December 11

1781: Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster, who developed Brewster's Law, which relates the refractive index of a material to its polarizing angle, was born. 1941: German and Italy declared war on the U.S. 1954: The American Nuclear Society was formed. 1961: Albert Taylor, who regarded as "the father of navy radar," died. 1967: Concord 001, the first SST airplane, was rolled out in Toulouse, France. 1972: Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed on the moon for a three-day exploration, which would be the final Apollo mission to the moon. 1983: Harold Black, who developed the negative-feedback principle for amplifier design, died. 1987: George Brown, who developed the turnstile TV antenna, and the vestigial sideband filter, died. 1998: Scientists announced that they have deciphered the entire genetic blueprint of the nematode worm.