1944 in science

All you want to know about 1944 in science

List of years in science (Table)
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… 1941 • 1942 • 1943 – 1944 – 1945 • 1946 • 1947 … … 1910s • 1920s • 1930s – 1940s – 1950s • 1960s • 1970s … … 19th century – 20th century – 21st century …
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The year 1944 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

Hendrik van de Hulst predicts the 21 cm hyperfine line of neutral interstellar hydrogen.

Oswald Avery and colleagues published the Avery-MacLeod-McCarty experiment: Studies on the chemical nature of the substance inducing transformation of Pneumococcal types (Avery, O.T., MacLeod, C.M. & McCarty, M. Journal of Experimental Mededicine February 1 issue.) The McCarty laboratory showed that a DNA molecule could carry an inheritable trait to a living organism. This was important because many biologists thought that proteins were the hereditary material and that nucleic acids were too simple chemically to serve as genetic storage molecules.

August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, best known as the Harvard Mark I.

December 9 - First flight of the Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger, the second jet engined fighter aircraft to be fielded by the Luftwaffe in WWII.
Erik Wallenberg and Ruben Rausing invent a way to package milk in paper and start the company Tetra Pak.
First operational use of a snorkel on a submarine.
First operational use of the V-2 rocket, the first ballistic missile.