27 Februrary

February 27 1940 – Carbon-14 is Discovered by Martin Kamen and Samuel Ruben4.7 (93.33%) 3 votes *Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons A pair of men working at the University of California at Berkeley made a startling discovery on February 27, 1940 — one with implications for the future of science in everything from biology to anthropology. The two chemists, Martin Kamen and Samuel Ruben, realized basic the basic element of carbon had a radioactive isotope. Known as “carbon-14” due to its two additional neutrons, the ion exists in all sorts of natural organisms and can be used to estimate the age of materials up to 50,000 years old. Kamen and Ruben […]

February 27 1870 – Japan adopts its current national flag, to designate merchant shipsRate this post The national flag of Japan, officially known as the Nisshoki or the Sun–mark flag was adopted on February 27, 1870. At the time, however, it was meant to be the flag to identify the Japanese nationality of the merchant ships and not the flag that represents the nation itself. Japan’s association with the Hinomaru or the Sun Disc is a very ancient one. Japan is called “the land of the rising sun”, perhaps due to its location in the Far East. Not surprisingly, the Imperial family of Japan is believed to have descended from […]