February 28: DNA structure was discovered (1953)

DNA structure

James Dewey Watson and Francis Harry Compton Crick, researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, announced to their colleagues that they found the molecular structure of the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), on February 28, 1953. DNA is a nucleic acid containing genetic instructions used in development and functioning of the all known living organisms except RNA viruses. Watson and Crick were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Maurice Wilkins, for the discovery of the DNA molecular structure. Watson wrote the bestselling book The Double Helix about this discovery in 1968. The work done by Rosalind Elsie Franklin, a Cambridge graduate and researcher at King's College London, was critical for Watson and Crick to build the DNA model though her work had not been recognized for quite some time. Rosalind worked with Wilkins on the same research project with x-ray diffraction at King's College London.