November 23

1616: English mathematician John Wallis, who introduced the infinity symbol (∞), was born. 1826: German astronomer Johann Bode, who developed Bode's Law, died. 1837: Nobel Prize winner Johannes van der Waals, of molecular electrostatic forces fame, was born . 1874: A paper by Ferdinand Braun was published in the Annalen der Physik und Chemie describing his discovery of the electrical rectifier effect. 1889: The first jukebox made its debut in San Francisco, at the Palais Royale Saloon. 1897: A patent was issued for a pencil sharpener to John Love of Fall River, MA. 1910: Aviation pioneer Octave Chanute died. 1948:The first patent for a lens to provide zoom effects was issued to F.G. Back as a "varifocal lens for cameras." 1963: Lyndon Johnson took over as president of the U.S. following the assassination of JFK. 1971: The People's Republic of China was seated in the UN Security Council.