MILUTIN MILANKOVIĆ WAS BORN ON THIS DAY: The most cited Serbian scientist, created the most accurate calendar in the world!

Craters on Mars and the Moon were named after him.

Milutin Milanković is one of the most famous Serbian scientists. He was born on May 28, 1879, in the village of Dalj.

Milutin Milanković is the most cited Serbian scientist, and a crater on the Moon and Mars, as well as an asteroid discovered at the Belgrade Observatory, bear his name.

His interests included mathematics, climatology, geophysics, and astronomy, and NASA ranked him among the 15 greatest minds who studied the Earth. He had a twin sister, as well as two other sisters and three brothers.

Unfortunately, Milanković’s family faced difficulties, and he was left without a father when he was only eight years old. His brothers died of tuberculosis, and the sisters and twins were cared for by their mother Jelisaveta with the support of their uncle Vasa Maučević.

As a child, Milanković was of very poor health, he was very sensitive and did not go to school, but had a private tutor instead.

He finished high school in Osijek, quickly surpassing his peers in knowledge. Under the influence of a mathematics professor, he enrolled in civil engineering in Vienna.

Life in Vienna and Belgrade

He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Vienna in 1902 with the highest grades, and in 1904, at the age of 25, he defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Theory of Pressure on Curves,” the application of which allowed him to assess curved shapes and their properties when under constant pressure, which is useful for building bridges, domes, and supporting pillars.

During five years of work in a company, he successfully realized numerous projects, yet, he left Vienna.

Following his passion for science, he went to Belgrade in 1910 where he became a university professor. Thanks to him, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia became a member of the International Meteorological Organization and the International Astronomical Union.

Milanković had a salary ten times smaller than in Vienna, so he additionally did static calculations in construction. Upon arriving in Belgrade, he lived near the “Moskva” hotel, and later in the Professors’ Colony in a house he designed himself.

He became interested in climatology in 1911, and already in 1912, he published the paper “Contribution to the Theory of Mathematical Climate.” He participated in the First Balkan War, and during the Great War, he was interned in Pest where he continued to engage in science.

By 1917, Milutin Milanković had published seven scientific papers on the mathematical climate of the Earth and other planets. the University of Belgrade can boast that from 1919 he was a full professor of celestial mechanics at the Faculty of Philosophy, and in 1927 he was also the dean.

One of his greatest contributions to science is the reform of the Julian calendar from 1923, which is the most accurate calendar to date. He was decorated with the Order of Saint Sava of the third class and declared a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences in 1925.

Through Distance and Centuries

Milanković wrote the popular science novel “Through Distance and Centuries” and became a member of the commission for passing the state exam in celestial mechanics. He patented an “Anti-aircraft cannon shell” and began his life’s work “Canon of Insolation of the Earth and Its Application to the Problem of the Ice Ages,” which he submitted for printing four days before the German invasion of Belgrade.

Milanković retired from public life during the war, wrote the autobiography “Memories, Experiences and Insights” and was elected president of SANU in 1948. He died on December 12, 1958, and eight years later his remains were transferred to his native Dalj, reports Danas.rs

His son wrote the biography “My Father, Milutin Milanković.” He is remembered for his work and contribution to science in Serbia and the world, and many scientific entities bear his name. Today, his image adorns the 2,000 dinar banknote.