January 31, 1958 – James Van Allen discovered the Van Allen Belt, a radiation field around the earth. The late physics and astronomy professor’s legacy is still present in the classroom today, where he’s referred to as the “Father of Space Science.”
During his lifetime, Dr. Van Allen received many prestigious awards including being honored on the cover of TIME magazine in May of 1959, and as part of a team of scientists who were chosen as TIME’s Person of the Year in 1960. In 1987, President Reagan presented Van Allen with the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievement. Dr. Van Allen retired from The University of Iowa in 1985, but continued to live in Iowa City and served as the Carver Professor of Physics, Emeritus almost until the day he passed away.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS IOWA STORY HERE
This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily.
Join us for Our Iowa Heritage blog posts.
Learn some historical facts about Iowa City, Johnson County, or Eastern Iowa.
Amaze your friends. Click to learn more.
Pingback: January 30, 1842. | Our Iowa Heritage