Valentina Tereshkova made history on June 16, 1963, by becoming the first woman to journey into outer space as a Soviet cosmonaut; she is also the only woman to have been on…
-
-
The saviour of mothers
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician who made a groundbreaking discovery about the importance of hand hygiene in the 19th century. Here is his story, a testament to the power of…
-
Velcro – An idea that stuck
Velcro, the popular hook-and-loop fastening system, was invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral in the 1940s. Here’s the story behind its invention: De Mestral, an avid outdoorsman, went on a hunting…
-
3D-printed bones for ear implants
Dr. Mashudu Tshifularo is a renowned South African otolaryngologist and educator who made history by leading the first team to use 3D-printed bones for reconstructive middle ear implants. Born on June 18,…
-
King Canute and the good tides
The anecdote of King Canute the Great is one of the most famously misunderstood stories in English history. While it is often used today to describe someone’s arrogance in “trying to stop the…
-
Srinivasa Ramanujan: A self-taught genius in maths
Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught Indian mathematician, is renowned for his extraordinary contributions to number theory. Here’s a fascinating account of his journey: Ramanujan was born in 1887 in Erode, India. Growing up,…
-
Kekulé’s dream
August Kekulé, a German organic chemist, is famous for his work on the structure of benzene. Here’s how he arrived at it: Kekulé was struggling to understand the structure of benzene, a…
-
Copella arnoldi
The Copella arnoldi, also known as the splash tetra, has a unique breeding behaviour that involves the male fish splashing water on the eggs to keep them damp: Splash tetra are tropical…
-
Anne Frank’s Diary
Reading Anne Frank’s diary for the first time can be a ground-breaking moment in any reader’s life. Since it was first published, the book has inspired generations of people around the world –…
-
A Tata leader’s disappearing act
Mr. Sumant Moolgaokar is considered to be the architect of Tata Motors. He led TELCO (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company), the predecessor of Tata Motors, for four decades and laid the foundation…