SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

1. 1991 – THE FIRST “LINUX” ANNAUNSEMENT
On August 25th
, 1991, Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old university student from Finland,
writes a post to a user group asking for feedback on a little project he’s working on.
He has built a simple kernel for a Unix-like operating system that runs on an Intel 386
processor, and he wants to develop it further. The kernel eventually becomes “Linux”,
which is released in 1994 and distributed over the internet for free.
Linux was deployed on both traditional computer systems such as personal
computers and servers, usually in the form of Linux distributions and on
various embedded devices such as routers, wireless access points, PBX es, set-top
boxes, FTA receivers, smart TVs, PVRs and NAS appliances. The Android operating
system for tablet computers, smartphones and smartwatches is also based atop the
Linux kernel.
Linus Torvalds is considered to be one of the world's most famous computer
programmers and maybe the most famous Finn.

2. 1993 – “EURONEWS” FIRST BROADCAST
“Euronews” was created in 1992 and launched on January 1st, 1993, broadcasting
from Lyon, France, with the backing of the European Union, by a group of 11
European public broadcasters from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Following the First Persian Gulf War, during which CNN's position as the preeminent
source of 24-hour news programming was cemented, E.B.U decided to establish
Euronews to present information from a European perspective. Its founders shared
the opinion that it is important to have an all-news channel in continental European
languages as a counterweight to English-language news channels like CNN and
BBC World. Consequently, Euronews assumed the task of being CNN’s counterpart
in order to protect the old continent from an “inundation by television images from the
US. In addition, the channel was assigned the important responsibility to serve the
integration of Europe by promoting a common European self-realization and
citizenship.
Today Euronews covers news worldwide, offering a unique perspective on events
through factual analysis. Six hundred journalists, from more than 30 countries, report
round-the-clock in 13 editions (Arabic, English, Persian, French, German, Greek,
Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian). The
channel is available in 350 million households in 155 countries worldwide. It reaches
more than 170 million European households by cable, satellite and terrestrial. It also
began to secure availability on multimedia platforms such as IPTV and digital media.

3. 1994 – ENGLISH CHANNEL TUNNEL OPENS
On May 6th
, 1994, in a ceremony presided over by England’s Queen Elizabeth II and
French President Francois Mitterand, a rail tunnel under the English Channel was
officially opened, connecting Britain and the European mainland for the first time
since the Ice Age. The channel tunnel, or “Chunnel,” as the world’s longest undersea
tunnel, runs under water for 23 miles, with an average depth of 150 feet below the
seabed and connects Folkstone, England, with Sangatte, France, 31 miles away.
The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, the Eurotunnel Shuttle for
road vehicles—the largest such transport in the world and international freight trains.
Taking more than five years to complete, with more than 13,000 workers from
England and France collaborating to realize the vision, it was identified by the
American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern
World.
1994 – FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM IS PROVED
The first successful proof of the most notorious problem in the history of
mathematics, Fermat's Last Theorem, was released in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, a
British mathematician and Oxford professor. Actually, Wiles first announced his proof
on Wednesday 23, June 1993, at a lecture in Cambridge. However, the proof was
found to contain an error which was corrected and it was formally published in 1995,
after 358 years of effort by mathematicians.

4. The story starts with Pierre de Fermat, one of the all-time great mathematicians, who
claimed he could prove that the equation (an
+ bn
= cn
) has no whole number solutions
when n is greater than 2.
Given that there are infinitely many possible numbers to check, it was quite a claim,
but Fermat was absolutely sure that no numbers fitted the equation because he had
a logical watertight argument. Sadly, he never wrote down his proof. Instead, in the
margin of a book, he left a tantalizing note in Latin: “I have a truly marvelous
demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.”
For three and a half centuries, mathematicians tried and failed to find a proof, which
is why Wiles’s eventual success was such a major achievement.
The unsolved problem stimulated the development of algebraic number theory in the
19th century and the proof of the modularity theorem in the 20th century. It is among
the most notable theorems in the history of mathematics and prior to its proof, it was
in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most difficult mathematical problem",
one of the reasons being that it has the largest number of unsuccessful proofs.
The proof itself is over 150 pages long and consumed seven years of Wiles's
research time. It was described as one of the highest achievements of number
theory, and it was called “the proof of the century”. For solving Fermat's Last
Theorem, Andrew Wiles, was knighted and received many other honors such as the
2016 Abel Prize.
1996 – THE GREEK GEORGE VITHOULKAS WON THE RIGHT
LIFELIHOOD AWARD
On December 9, 1996, the Greek teacher and practitioner of homeopathy, George
Vithoulkas, received the “Right Livelihood Award” for “his outstanding contribution

5. to the revival of homeopathic knowledge and the training of homeopaths to the
highest standards”.
George Vithoulkas was born in Athens in 1936, studied homeopathy in South
Africa and received a diploma in homeopathy from the Indian Institute of
Homeopathy in 1966.
He returned to Greece where he practiced and began teaching classical
homeopathy to a small group of medical doctors. In 1970, he established the Center
of Homeopathic Medicine in Athens and many years later he opened the
International Academy for Classical Homeopathy (I.A.C.H.) on Alonissos, dedicated
exclusively to the teaching of Homeopathic Medicine.
George Vithoulkas is today "widely considered to be the greatest living homeopathic
theorist".