Famous Inventors Born in May

Sir Ronald Ross 

Date of Birth: May 13, 1857

Profession: MD; Nobel laureate.

Notable Works: He discovered the malarial parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of a mosquito in 1897, that was proved that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes and laid the foundation for the method of combating the disease.

Prestigious Honours and Awards: Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (1901); Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1902); Albert Medal (1923); Manson Medal (1929)

John Bardeen

Date of Birth: May 23, 1908

Profession: American physicist and engineer; Nobel laureate.

Notable Works: He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 for the invention of the transistor (which revolutionized the electronics industry); and again in 1972  for a fundamental theory of conventional superconductivity known as the BCS theory.

Prestigious Honours and Awards: Stuart Ballantine Medal (1952); Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1954); Nobel Prize in Physics (1956); Fritz London Memorial Prize (1962); National Medal of Science (1965); IEEE Medal of Honor (1971); Nobel Prize in Physics (1972); Lomonosov Gold Medal (1987).

Frank Hornby

Date of Birth: May 15, 1863

Profession: English inventor

Notable Works:  He was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the 20th century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys. He also founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908

Louis Nicolas Vauquelin

Date of Birth: May 16, 1763

Profession: French pharmacist and chemist

Notable Works:  He was the discoverer of both chromium and beryllium. He also discovered pectin and malic acid in apples and isolated camphoric acid and quinic acid.

Prestigious Honours and Awards: The plant genus Vauquelinia is named in his honour. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1811

Pierre Curie

Date of Birth: May 15, 1859

Profession: French physicist. Nobel laureate.

Notable Works:  He received the Nobel Prize with his wife, Marie Skłodowska–Curie “in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel”. 

The Curies became the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize, launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes.

Prestigious Honours and Awards: Nobel Prize in Physics, with Marie Curie and Henri Becquerel (1903); Davy Medal (1903); Matteucci Medal(1904); Elliott Cresson Medal (1909)

David Edward Hughes 

Date of Birth: May 16, 1830

Profession: British-American inventor

Notable Works: He invented the carbon microphone and a teleprinter. Also, Mr. Hughes developed the induction balance (later used in metal detectors).

Prestigious Honours and Awards: A Grand Gold Medal awarded at the Paris Exhibition, in 1867. Royal Society Gold Medal in 1885. Society of Arts Albert Gold Medal in 1897.