The year 1950 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here. Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...

Medicine

• Antihistamine discovered.

An antihistamine is a drug which serves to reduce or eliminate effects mediated by histamine, an endogenous chemical mediator released during allergic reactions, through action at the histamine receptor. ...

Awards

• Fields Prize in Mathematics: Laurent Schwartz and Atle Selberg
• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Cecil Frank Powell
  • Chemistry - Otto Paul Hermann Diels, Kurt Alder
  • Medicine - Edward Calvin Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, Philip Showalter Hench

The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union, a meeting that takes place every four years. ... Laurent Schwartz (5 March 1915 – 4 July 2002 in Paris) was a French mathematician. ... Atle Selberg (born June 17, 1917) is a Norwegian mathematician known for his work in analytic number theory, and in the theory of automorphic forms, in particular bringing them into relation with spectral theory. ... The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: ) are awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Cecil Frank Powell (December 5, 1903 - August 9, 1969) was a British physicist, awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1950 for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and for the resulting discovery of the pion (pi-meson), a heavy subatomic particle. ... This is a list of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to 2006. ... Otto Paul Hermann Diels (January 23, 1876 - March 7, 1954), a German chemist. ... Kurt Alder (10 July 1902 - 20 June 1958) was a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Otto Paul Hermann Diels in 1950. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Edward Calvin Kendall (March 8, 1886 - May 4, 1972) was an American chemist who, with Philip S. Hench and Tadeus Reichstein, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for research on the structure and biological effects of adrenal cortex hormones. ... Tadeus Reichstein (July 20, 1897 - August 1, 1996) was a Polish Nobel Prize-winning chemist. ... Philip Showalter Hench (February 28, 1896 - March 30, 1965) was an American physician who, with E. C. Kendall, in 1948 successfully applied an adrenal hormone (later known as cortisone) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. ...

Births

• May 16 - J. Georg Bednorz, physicist, Nobel Prize in physics 1987
• October 21 - Ronald McNair (d. 1986), astronaut.

May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (137th in leap years). ... Johannes Georg Bednorz (born May 16, 1950) is a German physicist who, along with Karl Alex Muller, was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery of superconductivity in certain substances at temperatures higher than had previously been thought attainable. ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... Ronald Erwin McNair, Ph. ... See also: Other events of 1986 List of years in science . ... For other uses, see Astronaut (disambiguation). ...

Deaths

• September 21 - Arthur Milne (b. 1896), British space physicist.