28 February — Danish physicist Niels Bohr proposed his theory of atomic structure, in which the electron in an atom does not obey the laws of classical physics. According to this theory, the electron revolves around the atom in strictly stationary circular orbits. Bohr introduced the concept of a quantum relationship between the orbit radius and the electron’s velocity. In 1922, for this work Niels Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize. Subsequently, Bohr’s theory was supplemented and reinterpreted. Bohr’s theory was replaced by the quantum model of atomic structure.
21 December — in the Sunday issue of the American newspaper “New York World,” the first crossword was published that matched modern ideas about this type of puzzle, which later became popular worldwide. This puzzle got its name from its construction principle, which required filling empty squares arranged in lines that intersected one another with letters. The lines of empty squares were numbered, and beneath the puzzle were the given word clues that had to be entered into the empty squares. Each clue corresponded to its own number. Because of the crossing lines of empty squares, the puzzle was called a “crossword.” The name came from two English words: “cross” (word) and “word” (letter).
29 April — in America, Swedish emigrant Gideon Sundback patented the invention “zipper,” “zip,” which today we know as the zip fastener.
23 August — the Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen, commissioned by the prominent brewer and patron Carl Jacobsen, created the sculpture of Andersen’s Little Mermaid; Jacobsen had been enchanted by the ballet based on this fairy tale after seeing it at Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre. The model for the Little Mermaid was the sculptor’s wife, Eline Eriksen, and the sculptor copied the face from Ellen Price, a ballerina of the Royal Opera and Ballet Theatre, who refused to pose nude for the creation of the entire sculpture. The Little Mermaid, located in the port of Copenhagen (Denmark), became a symbol of the Danish capital.
In 1964 a tragedy occurred — unknown vandals beheaded the Little Mermaid. The perpetrators were never found. Thanks to the fact that an old plaster mold of the statue was preserved, it was possible to cast a new head. At night the monument began to be illuminated by floodlights. At first a police post stood guard near it, but later it was removed. However, in the summer of the same year, misfortune struck the Little Mermaid again: her right arm was sawn off. This time the criminals turned themselves in to the police. They turned out to be two slightly drunk young men. The police treated the hooligans rather leniently. They were punished only for “damage to municipal property.” The Little Mermaid was repaired again, and she took her place on a gray granite boulder in the harbor, near the passenger pier and the Langelinie promenade.