10 key scientific breakthroughs or discoveries made in the month of March

North Tyneside Learning Trust supports allof its partner schools to celebrate British Science Week, which is taking place this year between 11th and 20th March 2022. There are activities and projects for all types of schools including first, primary, middle, secondary and special schools.

As British Science Week is celebrated in March every year, we have pulled together some exciting discoveries or breakthroughs that have been made in science, over the years, during the month of March.

• Silly Putty – on March 6th 1950, Silly Putty was invented! The fun toy was silly indeed as it could be stretched, pulled and even used to copy comics from the newspaper. It is still manufactured and available today.
• Monopoly – one of the nation’s favourite family board games. Monopoly was invented on March 7th 1933. There were other versions of the game starting as early as 1902, but the version closest to what we play today was created in 1933. There are now so many different versions and special editions. 
• Telephone – on March 7th 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented the first telephone. 3 days later he made the world’s first phone call to his assistant in the next room.
• Girl Scouts – very relevant following the recent celebration of International Women’s Day on the 8th March! On March 12th 1912, the Girl Scouts were founded by Juliette Gordon Low. Girl Scouts earn many awards and badges for learning skills and serving their communities. They now have a coding and science badge to work towards too!
• Rubber Band – on March 17th 1845, the rubber band was invented. How would we live without them?
• Polio Vaccine – Jonas Salk invented a vaccine for polio on March 26th 1952. Before this, polio would paralyse or kill over half a million people worldwide each year.
• Washing Machine – on March 28th 1797, Nathaniel Briggs patented the first washing machine. The system has evolved over the years to be powered by electricity rather than man-power!
• Coca Cola – this was originally invented in March 1886 as patent medicine by John Pemberton. It has developed and changed over the years to become the soft drink we know today.
• Starry Dwarf Frog – a group of researchers unearthed an entirely new species of frog in March 2019 whilst in the mountains of India. The newly discovered amphibian is 2-3 centimetres in length with orange and brown skin and speckled with star-like spots. 
• Diving suit – on March 1st 1921, magician and showman Harry Houdini was granted a patent for a specific type of diver’s suit.

- Posted on 11th March 2022