May 1, 1922
Alexander Fleming publishes the discovery of lysozyme, a protein with antibacterial properties present in mucous secretions and tears
May 2, 1907
Physicist and computer pioneer José García Santesmases is born. He directed the construction of the first analog computer and the first Spanish-made microprocessor
May 3, 1877
Archaeologist, anthropologist and geologist Franz Nopcsa is born. He is considered one of the founders of paleobiology, one of the divisions of paleontology, along with taphonomy and biochronology
May 4, 2012
The National Museum of Science and Technology (MuNCyT) in A Coruña is inaugurated. Since then, it has acted as a social reference and meeting point in scientific and technological matters
May 5, 1804
The naturalist and botanist Antonio José de Cavanilles dies. He was one of the first Spanish scientists to use Linnaeus' taxonomic procedures
May 6, 1859
Alexander von Humboldt dies. He was a pioneer explorer in ecological thought, being recognized for his contributions to the natural sciences, highlighting botanical geography
May 7, 1938
Mycologist Gillian Fiona Laundon is born. She is known for her studies on rusts, plant pathogenic fungi, and for creating a new system for spore terminology
May 8, 1874
Archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter is born. He discovered tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings, in which Pharaoh Tutankhamun of the XVIII dynasty was buried
May 9, 1866
Inventor and game designer Elizabeth Magie is born. Her game The Landlord’s Game was a precursor to Monopoly and illustrated the teachings of the economist Henry George, denouncing the oppression of real estate rentiers
May 10, 1917
Doctor Julie Sulianti Saroso is born. She helped vulnerable communities access quality healthcare and helped bring family planning education to Indonesia
May 11, 1906
Odón de Buen teaches the first oceanography class open to the public in Spain. To illustrate the course on marine biology, held at the Ateneo de Madrid, he installed numerous aquariums
May 12, 1551
The present-day National University of San Marcos is founded in Lima (Peru). It is considered the oldest university in all of America
May 13, 1699
The statesman Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello is born. After the Great Lisbon Earthquake, he carried out the survey that allows us to reconstruct the event and marks the birth of seismology as a science
May 14, 1856
Nurse Julia Dempsey is born. She discovered the Sister María José nodule, a lesion in the navel that indicates metastasis of a malignant cancer to the pelvis or abdomen
May 15, 1859
Physicist Pierre Curie is born. He was a pioneer in the study of radioactivity and received the Nobel Prize in Physics along with his wife Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Antoine Henri Becquerel
May 16, 1884
Inventor and businessman Angelo Moriondo patents the first modern espresso machine. This machine was presented that year at the General Exhibition in Turin
May 17, 1930
Physicist Christiane Bonnelle is born. She pioneered X-ray spectroscopy, researching lanthanides and actinides, as well as solid-solid interfaces
May 18, 2024
Plant Fascination Day. Their goal is to get people excited about botany, agriculture, and the sustainable production of plant-based foods
May 19, 1974
The Rubik’s Cube is born. With it, the sculptor and architecture professor Ernö Rubik was looking for a manipulable mechanical object that would allow his students to better understand three-dimensional geometry
May 20, 1878
Physicist Blas Cabrera is born. He directed the Physical Research Laboratory of the Board of Expansion of Studies and is recognized as a reference in the field of magnetism
May 21, 1860
The doctor Willem Einthoven is born. He received the Nobel Prize for his decisive contributions to the development of the electrocardiograph and its clinical application
May 22, 2024
International Day for Biological Diversity. Its objective is to inform and raise awareness among the population and states about issues related to biodiversity
May 23, 2009
Limnologist M. Ann Chapman dies. She was the first woman to lead a scientific expedition to Antarctica. This continent’s Lake Chapman was named in honor of her
May 24, 1789
Nurse Betsi Cadwaladr is born. She began working as a nurse on traveling ships and later did so in the Crimean War, alongside Florence Nightingale
May 25, 1947
Psychologist and computer expert Catherine Gody Wolf is born. She was the author of more than one hundred research articles in the areas of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence
May 26, 1946
Paleoanthropologist Leslie C. Aiello is born. Together with Peter Wheeler, she developed the expensive tissue hypothesis to explain the large size that the human brain acquired throughout evolution
May 27, 2021
María Teresa Miras Portugal, the first woman to preside over a Royal Academy in Spain, dies. She studied nucleotide receptors and their impact on neurodegenerative diseases
May 28, 2023
Doctor and Nobel Prize winner Harald zur Hausen dies. He discovered that the human papillomavirus was the main cause of cervix cancer
May 29, 1919
During a solar eclipse, astrophysicist Arthur Eddington performed the experiment that empirically confirmed Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity