Today is Wednesday March 31, 2010

Today is:

Bunsen Burner Day

The Bunsen burner is a common piece of equipment used in laboratories for scientific and testing purposes. It produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. The hose barb of the Bunsen burner is connected to a gas nozzle. The gas flows up the base through a small hole at the bottom of the barrel and is then directed upward. Different types of flames can emerge from the Bunsen burner depending on the flow of the gas through the throat holes.

Robert Bunsen was hired by the University of Heidelberg in 1852. The university had just began to install coal-gas street lighting, so Bunsen's laboratory was dimly lit using illuminating gas. Bunsen made some suggestions to Heidelberg's mechanic and asked him to construct a prototype for a new type of burner that he could more easily use in his laboratory. Bunsen's design was a success and many of his colleagues soon adopted the design as well. Today, the Bunsen burner can be found in schools and universities around the world. Happy Bunsen Burner Day!

March is National Peanut Month & International Ideas Month & National Craft Month

On this day in History:

1880 - Wabash, Indiana, became the first town to be completely illuminated with electric light.

1889 - In Paris, the Eiffel Tower officially opened.

1917 - The U.S. purchased and took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.

1932 - The Ford Motor Co. debuted its V-8 engine.

1940 - La Guardia airport in New York officially opened to the public.

1958 - Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was released.


Quote of the Day:
"So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else."

--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe