Writer and illustrator Edward Gorey was born #OTD in 1925.

Not in the drafty old rooms of an Edwardian manse somewhere out on the moors, but in Chicago, of all places!

Happy 100th anniversary of letters that destroy universes.

Edwin Hubble sent a letter to Harlow Shapley OTD in 1924, describing data that placed the Andromeda Nebula outside our Milky Way.

Shapley had long argued such objects must be inside our galaxy. He received the letter while meeting with Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in his office. After reading Hubble's message, he folded the letter, turned to his colleague, and said “Here is the letter that destroyed my universe.”

@spacegeck Extremly rad.

@ralph These are some of the most deeply beautiful ideas every articulated by a human.

Emmy Noether sent a postcard to Felix Klein #OTD in 1918, explaining a special case of her second theorem. The full result was published that year in her "Invariante Variationsprobleme" paper.

Reproduction: "The Noether Theorems", Yvette Kosmann-Schwarzbach, Springer (2011)

Roses are red
The dot is pale blue
Here's a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam
Seen from a distance of 40 AU

@glasspusher Long.

When you are a human satellite.

Image: NASA

Also #OTD, in 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golfball on the moon.

Two practical demonstrations, with similar hang times, that got their respective generations interested in gravitational physics.

Footage: NASA

Thirty six years ago, #OTD in 1988, Michael Jordan took off from the free throw line during the 1987-88 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.

Photo: Bill Smith / Chicago Bulls

@hyc *plummeting to my death*
We've been trying to reach you about the extended warranty on your elevator's emergency brakes.

Dr. Brown was an undergraduate at Howard University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.

After she passed away in 2008, the Howard University Department of Physics put together a two part documentary on her life. Here's the first part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfJMVDjf6dk

This is a day late. Please consider it my #OTD for February 4th.

Astrophysicist Beth Brown was born February 4, 1969. The first Black woman to earn an Astronomy PhD from the University of Michigan, her research focused on X-ray emissions of faint elliptical galaxies.

I've gotten them on classroom phones more times than I can count, but the elevator emergency phone (which automatically answers and goes to intercom) was a first.

The elevator I was just in got a robocall on its emergency phone.

@donutman no!

@thomasfuchs Lol. The original Apple wPad, made from aircraft-grade wood.

Physical Review forced Dr. D’Eath and Dr. Payne to remove the third author from their papers because of the international ban on collaboration with Latveria.

[holding up my fists like an old-timey boxer]

Say hello to Dr. D’Eath <kisses right knuckles> and Dr. Payne <kisses left knuckles>