Debuted This Day: The Motorcycle

Black Cat © Harvey Comics

In this day in 1885, the world's first motorcycle, designed by Gottlieb Daimler, made its debut. The frame and wheels were made of wood. A leather belt transfered power from the engine to large brass gears mounted to the rear wheel. The leather saddle wasn't very comfortable since there was no suspension (front or rear). The single cylinder engine had a bore of 58mm and stroke of 100mm giving a displacement of 264cc's. The engine gave 0.5hp at 700 rpm. The top speed for the motorcycle was 12 km/h. This was built as an experimental vehicle to test the new Daimler engine, which was to power Daimler's first motorized carriage the following year.

The Black Hood © Archie Comics

Only in France....

The Origin of the Laser & Why Super-Villians Are Born

Avengers © Marvel Comics

On this day in 1957, Gordon Gould began to write down the principles of what he called a laser in his notebook during a sleepless Saturday night. By Wednesday morning he had a notary witness and date his notebook. Therein, he had described what he called "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," or, from those initials, "laser."

Unfortunately, he misunderstood the patent process, and did not file promptly. But, other scientists, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow, did file for a patent on their similar but independent discovery of how to make a laser. When Gould belatedly tried to get a patent, it took decades to eventually establish priority and gain what had then grown to be profitable royalties from the established laser industry.

From Today In Science History

X-15 Sets Speed Record

On this day in 1961, the X-15 rocket plane achieved a world record speed of 4,093 mph (Mach 6.04) and reached 101,600 feet (30,970 m or over 19 miles) altitude, piloted by U.S.Air Force Major Robert M. White. Its internal structure of titanium was covered with a skin of Inconel X, a chrome-nickel alloy. To save fuel, the X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at about 45,000 ft.

Test flights between 8 Jun 1959 and 24 Oct 1968 provided data on hypersonic air flow, aerodynamic heating, control at hypersonic speeds and piloting techniques for reentry used in the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spaceflight programs. The X-15 reached 354,200 feet (107,960 m, 67 miles) on 22 Aug 1963 and Mach 6.7 on 3 Oct 1967.

From Today In Science History

Premiered This Day

1957


1972

Once & Future Captain Canada

Created by Peter Evans (writer) and Stanley Berneche (artist), Captain Canada made his debut in Fuddle Duddle (# 4, below), the counterculture humour magazine published in Ottawa by Jeffrey R. Darcey (JRD Publishing) from 1971 to 1972. He also appeared in the next issue in a radically reworked style.

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The version below of Capt. Canada appeared on the newsstands last Christmas:

Valentina Tereshkova, 1st Woman In Space

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On this day in 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Tereshkova returned to Earth after spending nearly three days as the first woman in space and made 48 orbits of the Earth. She had been interested in parachute jumping when she was young, and that expertise was one of the reasons she was picked for the cosmonaut program. She became the first person to be recruited without experience as a test pilot. From Today in Science History

Steve Ditko Explains Science To The Masses

After Steve Ditko left Spider-Man and Marvel Comics in a huff in the mid-‘60’s he landed at 3rd string publisher Charlton where he created The Question, and revamped Capt. Atom and The Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle © DC Comics

Ditko’s growing obsession with the dictates of Objectivism soon dominated his work. In the pages of this Blue Beetle story, recently published in “The Action Heroes Archives” by DC, Steve sort of explains the difference between Science and Technology:

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Dig the dialogue Steve scripted for this otherwise standard fight scene between BB and The Specter (a precursor to Ditko’s later creation, The Missing Man):

Finally, a recap on why scientists are better than you: