31 March 09

Robert Wilhelm Bunsen was born on 31 March 1811. He is most famous as the improver of the "Bunsen burner," which creates a stable, hot flame by mixing air and fuel before combustion. He also was a discoverer of rubidium and cesium, and a teacher of Dmitri Mendeleev (who developed the basics of the periodic table of the elements). I don't have a tie featuring a Bunsen burner, but the lab equipment on this tie gives the appropriate context.