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  3. June
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  5. Harry B. Whittington

Deaths on June 20

2010Jun, 20

Harry B. Whittington

Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (b. 1916)
Harry Blackmore Whittington FRS (24 March 1916 – 20 June 2010) was a British palaeontologist who made a major contribution to the study of fossils of the Burgess Shale and other Cambrian fauna. His works are largely responsible for the concept of Cambrian explosion, whereby modern animal body plans are explained to originate during a short span of geological period. With initial work on trilobites, his discoveries revealed that these arthropods were the most diversified of all invertebrates during the Cambrian Period. He was responsible for setting the standard for naming and describing the delicate fossils preserved in Konservat-Lagerstätten.

After completing his PhD from the University of Birmingham, Whittington spent much of his career out of Britain. He started his professional career at the University of Rangoon, Burma. Then he moved to China to teach at Ginling Women's College. After the end of World War II, he moved to Harvard University to become Professor of Palaeontology, and simultaneously Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. It was during this period that he began his major works in palaeontological research. Towards the last part of his career, he returned to England as Woodwardian Chair in Geology at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge and was affiliated to Sidney Sussex College.

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Events on 2010

  • 4Jan

    Burj Khalifa

    The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai
  • 11Mar

    2010 Pichilemu earthquake

    Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile, while three earthquakes, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9 and all centered next to Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro province, hit central Chile during the ceremony.
  • 3Apr

    IPad (1st generation)

    Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer.
  • 20Apr

    Deepwater Horizon explosion

    The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.
  • 31May

    Gaza flotilla raid

    Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish civilians on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.

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