July 11

1857: Sir Joseph Larmor, the first to calculate the rate at which energy is radiated by an accelerated electron, and the first to explain the splitting of spectrum lines by a magnetic field, was born. 1902: Samuel Goudsmit, who along with George Uhlenbeck, conceived of the concept of electron spin, was born. 1911: Dr. John Stapp, who pioneered research in high acceleration effects on the human body, was born. 1927: Theodore Maiman, inventor of the first operational laser, was born. 1934: The first appointments to the newly created Federal Communications Commission were made. 1955: The U.S. Air Force Academy was dedicated in Colorado Springs, CO, at Lowry Air Base. 1955: Congress authorizes all U.S. currency to say "In God We Trust." 1962: The first worldwide TV transmission occurred when the Telstar communications satellite picked up broadcast signals from France and bounced them down to an antenna in Maine, delivering the first live television picture from Europe to America. 1979: The abandoned U.S. space station Skylab returned to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere and showered debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.