American biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2025)

James Watson

James Dewey Watson was an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he and Francis Crick co-authored an academic paper in Nature proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule, building on research by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".

Born

1928

April 6

Died

2025

Era

1920s

Country

—

About

James, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1928 Born
2025 Died

Also on April 6

What else happened on this day, through history

-46 Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.
402 Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
945 Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII crowns his son Romanos II as co-emperor.
1320 The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

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The world in 1928

When James arrived

april 12 The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
august 27 The Kellogg–Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by fifteen nations. Ultimately sixty-one nations will sign it.
december 17 Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru assassinate British police officer James Saunders in Lahore, Punjab, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police. The three were executed in 1931.
december 4 Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on April 6

Claire Morissette 1950– Canadian cycling activist (died 2007) Gerry Mulligan 1927–1996 American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (died 1996) Harold Eugene Edgerton 1903–1990 American engineer and academic (died 1990) James Wade 1983– English darts player Jean-Marc Boivin 1951–1990 French skier, mountaineer, and pilot (died 1990) Jean-Pierre Changeux 1936– French neuroscientist, biologist, and academic Johann Kuhnau 1660–1722 German organist and composer (died 1722) Maimonides 1135–1204 Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (March 30 also proposed, died 1204) Myleene Klass 1978– Austrian/Filipino-English singer, pianist, and model

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1928

Alan J. Pakula 1928–1998 American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1998) Alexander Grothendieck 1928–2014 German-French mathematician and theorist (died 2014) Andy Warhol 1928–1987 American painter, photographer and film director (died 1987) Anne Sexton 1928–1974 American poet and academic (died 1974) Anthony Franciosa 1928–2006 American actor (born 1928) Barbara Ann Scott 1928–2012 Canadian figure skater (died 2012) Billy Martin 1928–1989 American baseball player and manager (born 1928) Bob Cousy 1928– American basketball player and coach Bob Wilber 1928– American clarinetist and saxophonist (died 2019)

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James's birthday April 6 James's zodiac Aries When James arrived 1928