CHEMIST

Thomas Midgley Jr.

1889 - 1944

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Thomas Midgley Jr. (May 18, 1889 – November 2, 1944) was an American mechanical and chemical engineer. He played a major role in developing leaded gasoline (tetraethyl lead) and some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known in the United States by the brand name Freon; both products were later banned from common use due to their harmful impact on human health and the environment. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Thomas Midgley Jr. has received more than 1,543,254 page views. His biography is available in 31 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 25 in 2019). Thomas Midgley Jr. is the 285th most popular chemist (up from 331st in 2019), the 1,805th most popular biography from United States (up from 2,791st in 2019) and the 60th most popular American Chemist.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 58.65

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 31

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.36

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.55

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Thomas Midgley Jr. ranks 285 out of 602Before him are Robert H. Grubbs, Georg Brandt, Carl Auer von Welsbach, Henry Taube, Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, and Andreas Sigismund Marggraf. After him are Rasmus Bartholin, John Pople, John Polanyi, Erwin Chargaff, Ben Feringa, and Alexander Butlerov.

Most Popular Chemists in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1889, Thomas Midgley Jr. ranks 56Before him are Frank Lentini, Erik Jan Hanussen, Vera Mukhina, Stanislav Kosior, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Beno Gutenberg. After him are Richard Glücks, Eberhard von Mackensen, Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland, Zoltán Tildy, Gunnar Gunnarsson, and Pierre Reverdy. Among people deceased in 1944, Thomas Midgley Jr. ranks 83Before him are Milan Hodža, Jakob von Uexküll, James McKeen Cattell, Viktor Ullmann, E. M. Antoniadi, and Vera Menchik. After him are Paul Otlet, Bernardino Machado, Sergei Bulgakov, Harold Lowe, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., and Felix Nussbaum.

Others Born in 1889

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Others Deceased in 1944

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Thomas Midgley Jr. ranks 1,805 out of 20,380Before him are Jim Caviezel (1968), Bill Pullman (1953), Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954), Harry Stack Sullivan (1892), Max Emmerich (1879), and Billy Zane (1966). After him are Zack Snyder (1966), Christopher A. Sims (1942), Sonny Rollins (1930), Al Lettieri (1928), Paul Wolfowitz (1943), and Philip Abelson (1913).

Among CHEMISTS In United States

Among chemists born in United States, Thomas Midgley Jr. ranks 60Before him are Dudley R. Herschbach (1932), Richard Smalley (1943), Edward W. Morley (1838), Edwin G. Krebs (1918), Martin Rodbell (1925), and Robert H. Grubbs (1942). After him are Richard R. Schrock (1945), Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr. (1915), Thomas Cech (1947), Alexander Shulgin (1925), Alice Ball (1892), and William E. Moerner (1953).