As a science enthusiast, October is my favorite month of the year. This year doesn’t disappoint. October 2020 is home to a blue moon, two meteor showers, and National Chemistry Week. Of course, there is also Halloween and all the spooky science that comes along with it. Take a look at all the science October 2020 has in store!
October 1: Hunter’s Full Moon (also know as the Full Blood Moon) occurs at 5:05 PM EDT (2105 GMT)
October 1: Yosemite National Park was created on this day in 1890. Happy 120th birthday, Yosemite!
October 2: British chemist, William Ramsay was born on this day in 1852. He is credited with the discovery of neon gas.
October 3: National Techies Day
October 3: The transistor was patented on this day in 1950 by Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain
October 4: World Animal Day
October 4-10: World Space Week
October 4-10: National Metric Week
October 5: Astronomy Day
October 7-8: Draconids Meteor Shower peaks
October 7-13: World Rainforest Week
October 8: Ada Lovelace Day
October 9: National Nano Day
October 10: Metric Day
October 11: World Egg Day
October 11: On this day in 1841, John Rand was granted a patent for a collapsible tube for use with such items as toothpaste.
October 11–17: Earth Science Week
October 12: Inventor of the gyrocompass, Elmer Sperry was born on this day in 1860.
October 13: Mars at Opposition. This is the best time to view the planet.
October 13: International Skeptics Day
October 14: US Air Force Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager made the first supersonic flight on record in the Bell X-1 aircraft
October 14: National Fossil Day
October 16: Hagfish Day
October 16: BepiColombo flies past Venus
October 17: American engineer, physician, and NASA astronaut, Mae Jemison was born on this day in 1956. On September 12, 1992, she became the first African American woman to travel in space.
October 18: The Nobel Prize for the discover of the structure of DNA was awarded on this day in 1962 to Crick, Watson, and Wilkins.
October 18-24: National Chemistry Week
October 19: On this day in 1941, Palmer Putnam successfully demonstrated the first wind turbine when the Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine fed AC power to the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation’s electrical grid.
October 20: English Physicist, James Chadwick was born on this day in 1891. He is credited with the discovery of the neutron.
October 21: Swedish scientist, Alfred Nobel, was born on this day in 1833. He is credited with invented the detonator for dynamite and nitroglycerin. The Nobel Prize was named after him.
October 21-22: Orionids Meteor Shower peaks
October 22: The first parachute jump of note is made on this day 1797 by André-Jacques Garnerin from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet above Paris.
October 23: SpaceX will launch its first operational Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, called Crew-1, with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi.
October 23: A patent for a gas-motor engine was issued to Nicolaus Otto and Francis and William Crossley on this day in 1877.
October 23: National Mole Day
October 24: The first transcontinental telegraph system was completed on this day in 1861. It made it possible to transmit messages rapidly from coast to coast.
October 24: Antony van Leeuwenhoek was born on this day in 1632. Many consider him to be the father of microscopy because of the advances he made in microscope design and use.
October 25: Scottish inventor, Robert Stirling was born on this day in 1790. He is responsible for creating the Sterling engine.
October 28: American medical researcher, Jonas Salk was born on this day in 1914. He is credited as the inventor of the polio vaccine.
October 29: English scientist, Edmond Halley, was born on this day in 1656. He computed the orbit for the comet that bears his name today – Halley’s Comet.
October 31: Uranus at Opposition (great time to view the planet)
October 31: Full moon (since this is the second full moon of the month it is also a Blue Moon) at 10:49 AM EDT (1449 GMT)
