This Day in Geek History: August 1
1774
The element Oxygen is discovered for the third time by Joseph Priestley, a British Presbyterian minister and amateur chemist. Priestley discovered that mercury heated in air becomes coated with a red rust, which, heated separately, would convert back to mercury and give off “air.” Studying this “air,” Priestley observes that candles burn very brightly in it. Upon further experimentation, he also discovers that a mouse in a sealed vessel could breathe much longer with the gas present than a mouse sealed in a vessel without it. Joseph Priestley will publishes his conclusions in 1775, giving the element a name and, historically, receiving most of the credit for its discovery.
1790
The first United States census, which is mandated by the country’s constitution, is conducted under the direction of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. The enormous undertaking of conducting the national census will be one of the driving forces behind the development of the earliest computers. A century later, the tabulating machines for which Herman Hollerith received the first three computer patents in history will be used to compile the results of the nation’s eleventh census. The introduction of the computers will reduce the time taken to tabulate the results from the seven years it took for the 1880 results to just two and a half years.
1946
United States President Harry S. Truman signs the Atomic Energy Act into law, creating the US Atomic Energy Commission about one year after World War II. Congress establishes the Commission to foster and control the peace time development of atomic technology.
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