Hungarian-American physicist and academic (died 1964)

Leo Szilard

Leo Szilard was a Hungarian-born American physicist, biologist and inventor who made numerous important discoveries in nuclear physics and the biological sciences. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, and patented the idea in 1936. In late 1939 he wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb, and then in 1945 wrote the Szilard petition asking president Harry S. Truman to demonstrate the bomb without dropping it on civilians.

Born

1898

February 11

Died

1964

Era

1890s

Country

—

About

Leo, in brief

Leo Szilard was a Hungarian-born American physicist, biologist and inventor who made numerous important discoveries in nuclear physics and the biological sciences. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, and patented the idea in 1936. In late 1939 he wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb, and then in 1945 wrote the Szilard petition asking president Harry S. Truman to demonstrate the bomb without dropping it on civilians.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Key dates

  1. 1898 Born
  2. 1964 Died

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The world in 1964

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on February 11

Thomas Edison 1847–1931 American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (died 1931) Ellen Broe 1900– Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (died 1994) Eva Gabor 1919–1995 Hungarian-American actress (died 1995) Gene Vincent 1935–1971 American singer and guitarist (died 1971) Henry Fox Talbot 1800–1877 English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (died 1877) Ivan Ančić 1624–1685 Croatian Franciscan and religious writer (died 1685) Jean Baptiste Charbonneau 1805– Native American-French Canadian explorer (died 1866) Josh Jacobs 1998– American football player Josiah Willard Gibbs 1839–1903 American scientist (born 1839)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1898

Benjamin Fondane 1898– Romanian-French philosopher, poet, and critic (died 1944) Bertolt Brecht 1898–1956 German poet, playwright, and director (born 1898) C. S. Lewis 1898–1963 British writer, literary scholar, and Anglican lay theologian (born 1898) Edgar Parin d'Aulaire 1898– German-American author and illustrator (died 1986) Firpo Marberry 1898–1976 American baseball player and umpire (born 1898) Fredric Warburg 1898–1981 English author and publisher (born 1898) Fritz Zwicky 1898– Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (died 1974) George Gershwin 1898–1937 American pianist, songwriter, and composer (born 1898) Gracie Fields 1898–1979 English actress and singer (died 1979)

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Leo's birthday February 11 Leo's zodiac Aquarius When Leo departed 1964