January 5
Geek events to celebrate on January 5:
1896 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Roentgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays
1940 – FM radio is demonstrated to the Federal Communications Commission for the first time.
1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
2005 – Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.
January 5 birthdays of geeky note:
1940 – Stephen Kleene, American mathematician who helped lay the foundations for theoretical computer science (d. January 25, 1994).