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Brian G. Marsden

Brian G. Marsden, English-American astronomer and academic (died 2010)

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Born
August 5, 1937
Died
November 18, 2010
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1937

About Brian G. Marsden

Brian Geoffrey Marsden was a British astronomer and the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Named after him Asteroid 1877 Marsden Marsden Group of sun-grazing comets "A cheery herald of fear: Brian Geoffrey Marsden". In May 1993, Marsden concluded that the trajectory of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 would put it onto a course to collide with Jupiter in July 1994, marking the first ever time that a cometary-planetary impact was successfully predicted. Brian credited his mother for inspiring his interest in astronomy when she showed him the partial solar eclipse of September 10, 1942; that the date and time could be projected far in advance very much impressed him.

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

Brian G. Marsden timeline

  1. Named after him Asteroid 1877 Marsden Marsden Group of sun-grazing comets "A cheery herald of fear: Brian Geoffrey Marsden".
  2. Brian credited his mother for inspiring his interest in astronomy when she showed him the partial solar eclipse of September 10, 1942; that the date and time could be projected far in advance very much impressed him.
  3. In May 1993, Marsden concluded that the trajectory of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 would put it onto a course to collide with Jupiter in July 1994, marking the first ever time that a cometary-planetary impact was successfully predicted.

The world when Brian G. Marsden was born

Brian G. Marsden was born in 1937. 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 1937

  • #1 song"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" – Ella Fitzgerald
  • Top movieSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs
  • Best-selling bookOf Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJoe Louis becomes heavyweight champion
  • Top headlineHindenburg zeppelin explodes in New Jersey
  • Technology milestoneGolden Gate Bridge opens in San Francisco
  • Defining fadSwing music
  • Notable inventionShopping cart
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.8M

1937 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Brian G. Marsden's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19372026
Gas$0.20$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$3,000$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, 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.