James Watson was born on 6 April 1928 in Chicago. An American molecular biologist, Watson is best known for co-discovering the double helix structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick, working at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and building on X-ray diffraction work by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. The three men shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962. He later directed the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and played a role in launching the Human Genome Project. His book The Double Helix gave a candid account of the discovery. His reputation was badly damaged by repeated remarks about race and intelligence, which led to him losing his honors.
Before and after
- 4 February 1928Death of Hendrik Lorentz
- 27 February 1928Birth of Ariel Sharon
- 22 March 1928Founding of Muslim Brotherhood
- 4 April 1928Birth of Maya Angelou
- 6 April 1928Birth of James Watson
- 23 April 1928Birth of Shirley Temple
- 4 May 1928Birth of Hosni Mubarak
- 13 June 1928Birth of John Forbes Nash
- 14 June 1928Birth of Che Guevara
More in Science & technology
- 1916General relativity
- 2 November 1920KDKA begins the first commercial radio broadcasts
- 1931Big Bang theory proposed
- 1931Kurt Godel proves his incompleteness theorems
- 1939Discovery of francium
- 18 December 1944Launch of Le Monde
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.