November 27

1701: Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, after whom the temperature scale is named, was born. 1871: Italian physicist Giovanni Giorgi, who invented the Giorgi system of measurement that introduced electrical resistance (mksΩ, precursor to the SI), was born. 1873: Auguste-Arthur de La Rive, who pioneered the electrochemical theory of batteries, died. 1894: Japanese industrialist Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the electronics company that bears his name, was born. 1897: Andrew Beard received a patent for a revolutionary rail car coupling device he called the Jenny Coupler. 1901: Auto maker Clement Studebaker, the world's largest producer of horse-drawn vehicles, died. 1923: The first transatlantic two-way shortwave contact between amateur radio operators occurred between American Fred Schnell and Frenchman Leon Deloy. 1951: The first rocket intercept of an airplane was made with a Nike missile at White Sands, NM. 1963: The first flight of a space vehicle powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel combination (Centaur II) took place. 1990: Britain's Conservatives chose John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as party leader, paving the way for his appointment as prime minister. 2007: Herbert Saffir, developer of the hurricane intensity scale.