Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born American author and biochemist, a
highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his
works of science fiction and for his science books for the lay person.
Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series, which he later
combined with two of his other series, the Galactic Empire Series and
Robot series. He also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as a great
amount of non-fiction. In fact, he wrote or edited over 500 volumes
and an estimated 90,000 letters or postcards, and has works in every
major category of the Dewey Decimal System except Philosophy. Asimov
recieved HIV infected blood during heart bypass surgery in 1983. His
death in 1992 was from AIDS-related complications, although this was
kept secret by his widow for over a decade after his death. Asimov was
a long-time member of Mensa, albeit reluctantly (he described them as
"intellectually combative"). The asteroid 5020 Asimov is named in his
honor, as is Honda's humanoid prototype robot ASIMO.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1556:
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer of the Church of England was
burnt at the stake.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cranmer)
1800:
Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made
of papier-mâché.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara)
1804:
Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_code)
1935:
Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call
Persia by its native name, Iran, which means 'Land of the Aryans'.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Empire)
1990:
Namibia gained formal independence from South Africa, with Sam Nujoma
swearing in as the first President.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"Between individuals, as between nations, respect for the rights of
others is peace." -- Benito Juárez
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez)