Today in Technology History
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January 28
Today is an important day for the intrepid Piccard family of explorers, since its two most prominent members were born on January 28, 1884.
Auguste Piccard and Jean-Felix Piccard were twin brothers born exactly 118 years ago in Basel, Switzerland. Both Piccards were interested in science; Auguste became a renowned Belgian physicist and Jean-Felix -- who became an American -- was a chemist and engineer.
Their exploring careers began with an interest in balloon flight. Auguste, the physicist, believed that cosmic rays could only be properly studied at an extremely high altitude. In the early 1930s, Auguste designed a manned balloon that could ascend into the upper stratosphere. He set an altitude record that was broken a few years later when Jean-Felix took over the experiments. Jean-Felix and his wife set several new altitude records, and tested balloons they made of plastic and metal.
The Piccards' ingenuity solved many of the basic problems facing high-altitude ascents -- problems involving pressure, temperature and breathable air. Those problems are analogous to some of the challenges of deep underwater exploration. Auguste Piccard built a deep-sea vessel called a "bathyscaph" which he and his son used to set new depth records in the 1940s and 50s.
The date January 28 is important to the Piccard family for other reasons, too. Jean-Felix Piccard died on January 28, 1963 -- on his 79th birthday. Auguste had died in 1962, but his descendants have kept exploring, including grandson Bertrand Piccard, who set a ballooning endurance record on January 28, 1998.
Related links:
Use these links to read about other explorers in the Piccard family (Jeanette, Don, Jacques and Bertrand):
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