January 13
Geek events to celebrate on January 13:
1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, also known as a soybean car, that is 30% lighter than a regular car. The concept was halted during World War II and afterwards it was abandoned.
January 13 birthdays of geeky note:
1906 – Zhou Youguang, a Chinese linguist who is often credited as the “father of Hanyu Pinyin“, the official romanization for Mandarin in the People’s Republic of China. What began as a hobby turned into an interesting and commendable linguistics career in in 1955 and made it possible for us Western hobos to be able to learn Mandarin more efficiently. Another example of a game-changing social advancement by a geek that would affect the whole world.