Today's Famous Birthdays

[IceWizard]

Nicolaus Copernicus
(19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543)

was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon,
who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center.
In all likelihood, Copernicus developed his model independently of Aristarchus of Samos,
an ancient Greek astronomer who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier.










Karen Gay Silkwood
(February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974)

was an American chemical technician and labor union activist known for raising concerns about
corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility.

She worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Oklahoma, making plutonium pellets,
and became the first woman on the union's negotiating team. After testifying to the Atomic Energy
Commission about her concerns, she was found to have plutonium contamination on her person and
in her home. While driving to meet with a New York Times journalist and an official of her union's
national office, she died in a car crash under unclear circumstances.

Her family sued Kerr-McGee for the plutonium contamination. The company settled out of court for
US $1.38 million, while not admitting liability. Her story was chronicled in Mike Nichols's 1983
Academy Award nominated film Silkwood in which she was portrayed by Meryl Streep.