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  • 5-20-1665

    Isaac Newton first used 'pricked letters' or dots to indicate fluxions or derivatives, according to Florian Cajori's Mathematical Notations.

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    Isaac Newton

  • 5-20-1861

    Henry White, founder of the American Mathematical Society's Colloquium Lectures, was born in Cazenovia, New York, on this day. He also died on this day in 1943 in Poughkeepsie, New York.

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    Henry Seely White

  • 5-20-1875

    The International Bureau of Weights and Measures established by the International Metric Convention, Sevres, France. The bureau is repository for the "International Prototype Meter" and the "International Prototype Kilogram."

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    International Bureau of Weights and Measures

  • 5-20-1930

    Institute for Advanced Study incorporated in Princeton, New Jersey. Two and one-half years later Albert Einstein and Oswald Veblen were appointed the first professors.

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    Institute for Advanced Study
    Albert Einstein
    Oswald Veblen