Portrait of F. Albert Cotton

Birthday profile

F. Albert Cotton

F. Albert Cotton, American chemist and academic (died 2007)

Born
April 9, 1930
Died
February 20, 2007
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1930

About F. Albert Cotton

Frank Albert Cotton FRS was an American chemist. He was the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. He authored over 1600 scientific articles. Cotton was recognized for his research on the chemistry of the transition metals. Murillo in honor of Frank Albert Cotton, to whom the first medal was awarded in 1995. In 1961, at 31-years-old, he became the youngest person to have received a full professorship at MIT. He pioneered the study of multiple bonding between transition metal atoms, starting with research on rhenium halides, and in 1964 identified the quadruple bond in the Re2Cl2−8 ion. Cotton Medal, established in 1994, is awarded annually by the Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society to recognize accomplishments in research rather than distinction of any other sort, no matter how meritorious.

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

F. Albert Cotton timeline

  1. In 1961, at 31-years-old, he became the youngest person to have received a full professorship at MIT.
  2. He pioneered the study of multiple bonding between transition metal atoms, starting with research on rhenium halides, and in 1964 identified the quadruple bond in the Re2Cl2−8 ion.
  3. Cotton Medal, established in 1994, is awarded annually by the Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society to recognize accomplishments in research rather than distinction of any other sort, no matter how meritorious.
  4. Murillo in honor of Frank Albert Cotton, to whom the first medal was awarded in 1995.

The world when F. Albert Cotton was born

F. Albert Cotton was born in 1930. 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 1930

  • #1 song"Georgia on My Mind" – Hoagy Carmichael
  • Top movieAll Quiet on the Western Front
  • Best-selling bookCimarron – Edna Ferber

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBobby Jones wins the Grand Slam of golf
  • Top headlineFirst FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay
  • Technology milestonePlanet Pluto discovered
  • Defining fadMiniature golf craze
  • Notable inventionScotch tape
  • World population2.07 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHerbert Hoover
  • Sports championPhiladelphia Athletics (World Series)
  • U.S. population123.2M

1930 versus 2026

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

Measure19302026
Gas$0.20$3.45/gal
Average home$6,000$435,000
Average income$3,500$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population123.2M341 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.