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On This Day

  • 5-7-1713

    Alexis Clairaut born in Paris. He did both experimental and theoretical work on the shape of the earth (flattened at the poles) and the orbits of the moon and of Halley's comet, in addition to more purely mathematical work.

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    Alexis Clairaut

  • 5-7-1774

    Francis Beaufort born in Ireland. He was a British naval officer who in 1805 devised the Beaufort Scale of wind force from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane). The scale was based on observation and so required no special instruments.

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    Francis Beaufort
    Beaufort Scale

  • 5-7-1934

    Karl Geiser died in Zurich, Switzerland. He organized the first International Congress of Mathematicians, held in 1897 in Zurich.

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    Karl Geiser