Mary F. Lyon

Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist and biologist (died 2014)

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Born: May 15, 1925
Died: December 25, 2014
Zodiac sign: Taurus
Birth year: 1925

About Mary F. Lyon

Mary Frances Lyon was an English geneticist best known for her discovery of X-chromosome inactivation, an important biological phenomenon. Mary Frances Lyon (15 May 1925 – 25 December 2014) was an English geneticist best known for her discovery of X-chromosome inactivation, an important biological phenomenon. After her PhD (awarded 1950), Lyon joined the group of Conrad Hal Waddington, with whom she worked in the last part of her PhD. It was while working on radiation hazards in 1961 that she discovered X-chromosome inactivation, for which she is best known, and the phenomenon is sometimes known as Lyonization in her honour. During that time, she said, she became interested in science thanks to a good schoolteacher and nature books she won in an essay competition.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Mary F. Lyon timeline

1925Mary Frances Lyon (15 May 1925 – 25 December 2014) was an English geneticist best known for her discovery of X-chromosome inactivation, an important biological phenomenon.
1950After her PhD (awarded 1950), Lyon joined the group of Conrad Hal Waddington, with whom she worked in the last part of her PhD.
1961It was while working on radiation hazards in 1961 that she discovered X-chromosome inactivation, for which she is best known, and the phenomenon is sometimes known as Lyonization in her honour.

The world when Mary F. Lyon was born

Mary F. Lyon was born in 1925. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1925

#1 song"Sweet Georgia Brown"
Top movieThe Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin)
Best-selling bookThe Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentRed Grange signs with the Chicago Bears
Top headlineThe Scopes Trial captivates America
Technology milestoneTelevision demonstrated by John Logie Baird
Defining fadCharleston dance craze
Notable inventionMasking tape
World population1.98 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
Sports championPittsburgh Pirates (World Series)
U.S. population115.8M

1925 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Mary F. Lyon's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1925	2026
Gas	$0.22	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,900	$435,000
Average income	$3,600	$67,500
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.02	$0.73
Population	115.8M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.