January 2026: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

January 2026: History of science 50, 100 and 150 years ago

By Mark Fischetti edited by Jeanna Bryner

1976

Killer bees won’t invade

“Much attention has been paid to the fact that domestic bees of African breed (Apis mellifera adansonii) were accidentally released into Brazil in the mid-1950s, where they interbred with commercial populations of domestic bees and also established their own wild colonies. The northward and southward expansion of the bees’ range, coupled with the tendency of the African race to pursue any disruptor of the hive with unusual persistence, led to predictions that “killer bees” might eventually spread a reign of terror throughout the Western Hemisphere. Roger A. Morse, a professor of beekeeping at Cornell University, dismisses the threat as grossly exaggerated. Morse points out that African bees’ reputation for aggression is no worse than that of other breeds of domestic bees regularly kept by beekeepers. As for a possible American invasion, Morse notes that adansonii are adapted to life in tropical and subtropical conditions. They are unable to survive the cold season in temperate climates as other bees do by forming winter clusters, and Africanized hybrids share this handicap.

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1926

The idea of ​​Pangea is absurd

“Professor Alfred L. Wegener of the University of Graz in Germany says that millions of years ago, the two Americas, along with Europe, Asia, Australia and Antarctica, formed a single continent centered around Africa. Tidal forces – the pull of the sun and moon on the solid mass of the Earth (not ocean tides) – broke up this supercontinent and the pieces slowly scattered in various directions, as blocks of a large flat cake of floating ice that is broken up by waves. This theory is surprising to many. It may turn out to be wrong. It may ultimately be accepted by geologists.

Today, scientists accept the idea that plate tectonics broke Pangea apart.

Beginning of civilization

“Two factions of scientists disagree. One faction says that civilization began in one place in the world and spread from that center. They place it near Egypt. Sun worship, ear piercing, tattooing, pyramids, irrigation, similarity of art and a long list of even more peculiar mores and customs argue for a common origin, they assert. The other faction says that these similarities of Morals and customs simply show that the human mind works in much the same way everywhere. Given two or more isolated peoples, over time they will develop similarities because there is an inherent tendency in humans to develop culture through the same steps and in the same way.

Chlorine bombs colds

“Two San Francisco chemists have developed a chlorine gas bomb for the treatment of colds at home, where the same results are obtained as with a more elaborate device. It eliminates the need to travel to a central source for treatment, with possible exposure to the weather and a further decrease in body resistance. The bomb is made of glass and contains only pure, filtered chlorine gas. The patient takes the bomb into a closed room and breaks off the ends of the bomb, allowing the gas to escape. mix with ambient air. The patient remains in this gas-filled room for one hour.

1876

Mysterious Jade

“A number of sales of Japanese and Chinese curiosities have taken place recently in New York, comprising objects made of a material little seen in this part of the world, and of which little is known here. It is a precious stone, valuable not because of its rarity, for in China and Burma there are large mines, but for the great difficulty encountered in cutting and carving it, requiring an amount of patience and manual dexterity rarely found. It is a silicate of alumina called jade. Real jade is hard enough to cut glass or quartz, and the most valuable pieces are an intensely shiny green hue, with the ordinary material being pink and yellow.

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