Portrait of Wendell Meredith Stanley

Birthday profile

Wendell Meredith Stanley

Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971)

Born
August 16, 1904
Died
June 15, 1971
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1904

About Wendell Meredith Stanley

Wendell Meredith Stanley (August 16, 1904 – June 15, 1971) was an American biochemist, virologist and Nobel laureate. Stanley's work contributed to lepracidal compounds, diphenyl stereochemistry, and the chemistry of the sterols. His research on the virus causing the mosaic disease in tobacco plants led to the isolation of a nucleoprotein which displayed tobacco mosaic virus activity. == Biography == Stanley was born in Ridgeville, Indiana, and earned a BSc in chemistry at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. He then studied at the University of Illinois, gaining an MS in science in 1927 followed by a PhD in chemistry two years later. His later accomplishments include writing the book "Chemistry: A Beautiful Thing" and being a Pulitzer Prize nominee. === Research === Although a member of National Research Council, he moved to Munich for temporary academic work with Heinrich Wieland before he returned to the United States in 1931. On return he was approved as an assistant at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. He remained with the Institute until 1948, becoming an Associate Member in 1937, and a Member in 1940. In 1948, he became Professor of Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and built the Virus Laboratory and a free-standing Department of Biochemistry building, which is now called Stanley Hall.

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

Career and life highlights

Wendell Meredith Stanley timeline

  1. He was awarded a ¼ share in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1946.
  2. In 1948, he became Professor of Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and built the Virus Laboratory and a free-standing Department of Biochemistry building, which is now called Stanley Hall.

The world when Wendell Meredith Stanley was born

Wendell Meredith Stanley was born in 1904. 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 1904

  • Best-selling book"The Crossing" – Winston Churchill

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst Olympic Games in the Americas (St. Louis)
  • Top headlineRusso-Japanese War begins
  • Technology milestoneNew York subway opens
  • World population~1.64B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderTheodore Roosevelt
  • U.S. population81.8M

1904 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Wendell Meredith Stanley's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19042026
Population81.8M341 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.