September 29


1865 

Frederick Batten was born.  Batten identified a syndrome of progressive intellectual deterioration and physical symptoms that now bears his name.  He has been called the "father of pediatric neurology."

1877 

Naomi Norsworthy was born.  Norsworthy was one of the first psychologists to be involved with the mental testing movement, especially as applied to the assessment of children with mental deficiencies.  She was the first woman graduate student at Columbia University.

1884 

James McKeen Cattell brought a Remington Model 4 typewriter to Leipzig.  Wilhelm Wundt, fascinated, obtained one for himself and increased his already prodigious scholarly output.

1890 

The Library of Congress received its two copies of the first volume of William James's Principles of Psychology.

1895 

Joseph Banks Rhine was born.  Rhine mounted a sustained attempt to raise psychical research to scientific standards.  His research on extrasensory perception was widely known and always a topic of controversy.

1911 

Karl Lashley applied for admission to the graduate program in zoology at Johns Hopkins University.  Lashley came in contact with zoologist Herbert S. Jennings and psychologist John B. Watson at Johns Hopkins, giving impetus to his interest in comparative psychology.
1958 Joseph V. Brady's article "Ulcers in Executive Monkeys" was published on this day in Scientific American.
1963 The APA's Focus on Behavior series began on National Educational Television.  The series was narrated by APA Executive Officer John Darley, and the first show was "The Conscience of a Child."
1986 The drug BuSpar (buspirone; Bristol Myers) was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Buspirone is a nonbarbiturate, nonbenzodiazepine antianxiety medication.  Its mechanism is unknown, but it has affinity for serotonin and dopamine receptors in the brain.  It appears to be less sedating and less addictive than benzodiazepines and barbiturates.
1989 The land was purchased for the new APA headquarters building at 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC.