Green Lantern is the name of a number of fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers. The first Green Lantern character, Alan Scott, was created in 1940 during the initial popularity of superheroes. Alan Scott usually fought common criminals in New York City with the aid of his magic ring. In 1959, to capitalize on the booming popularity of science fiction, the Green Lantern character was reinvented as Hal Jordan, an officer for an interstellar law enforcement agency known as the Green Lantern Corps. Additional members of this agency, all of whom call themselves Green Lanterns, were introduced over time.
Marie Curie was a French-Polish physicist and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win in multiple sciences (1903 in Physics and 1911 in Chemistry). She studied at Warsaw’s clandestine Flying University before moving to Paris. Her achievements include a theory of radioactivity, techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes and the discovery of polonium and radium. Curie was born on this day in 1867 and died in 1934 of aplastic anemia from years of exposure to radiation.
Note: After more than 100 years, all of Curie’s papers are still incredibly radioactive. Opening the lead-lined boxes that contain her manuscripts requires radiation gear.
An artificial intelligence in Arthur C. Clarke’s science fiction Space Odyssey saga and the primary antagonist in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is visually represented as a red television-camera eye located on equipment panels throughout the Discovery One spaceship.
A Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer. He is known for many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems and commercial electricity. He invented the radio, experimented with wireless electricity and designed a death ray. He died on this day in 1943.
I love this Funny or Die episode about Nikola Tesla and the evil Thomas Edison: “This is awful. I am inventing electricity and you look like an asshole.” Tesla was a badass.
A fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. Known as Santa’s ninth reindeer, he is depicted as the lead of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward. He stars in the stop-motion Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964.
Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve! I will be spending mine in a dirty Amazon jungle town in Peru.
The Wheedle is the title character of the 1974 children’s book by Stephen Cosgrove. He is a large, round, furry creature who lives in the Northwest. The character eventually evolved into a popular mascot generally associated with the city of Seattle. From 1978 through 1985, the Wheedle was the official mascot of the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics.
A fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Iron Man is otherwise known as Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer. Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape.
Nikola Tesla – No. 317
A Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer. He is known for many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems and commercial electricity. He invented the radio, experimented with wireless electricity and designed a death ray. He died on this day in 1943.
I love this Funny or Die episode about Nikola Tesla and the evil Thomas Edison: “This is awful. I am inventing electricity and you look like an asshole.” Tesla was a badass.