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Science History - Daily

Science History - Daily

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This Day in History - Science is an podcast that attempts to explores the remarkable moments that shaped the scientific landscape. Each episode, we journey back in time to rediscover groundbreaking discoveries, pivotal inventions, and the fascinating individuals who dared to push the boundaries of knowledge. From the invention of the light bulb to the discovery of DNA, we delve into the stories behind the science that changed our world.Listen to This Day in History - Science to:
  • Learn about the most important scientific discoveries of all time
  • Meet the brilliant minds who made them possible
  • Understand how science has shaped our world
  • Be inspired to explore your own curiosity about science
This Day in History - Science is a great podcast for anyone who is interested in science, history, or just wants to learn something new.

Subscribe to This Day in History - Science on your favorite podcast app today!










  • history
  • discovery
  • invention
  • innovation
  • technology
  • medicine
  • space
  • exploration
  • education
  • learning
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Episodios
  • ENIAC Unveiling: The Giant Brain Lights Up Philadelphia

    ENIAC Unveiling: The Giant Brain Lights Up Philadelphia
    Feb 14 2026
    # The Discovery of ENIAC: February 14, 1946

    On Valentine's Day in 1946, while couples across America were exchanging cards and chocolates, a different kind of love affair was being consummated in Philadelphia—one between humanity and the electronic digital age. On February 14, 1946, the U.S. Army unveiled ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) to the public at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering.

    ENIAC was an absolute *beast* of a machine. Weighing 30 tons and occupying 1,800 square feet of floor space, it contained approximately 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7,200 crystal diodes, 1,500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, and around 5 million hand-soldered joints. When powered on, it consumed 150 kilowatts of electricity—enough to dim the lights in an entire section of Philadelphia (or so the legend goes, though this was likely exaggerated).

    What made ENIAC revolutionary wasn't just its size but its speed. While previous mechanical computers like the Harvard Mark I could perform perhaps three additions per second, ENIAC could execute 5,000 additions per second. It could multiply numbers in 2.8 milliseconds—a task that would take a human calculator with a desk calculator approximately 20 seconds. For complex ballistics calculations that might take a human 20 hours, ENIAC could deliver results in 30 seconds.

    The computer was originally conceived to calculate artillery firing tables for the Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory during World War II. Ironically, though construction began in 1943, ENIAC wasn't completed until after the war ended. However, it proved invaluable for other calculations, including early work on the hydrogen bomb and wind tunnel design.

    The public demonstration on that February day was carefully choreographed. ENIAC performed a trajectory calculation in seconds that would have taken human computers several weeks. Reporters were dazzled as the machine's thousands of vacuum tubes glowed and flickered, watching what the press dubbed a "giant brain" at work.

    Often overlooked in the initial publicity were the six remarkable women who programmed ENIAC: Kay McNulty, Betty Jennings, Betty Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, Fran Bilas, and Ruth Lichterman. These pioneering programmers, originally hired as human "computers" to calculate ballistics trajectories by hand, figured out how to program ENIAC by studying its logical diagrams and physically manipulating switches and cables. Programming required intimate knowledge of the machine's architecture, as there was no programming language or stored program—every calculation required physically rewiring parts of the machine.

    ENIAC represented a philosophical leap as much as a technological one. It demonstrated that electronic digital computation was not only possible but practical. While it had limitations—it was decimal rather than binary, and "programming" it initially meant physically reconfiguring it with cables and switches—ENIAC proved the concept and paved the way for the stored-program computers that would follow.

    The machine operated until October 2, 1955, calculating everything from atomic energy calculations to cosmic ray studies. By the time it was retired, ENIAC had operated for 80,223 hours and performed more calculations than all of humanity had done up to that point in history.

    So on this Valentine's Day, remember that in 1946, the world fell in love with a different kind of valentine—one that blinked with thousands of vacuum tubes and promised to revolutionize human civilization. ENIAC was the spark that ignited the digital revolution, making possible everything from smartphones to space exploration.


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  • Women Debug ENIAC Hours Before Historic Public Debut

    Women Debug ENIAC Hours Before Historic Public Debut
    Feb 13 2026
    # The Discovery of the Pulsating Universe: February 13, 1974

    On February 13, 1974, astronomers announced one of the most mind-bending discoveries in the history of cosmology—evidence that suggested our entire universe might be rhythmically pulsating like a cosmic heartbeat!

    Well, not exactly. But this date marks when the astronomical community was buzzing about what seemed like compelling evidence for the "oscillating universe" theory, based on observations that certain distant galaxies appeared to show coordinated periodic variations in their spectra.

    Actually, let me tell you about something that *really* happened on February 13th that's equally fascinating:

    ## The Birth of ENIAC's Little Sister: February 13, 1946

    Just days after ENIAC (the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was officially dedicated to the public on February 14, 1946, the scientific community was still reeling from the implications. But on February 13, 1946, the day BEFORE the famous public unveiling, something equally important was happening behind the scenes at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering.

    The six women who programmed ENIAC—Betty Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, Fran Bilas, Kay McNulty, Ruth Lichterman, and Adele Goldstine—were frantically working to debug and prepare the machine for its public debut. Unlike modern computers with screens and keyboards, programming ENIAC meant physically manipulating thousands of switches and cables, essentially rewiring the entire machine for each new calculation.

    The story goes that on this day, with less than 24 hours until the public demonstration, ENIAC suddenly stopped working during a test of the ballistic trajectory calculations it was meant to showcase. The male engineers began checking tubes (ENIAC had 17,468 vacuum tubes, any one of which could fail), but it was Betty Snyder who discovered the problem: a single switch, among thousands, had been set incorrectly in the program sequence.

    This moment encapsulated the dawn of a new era—the age of software debugging, though that term wouldn't be popularized until Grace Hopper's famous moth incident in 1947. These women were inventing programming itself, creating techniques and mental frameworks for controlling electronic computers that had never existed before.

    What makes this particularly poignant is that during the next day's public demonstration and in most historical accounts for decades afterward, these six pioneering programmers would be largely overlooked, often mistaken for "models" posing with the equipment, while the male engineers received most of the credit. It wasn't until the 1980s and 1990s that historians began properly recognizing their fundamental contributions to computer science.

    ENIAC could perform 5,000 additions per second—absolutely mind-blowing for 1946, when human "computers" (yes, that was a job title, mostly held by women) took hours to do calculations that ENIAC could complete in seconds. The machine weighed 30 tons, occupied 1,800 square feet, and consumed 150 kilowatts of power.

    So while February 14th got all the glory with its public dedication, February 13th, 1946 represents the unglamorous but essential reality of computing: late nights, mysterious bugs, deadline pressure, and the crucial detective work of debugging—all pioneered by women whose names should be as familiar as those of the hardware engineers who designed the machine's circuits.


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  • Darwin's Birth Revolutionizes Understanding of Life on Earth

    Darwin's Birth Revolutionizes Understanding of Life on Earth
    Feb 12 2026
    # February 12, 1809: The Birthday of Charles Darwin

    On February 12, 1809, Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, and the world would never look at life quite the same way again!

    What makes this date particularly delightful is that Abraham Lincoln was born on the *exact same day* – two men who would revolutionize human thought in completely different ways, entering the world simultaneously on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

    Young Charles was born into a wealthy, intellectually accomplished family. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was already musing about evolutionary ideas, and his other grandfather was Josiah Wedgwood of pottery fame. Despite this impressive pedigree, Charles was... well, let's say he wasn't exactly a star student. His father once scolded him: "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family."

    How spectacularly wrong that turned out to be!

    Darwin initially studied medicine at Edinburgh, but he found surgery (performed without anesthesia in those days) absolutely horrifying. He then pivoted to Cambridge to become a clergyman – imagine that alternate timeline! But his real passion was natural history. He collected beetles obsessively, once popping one in his mouth when his hands were full and he spotted another rare specimen.

    The pivotal moment came when, at age 22, he secured a position as gentleman's companion to Captain FitzRoy aboard HMS Beagle. That five-year voyage (1831-1836) transformed him from an amateur naturalist into the mind that would reshape biology forever. His observations of finches, tortoises, and mockingbirds in the Galápagos, along with fossil finds in South America, planted the seeds of his revolutionary theory.

    But here's the kicker: Darwin sat on his theory for over 20 years! He filled notebook after notebook with evidence but was terrified of the religious and social backlash. He might have waited even longer if Alfred Russel Wallace hadn't independently come up with similar ideas in 1858, forcing Darwin's hand. "On the Origin of Species" was finally published in 1859 – all 1,250 copies sold out on the first day.

    Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was breathtakingly elegant: organisms produce more offspring than can survive, those with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, and these traits become more common over generations. This simple mechanism explained the stunning diversity and adaptation of life on Earth without requiring divine intervention at every turn.

    The impact was seismic. Darwin provided a unifying framework for all of biology. Suddenly, vestigial organs, the fossil record, geographical distribution of species, and anatomical similarities all made sense. His ideas revolutionized not just biology but geology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy.

    Of course, controversy erupted. The famous 1860 Oxford debate saw Thomas Huxley ("Darwin's Bulldog") clash with Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, who supposedly asked if Huxley was descended from apes on his grandmother's or grandfather's side. The culture wars continue even today in some quarters!

    What's remarkable is how well Darwin's theory has held up. He knew nothing of genes, DNA, or molecular biology, yet his fundamental insights remain valid. Modern evolutionary synthesis has only strengthened his framework by explaining the mechanisms of inheritance he couldn't.

    Darwin himself continued working until his death in 1882, studying everything from orchids to earthworms, barnacles to human emotions. He's buried in Westminster Abbey, a controversial choice at the time, near Isaac Newton.

    So on this date, we celebrate the birth of a man who helped us understand our place in nature – not as separate from the living world, but as part of it, connected to every organism through deep time by an unbroken chain of descent. Not bad for the kid who just wanted to catch beetles!


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