Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL

Born

25 May 1937 , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Died

9 February 2000 , Blacksburg, Montgomery, Virginia, USA

Parents & Family of Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL

Explore parents, grandparents, spouses, children, and the family connections surrounding Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL.

Parents

Father unknownMother unknown

Grandparents

Explore grandparents

Spouse & Children

View family relationships1 recorded relationship(s)

Family Tree

Open family tree View pedigree chart

Born: 25 May 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Spouse(s)/Partner(s) and Child(ren):

Robert Allen "Bob" married Carolyn May WILLS 13 June 1959 . The couple had (at least) 1 child.
Carolyn May WILLS was born 26 May 1933 in Ohio, USA. Carolyn May died 14 June 2011 in St Louis, Missouri, USA. Carolyn May was the child of Chester Lloyd WILLS and Sophia Elizabeth POLACK.

Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL died 9 February 2000 in Blacksburg, Montgomery, Virginia, USA.
Details of the family tree of Robert appear below.

Spouse & Children of Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL

Hide Family & Children

Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL married

Carolyn May WILLS
Marriage date: 13 June 1959
Marriage place:
Carolyn May WILLS was the child of Chester Lloyd WILLS and Sophia Elizabeth POLACK

Children of Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL and Carolyn May WILLS

Living

Born: ,
Died: ,

Add Life Event

Have another record or photo?
Add a life event, census record, military record, obituary, achievement, or photograph for Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL.

Life & Records

Photos, life events, and historical records for Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL.

Hide Life & Records

How to read this timeline
Records about Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL and family appear alongside historical events from the same years. Each item is labeled so you can quickly tell family records from historical context.

Birth — 1937
25 May 1937
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

1938 - The ballpoint pen is invented (Lazlo Biro, Hungary)

1938-1944 - Sunscreen is invented (Franz Greiter, Switzerland and Benjamin Green, United States)

1938 - October 27 - Du Pont announces a name for its new synthetic yarn: nylon.

1940 - April - 1st electron microscope demonstrated (RCA), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1941 - December 8 - (the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor) United States declares war on Japan (WW2)

1944 - D-Day, which occurred on June 6, 1944, was a pivotal World War II operation where Allied forces launched a massive invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France. Known as Operation Overlord, it involved over 156,000 troops from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other Allied nations. The operation aimed to liberate Western Europe from Nazi German control. The landings marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany, leading to the eventual Allied victory in Europe.

1945 - The atomic bomb is invented (J. Robert Oppenheimer, et al., United States)

The microwave oven was invented accidentally in 1945 by Percy Spencer, a Raytheon engineer. While testing a magnetron, he noticed microwaves melted a candy bar in his pocket. Experimenting further, he discovered microwaves could cook food quickly. Raytheon patented the process, and by 1947, they built the first commercial microwave oven, called the 'Radarange.' Initially used in commercial settings, microwaves becomes affordable for home use by the 1960s and 1970s, revolutionizing cooking.

1945 - Harry S. Truman becomes President of the United States

1945 - On September 2, 1945, World War II officially ended with the formal surrender of Japan. The surrender ceremony took place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, where Japanese officials signed the Instrument of Surrender in the presence of Allied representatives, including General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz.

1948 - Velcro is invented (George de Mestral, Switzerland)

1950 - June 25 - Korean War begins when North Korean forces invade South Korea.

1953 - Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes President of the United States

1953 - On July 27, 1953, the Korean War ended with the signing of an armistice agreement at Panmunjom. This ceasefire halted the conflict between North Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea, backed by United Nations forces primarily from the United States. The agreement established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) near the 38th parallel, effectively maintaining the pre-war boundary and creating a buffer zone between the two Koreas.

1959 Marriage / Partner
Robert Allen "Bob" LANGEL and Carolyn May WILLS 13 June 1959,

He was 22 years old.

1961 - John F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States

1961 - Vietnam War officially begins with 900 military advisors landing in Saigon.

1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense 13-day standoff in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the U.S. coast. The crisis is considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. It began when American spy planes discovered the missiles, leading to a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba and intense negotiations. The crisis ended when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba and secretly agreeing to remove American missiles from Turkey.

1963 - I Have a Dream Speech - Martin Luther King's Address at March on Washington August 28, 1963.

In 1963, on November 22, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza. The assassination shocked the nation and the world, leading to widespread mourning and a period of intense national introspection. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States shortly after Kennedy's death. The assassination sparked numerous conspiracy theories and investigations, with the Warren Commission ultimately concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination. Kennedy's death had a profound impact on American politics and society, marking the end of an era often referred to as 'Camelot.'

1968 - The ATM is invented (Don Wetzel, United States)

1969 - Richard M. Nixon becomes President of the United States

1969 - July 20 - Apollo 11 - Man lands on the moon

June 17, 1972 – August 9, 1974 - Watergate Scandal began with the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., in 1972. Members of President Richard Nixon's administration attempted to cover up their involvement. The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by the Nixon administration, the resignation of President Nixon in 1974, and the indictment of several administration officials.

1973 - January 22 - Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179: The U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects women’s right to terminate an early pregnancy, thus making abortion legal in the U.S.

1973 - March 29 - The last United States soldier leaves Vietnam

The cell phone was invented by Martin Cooper of Motorola. On April 3, 1973, he made the first handheld mobile phone call with the Motorola DynaTAC. This device weighed 2.5 pounds and was 10 inches long, offering 30 minutes of talk time and requiring 10 hours to charge. The first commercial cell phone was released in 1983, revolutionizing communication and leading to the modern smartphones we use today.

1974 - Gerald R. Ford becomes President of the United States after the resignation of Richard Nixon.

1977 - Jimmy Carter becomes President of the United States

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State occurred on May 18, triggered by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake. It caused the largest landslide in recorded history, followed by a massive lateral blast. The eruption killed 57 people, destroyed 250 homes, and spread ash across the U.S.

1981 - Ronald Reagan becomes President of the United States

1981 - June 5 - First reported case of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

1982 - The camcorder is invented (Sony Corp., Japan)

1983 - The laptop computer is invented (Radio Shack Corp., United States)

1986 - January 28 - Space Shuttle Challenger accident - The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the shuttle broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.

1989 - The World Wide Web is invented at CERN (Tim Berners-Lee, UK)

1989 - George H. W. Bush becomes President of the United States

1993 - William J. Clinton becomes President of the United States

Obituary
Robert Langel III

NASA Physicist

Robert Langel III, 62, a retired physicist who headed the geomagnetism research program at Goddard Space Flight Center and who led efforts to map the Earth's magnetic field from space, died of a pulmonary embolism Feb. 9 at a nursing home in Blacksburg, Va.

During a 27-year career at the space flight center -- part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- Dr. Langel specialized in satellite surveys of the Earth's magnetic field. He helped compile the findings in a publication known as the International Geomagnetic Reference Field.

He was involved in the creation of Magsat, a U.S. satellite launched in 1979 to scan the entire surface of the globe, and he co-authored a 1988 book, 'The Magnetic Field of the Earth's Lithosphere -- the Satellite Perspective.'

He retired in 1997 and moved to Blacksburg from Laurel.

Dr. Langel was born in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and received master's...Read full story

washingtonpost.com