February 4
Geek events to celebrate on February 4:
1936 – Radium becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
1957 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), logs its 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne‘s novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.
2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social network is founded by Mark Zuckerberg. Just because it’s mainstream and even your mom is on Facebook now, it was still created by a geeky guy. Zuckerberg likely still has a solid geek core despite all the money and fame. Geeks shall not inherit the earth, my friends. They are taking it by underground force.
February 4 birthdays of geeky note:
1725 – Dru Drury, one of the foremost English entomologists of his time (d. January 15, 1804). He was a prolific collector with a bug collection comprised over 11,000 specimens. They were likely meticulously cataloged, as well.