International Day of Light 2022

The International Day of Light 2022 is celebrated on 16th May each year to commemorate the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser light in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Mr.Theodore Maiman.

This day is a call to strengthen scientific cooperation and harness its potential to foster peace and sustainable development.

As the Light plays a central role in our lives, the day celebrates the role light plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy. It can assist UNESCO to accomplish its aims of education, equality, and peace.

Light research has resulted in potential alternative energy sources, crucial medical improvements in diagnostics and therapies, high-speed internet, and numerous other discoveries that have altered civilisation and shaped our view of the cosmos.

One of the goals of celebrating the day is to improve public knowledge of how light and light-based technologies affect everyone’s everyday life and are critical to the global society’s future growth.

Mr.Theodore Harold Maiman was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser and successfully fired on May 16th, 1960. Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers. 

   Important points for the exam:

• The International Day of Light is celebrated on 16th May annually.
• The day is to commemorate the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser light in 1960.
• This day is a call to strengthen scientific cooperation and harness its potential to foster peace and sustainable development.
• It can assist UNESCO to accomplish its aims of education, equality, and peace.
• One of the goals of celebrating the day is to improve public knowledge of how light and light-based technologies affect everyone’s everyday life and are critical to the global society’s future growth.

   Facts to know:

• LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
• Mr.Theodore Harold Maiman was an American engineer and physicist who invented laser light.
• The most powerful laser recorded was at 1.25 petawatts in a Californian laboratory in 1996.
• The first MASER was discovered in 1964 and was built at Columbia University.