December 12th
1775 William Henry, discoverer of Henry's Law, that states that the amount of gas absorbed by a liquid is proportional to the gas pressure, was born.
1817 William H. Balmain, who discovered boron nitride and called it aethogen from its luminescence in a flame, was born.
1960 The announcement of the first pure compound of californium was made, at a meeting of the American Nuclear Society.