Historical eventDecember 291959
Richard Feynman
American physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at Caltech, anticipating the field of nanotechnology.
In context
- When
- Tuesday, December 29 195967 years ago
- Category
- Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Era
- 20th century · 1950s
- Recorded from
- Wikipedia “On this day” feed
At a glance
Dates: From 1959.
What happened
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics (QED), with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles". He is also known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and the parton model.
December 29 through the years
Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.
- 1959Richard Feynman
- 1996Guatemala
- 1998Khmer Rouge
- 2003Akkala Sámi
- 2006Anglo-American loan
- 2012Tupolev Tu-204
- 2013Formula One
- 2013December 2013 Volgograd bombings
- 20202020 Petrinja earthquake
- 2023South Africa
- 2024Jeju Air Flight 2216
Also in 1959
- September 13Luna 2The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 (model pictured) struck the Moon, the first spacecraft to reach another celestial body.
- September 15Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
- June 14Disneyland MonorailDisneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
- August 17Miles DavisAmerican musician Miles Davis released Kind of Blue, which became one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed jazz recordings o…
- November 21Disc jockeyAmerican disc jockey Alan Freed (pictured), who popularized the term rock and roll, was fired from WABC-AM for his role in the payola sca…
- November 16The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein based on The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, opened on Broadway at the Lunt-F…
- November 16National Airlines Flight 967National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard.
- March 181959 Tibetan uprisingTibetan uprising: After the 14th Dalai Lama sought refuge at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, Chinese forces bombarded the monastery, infl…
Sources
- Wikipedia article (text, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 for adapted text · how we source this
Cite this page
“Richard Feynman”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/richard-feynman-1959-december-29, accessed October 24, 2026.
Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.
Questions about this entry
When did Richard Feynman happen?
December 29 1959 — 67 years ago, on a Tuesday.
Where does this text come from?
Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.
How do I cite this page?
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