Nobel Prize recipient Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was a physicist who left an indelible mark on how we understand and study light. He discovered what is now known as the Raman Effect along with his student back in February 1928, and became the first Asian recipient of the Nobel Prize in the field of science, in 1930.
But that's not all that's incredible about Raman's award. After discovering the Raman Effect in 1928, he expected to receive the Nobel for Physics in that very year. Alas, the award did not come to him that year, or in the year after. By 1930, when his work had been appreciated by his peers, he was so certain of getting the prize, that he had booked his tickets to Sweden months before the award was announced. Talk about confidence.
Raman, whose death anniversary happens to be today, used a spectrograph to essentially show that when light passes through a transparent material, it alters its wavelength and frequency. The term Raman effect was first coined by Peter Pringsheim at the University of Berlin.
A child prodigy in every sense, he completed his bachelors with honours in physics from Presidency College, University of Madras, at the age of 16. Raman was always invested in the study of light and published his first paper on the subject as a student in 1906 on the diffraction of light. He was also the first Indian Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru in 1933.
Anti-climax
From one man's confidence reaping rewards to another man's overconfidence resulting in mortification and then some. In 2019, Elon Musk's Tesla announced that they would be launching an electric Cybertruck with shatterproof windows. However, in the midst of a demonstration during the launch on this date, Musk was in for a bitter surprise as the glass on the truck, which was priced at $39,900, shattered. The world's richest man has however managed to roll out subsequent models of the EV without such faux pas.
Greet for peace
Also, Hello. It is World Hello Day. A pet project of two brothers from the US, the occasion has been observed on this date since 1973 in order to "promote world peace." And how do you do that? Well, simply reach out and greet at least ten people today. Can't go too wrong, can it?
