27, 2024Biology, Food, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#880 Norman Ernest Borlaug – father of the Green Revolution

Norman Ernest Borlaug was known as the father of the Green Revolution because of the new strain of wheat he developed and […]

February 25, 2024April 7, 2024Biology, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants, Science

#873 Henrietta Lacks – the source of the HeLa cell line

Henrietta Lacks developed cervical cancer and the cells taken from a tumor biopsy have formed the HeLa cell line, named after her. […]

February 18, 2024April 14, 2024General, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#866 Nils Bohlin – inventor of the three-point seatbelt

Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seat belt in 1959. There is no way of working out how many people his invention has […]

February 11, 2024May 12, 2024Biology, History, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants, Science

#859 Maurice Hilleman – microbiologist specializing in vaccinology.

During his career, Maurice Hilleman developed over 40 vaccinations. It is thought that his vaccinations save over 8 million lives every year. […]

February 4, 2024May 12, 2024I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#852 Henry Dunant – the founder of the Red Cross

Henry Dunant was born in Geneva on 8 May 1828. Have you heard of the Red Cross? I expect most people have. […]

January 28, 2024May 18, 2024History, I learned this today, On the shoulders of giants

#846 Christiaan Huygens – inventor of the pendulum clock and the balance spring.

Christiaan Huygens was a mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor. He was responsible for many discoveries during his lifetime. He discovered a […]