Origins & Early Life

Har Gobind Khorana (9 January 1922 – 9 November 2011) was an Indian-American biochemist. While on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley for research that showed the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids, which carry the genetic code of the cell and control the cell's synthesis of proteins.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Khorana and Nirenberg were also awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University in the same year. Born in Raipur, Punjab (during the British Raj), Khorana served on the faculties of three universities in North America. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1966, and received the National Medal of Science in 1987. Har Gobind Khorana was born during the British Raj to Ganpatrai Khorana and Krishna Devi, in Raipur, a village near Multan, Punjab, British India, in a Punjabi Hindu (arora punjabi family). The exact date of his birth is not certain but he believed that it might have been 9 January 1922; this date was later shown in some documents, and has been widely accepted.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He was the youngest of five children. His father was a patwari...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Aage Bohr — Contemporary (Born in 1922) (1922): Pioneering Danish nuclear physicist, Nobel laureate for atomic structure theory.
• Agostinho Neto — Contemporary (Born in 1922) (1922): Angolan communist revolutionary, poet, and first President of Angola.
• Alain Resnais — Contemporary (Born in 1922) (1922): Pioneering French filmmaker exploring memory, consciousness, and narrative structure.
• Amy Winehouse — Contemporary (Died in 2011) (2011): Iconic British soul artist blending jazz, R&B, and retro sounds.
• Anne McCaffrey — Contemporary (Died in 2011) (2011): Pioneering science fiction author, celebrated for the Dragonriders of Pern.
• Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu — Contemporary (Died in 2011) (2011): Prominent Nigerian politician and military leader, best known for leading Biafra.
• Adrien-Marie Legendre — Shared historical date (01-09 · Died) (1833): Pioneering French mathematician known for Legendre polynomials and least squares method.
• Alvah Curtis Roebuck — Shared historical date (01-09 · Born) (1864): Co-founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company, pioneering American retail businessman.
• Benjamin Banneker — Shared historical date (11-09 · Born) (1731): Self-taught polymath, surveyor, and advocate for racial equality in early America.
• Bob Gibson — Shared historical date (11-09 · Born) (1935): Legendary St. Louis Cardinals pitcher known for fierce competitiveness and elite performance.
• 1922 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1922
• January 9 (01-09) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on January 9
• 2011 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 2011
• November 9 (11-09) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on November 9