Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Spotlight: Johannes Kepler, the astronomer and mathematician who was considered to be the father of modern astronomy, was born on this date in 1571. The successor to Tycho Brahe, Kepler built on Brahe's research to develop the three mathematical laws that describe the planets' elliptical orbit around the sun, how fast they travel and the amount of time it takes for each planet to complete a revolution around the sun. Late in 2008, NASA plans to launch the Kepler Mission, a space observatory designed to search for planets outside our solar system.

Quote: "I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses." — Johannes Kepler

Word of the day: organon -- an instrument for acquiring knowledge; specif. a body of principles of scientific or philosophic investigation (© )

Today's News:

• Gerald Ford: former US president dies at 93 (story)
• Saddam Hussein: court rules execution must take place within 30 days (story)
• Fidel Castro: doctor says Cuban leader has digestive problem, not cancer (story)
• Ram Bahadur Bamjon: young "Buddha" reappears in Nepal after nine months of meditation and fasting (story)
• Elvis Presley: still the king of US postage stamps (story)

Today's History:

• anesthesia: was first used for childbirth (1845)
• Peter Pan: play by J.M. Barrie debuted in London (1904)
• Radio City Music Hall: world's largest indoor theater opened (1932)
• World Bank: was formed (1945)

Today's Birthdays:

• Louis Pasteur: inventor of pasteurization (1822-1895)
• Marlene Dietrich: German-American actress and singer (1901-1992)
• Cokie Roberts: political journalist, author (63)
• Gérard Depardieu: actor, Cyrano de Bergerac (58)