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Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. (Dolly-an)

 

1921 - 1945

"Killed While Tickling the Dragon's Tail"

 

Web Master's Note:  My mother, who is presently 89 years of age, was a nurse at the U. S. Engineer's Hospital at Los Alamos when Harry K. Daghlian was admitted...and, later died.  Her recollections are that the excruciating pain that Harry Daghlian endured sent chills throughout the entire hospital staff.

The below excerpt and pictures are used with permission granted by Arnold Dion.  Please visit his web site for the full harrowing details of the accident.  Click "here"

 

Daghlian Photo Born in Waterbury, CT in 1921, Harry K. Daghlian, Jr, was the first child of Harry (Haroutune) Krikor Daghlian and Margaret Rose Daghlian (née Currie). Soon thereafter, the Daghlian family moved to the small coastal community of New London, where young Harry received all of his primary and secondary school education, while his father worked as an X-ray technician and later became supervisor of the X-ray laboratory at the Lawrence and Memorial Hospital.

As a student at Harbor Elementary School, the young Harry Daghlian played the violin in the school orchestra and seemed to be interested in everything at an early age, winning a silver cup as the most outstanding student at Harbor. Undoubtedly, his penchant for mathematics and science was engendered and fostered by his parents and his uncle, Dr. Garabed K. Daghlian, who was a professor of physics and astronomy at Connecticut College (CC) located on the outskirts of New London. Dr. Daghlian became known as the "father" of the Physics and Astronomy Department at CC and he was a frequent speaker for local civic groups on a variety of subjects ranging from the economic depression of that time to celestial comets.

Daghlian at Purdue

In 1938, Daghlian graduated first in his class in mathematics from Bulkeley High School and started his undergraduate studies at MIT at the age of 17. After two years, however, his fascination with physics, particularly in the emerging field of particle physics, led him to transfer to the Lafayette, Indiana campus of Purdue University. There, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in the spring of 1942 and started his graduate fellowship studies, which included a stint as a physics instructor. [ Inset : Daghlian (extreme right) with two friends at Purdue. To earn extra money, Daghlian waited tables, as suggested by his attire.]

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