Scientists

Never crabby: Happy Birthday to Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934). a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. Here is an image of an airmail stamp featuring a portrait of Marie Curie and depicting a crab pierced by an arrow or spear, representing the destruction of cancer by radiation therapy, designed and engraved by French artist Pierre Gandon (1899-1990), and issued by Central African Republic on April 30, 1968, Scott No. C57, plus an image of a photograph of Marie Curie in 1903.

- nethryk

Think small: Friedrich Emich (1860-1940) was an Austrian chemist who is recognized as the founder of microchemistry. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Dr. Emich, designed by Austrian artist Friedl Weyss-Lampel, combined engraved by Rudolf Toth and photogravure, and issued by Austria on January 22, 1990, Scott No. 1489, plus an image of a photograph of Friedrich Emich.

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Radiohead: Happy Birthday to Eugène Adrien Ducretet (1844-1915), a French scientific instrument manufacturer who performed some of the first experiments on wireless telegraphy (radio communication) in France. On November 5, 1898 Ducretet caused a sensation with a public demonstration of wireless communication in the presence of representatives of the Académie des Sciences between the third floor of the Eiffel Tower and the Panthéon 4 km away. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Ducretet, designed and engraved by French artist Jean Pheulpin (1907-1991), and issued by Monaco on April 30, 1973 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Ducretet's scientific achievement, Scott No. 873, plus an image of an 1898 drawing of Eugène Ducretet which was probably a model for this stamp's design.

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Rock on! Happy Birthday to Petru Poni (1841-1925), a Moldavian-born Romanian chemist, mineralogist and politician. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Professor Poni, printed by lithography, and issued by Romania on April 11, 1961, Scott No. 1412, plus a photograph of Petru Poni.

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Caught it in the neck: Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS (1853-1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist, and a close collaborator of Louis Pasteur, who developed the anti-diphtheria serum. Here is an image of a semi-postal (charity) stamp featuring a portrait of the scientist, designed and engraved by French artist Pierre Munier (1889-1962), plus a photographic portrait of Dr. Émile Roux.

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Heavyweight champion: Happy Birthday to Theodore William Richards (1868-1928), the first American scientist to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1914), earning the award "in recognition of his exact determinations of the atomic weights of a large number of the chemical elements." Here is an image of a stamp honoring Richards, designed by Swedish artist Lennart Forsberg, engraved by Arne Wallhorn, and issued by Sweden on December 10, 1974, Scott No. 1104, Facit No. 904, plus an image of the photograph of Theodore Richards which was a model for this stamp's design. Bonus: Moustache.

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Highly evolved: Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), English naturalist and geologist best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory, marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), and HMS Beagle, designed by Czech artist Pavel Dvorský, combined engraved by Jaroslav Tvrdon and photogravure, and issued by Czech Republic on January 2, 2009.

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E.T. calculator: Here is an image of a stamp depicting German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), and a heliocentric planetary diagram, designed by Jan Ungrád, printed by offset lithography, and issued by Czech Republic on May 6, 2009 as a EUROPA stamp commemorating the 400th anniversary of the publication of Astronomia nova ("The New Astronomy"), a book containing the results of Kepler's ten-year-long investigation of the motion of Mars, plus an image of a 1610 portrait of Johannes Kepler by an unknown artist.

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Happy Pi Day!

Theoretically correct: Happy Birthday to Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the physicist, and his most famous equation, designed by Piotr Emilyevich Bendel (1905-1989), printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on March 16, 1979 to commemorate Albert Einstein's birth centenary, Scott No. 4741, Zagorski No. 4877. Bonus: Signature.

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Likable fellow: Happy Birthday to Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Hahnemann, printed by photogravure on granite paper, and issued by Brazil on October 8, 1954 to publicize the 1st World Homeopathic Congress, hosted by Brazil, Scott No. 810, plus an image of a photograph of Samuel Hahnemann in 1841.

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Spectral splitter: Happy Birthday to Johannes Stark (1874-1957), a German physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1919) for his "discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields" (known as the Stark effect). Here is an image of a stamp honoring Stark, designed by Lennart Forsberg, engraved by Arne Wallhorn (1921-1994), and issued by Sweden on November 15, 1979, Scott No. 1311, Facit No. 1111, plus an image of a photograph of Johannes Stark which was surely a model for this stamp's design.

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Cutting edge: Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881) was a Russian scientist, medical doctor and pedagogue who is considered to be the founder of field surgery, and was the first surgeon to use anesthesia in the field (1847). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Pirogov, designed by S. Sokolov, printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on December 13, 1960 to commemorate the doctor's 150th birth centenary, Scott No. 2401, Zagorski No. 2419, plus an image of a portrait of Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov which was the model for this stamp's design.

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Table enabler: Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907), a Russian chemist, inventor and formulator of the Periodic Law, designed by Vasili Vasilievich Zavialov (1906-1972), printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on August 15, 1951, Scott No. 1577, Zagorski No. 1549, plus an image of a photograph of Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev in 1897.

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Out of sight! Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Benito Daza de Valdés (1591-1634), a Spanish optician and the author of the first book on optometry in Spanish, engraved by Pablo Sampedro Molero (1935- ), and issued by Spain on February 26, 1966, plus an image of the title page of Daza de Valdés's book, published in 1623.

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Spud champ: Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Antoine Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813), a French agronomist and nutritionist is best remembered for his promotion of the potato as a food source for humans, designed and engraved by Henry Cheffer (1880-1957), and issued by France on October 27, 1956, Scott No. 810, Y&T No. 1081, plus and image of a portrait of Antoine Parmentier which was probably a model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk