People Who Were Born on 12th August and Made History
Great inventors, scientists, philosophers, and other personalities were born on 12th August. They have contributed something remarkable in their respective fields. They have given us something we can follow and find a new direction in those fields. Whether it is physics or astronomy, invention or archaeology, we find these people the pioneers of a new world.
Let us make a list of such famous people who share the 12 August birthday and find out their contributions to the advancement and development of the world.
List of People born on 12th August in India and Abroad
Vikram Sarabhai
He was born in 1919 and is considered to be the father of the Indian space program. He was a physicist who paved the way for the development of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Under his patronage, we have sent astronauts to outer space and have been successful in launching satellites. For him, we commemorate 12 August in Indian history in a very special way.
He was also the pioneer of nuclear energy in India. For his contributions, we have nuclear plants set in different locations in our country. He was the one to initiate this program in India. He also founded the Physical Research Laboratory and started researching cosmic rays in 1947.
He also chaired the 4th UN Conference on ‘Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy’ as the Vice President. His remarkable feat made India jump a few paces ahead in the development of such infrastructure right after its independence. This is why he is considered to be one of August 12 famous birthdays in India.
Vikram Sarabhai, the Father of India’s Space Programs
Otto Struve
He was a Russian-origin American astronomer and the grandson of Friedrich Struve. His research in the field of astronomy with the spectroscopic investigation of constellations, stars, etc., opened a new way for astronomy to follow.
He also worked on peculiar stars, close binaries, and gas nebulas. His remarkable research helped the world to understand why spectral lines broaden due to stellar rotation, turbulence, and electric fields. He was the one to work on these factors and separate them to focus on chemical abundances. He was also the pioneer in studying mass transfer among the closely interacting binary stars. His birthday is considered to be the 12 August importance of the day in the world of astronomy.
Eliezer Sukenik
He was born in 1889 and was an archaeologist by profession. It was he who established the provenance and date of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Under his directions and supervision, the excavations of Jewish tombs and synagogues were done.
He was the one to lead the archaeological mission of eleven caves in the northwest part of the Dead Sea near Qumran. He discovered more than 700 Jewish manuscripts in 1947 written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
Erwin Schrodinger
He was born in 1887 in Austria. He was a physicist by profession and shared a Nobel Prize in 1933 with Paul Dirac. He was the one to theorise the waveform of atomic particles following Louis De Broglie’s principle.
He modified Neil Bohr’s Model of an atom to accommodate the concept of wave form of subatomic particles. His contribution paved the way for a new domain of physics called Quantum Mechanics. He also theorised that the orbits of the electrons are confined to a certain number of wavelengths.
Vincent Bendix
He was an American inventor born in 1882. He developed various systems related to aircraft and automobiles. It was his invention that designed a working electric self-starter. He also worked on the brake system and was the pioneer to introduce a four-wheel automatic brake system. He then entered the aviation industry and started manufacturing helicopters. He was the prime source of aviation electronics for the US Government during World War II.
Ephraim Ball
He was born in 1812 and was an inventor by profession. He was also a manufacturer and was highly successful after patenting the Ball’s Ohio Mower in 1857. This was not his first invention. He invented a turn-top stove. In his foundry shop, he did many such inventions and patented them. He went on to invent the World Mower, Reaper, and Buckeye Machine in 1858 which were highly successful.
Robert Mills
This famous American architect was born in 1781. He was also an engineer. He is famous for designing the Washington Monument. He also designed several famous buildings in the Eastern states.
His monument design won the competition in 1836 and the construction began in 1848. This monument was completed in 1884, 29 years after his death, and reached a height of 555 ft. He was the architect who designed the Department of Treasury Building and many other federal buildings.
Thomas Andrew Knight
He is one of the famous horticulturalists who pioneered the fields of fruit breeding and experimental horticulture. He also studied plant cytology and physiology extensively. His botanical experiments established various scientific facts related to the movement of sap, tendril phototropism, and the cytological nature of cambium.
In order to investigate and understand the geotropism of stems and roots, he invented the rotating machine to simulate gravity using centrifugal force in the horizontal or vertical direction. From his experiments, he concluded that stems will always grow inwards and the roots outwards. His work on greenhouse cultivation, fertilisation, plant nutrition, and pest control is exemplary.
Importance of 12th August
We can clearly understand what is on 12 August. All these great scientists, inventors, and researchers have contributed so much in their respective fields. We can also conclude how the 12 August day special in India due to Sarabhai’s and all the other inventors’ birthdays.
