Science in History
Explore 81 historical moments related to science — from pivotal breakthroughs to world-changing events.
📅 15th Century(1)
📅 16th Century(2)
Columbus uses lunar eclipse to influence Jamaican villagers
Christopher Columbus predicts a lunar eclipse while stranded in Jamaica, using it to persuade local inhabitants to continue supplying his crew.
Gregorian calendar is introduced in parts of Europe
Catholic countries begin adopting the Gregorian calendar reform, reshaping civil timekeeping in much of the world.
📅 17th Century(2)
Galileo observes four major moons of Jupiter
Galileo Galilei records observations of Jupiter's largest moons, a discovery that strengthens the case for heliocentric astronomy.
Isaac Newton born
English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton is born in Woolsthorpe. His work lays the foundations of classical mechanics.
📅 18th Century(2)
Hot-air balloon crosses the English Channel
Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries complete the first successful balloon crossing of the English Channel.
Antoine Lavoisier is executed
French chemist Antoine Lavoisier is executed during the Reign of Terror, ending the life of one of the founders of modern chemistry.
📅 19th Century(5)
Charles Darwin born
English naturalist Charles Darwin is born in Shrewsbury. His theory of evolution fundamentally changed biology.
Charles Darwin
English naturalist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.
Louis Daguerre is thought to photograph the Moon
French photography pioneer Louis Daguerre is believed to have taken one of the first photographs of the Moon, an early milestone in photographic history.
Albert Einstein Born
Albert Einstein, one of the most influential physicists of all time, is born. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics.
Albert Einstein
German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics.
📅 20th Century(29)
First successful airplane flight
The Wright brothers achieved the first sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.
Insulin becomes widely available for diabetics
Commercial production of insulin expands, marking a turning point in the treatment of diabetes during the early 1920s.
Noam Chomsky born
American linguist and intellectual Noam Chomsky is born in Philadelphia. He revolutionizes the field of linguistics.
Guglielmo Marconi dies
Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, pioneer of long-distance radio transmission, dies in Rome at age 63.
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
The United States drops the atomic bomb 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 80,000 people instantly.
Klaus Fuchs convicted
German-British physicist Klaus Fuchs was convicted of supplying information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union.
Jonas Salk announces polio vaccine
American virologist Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis on a small group of children.
Sputnik 1 is launched
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, beginning the Space Age.
Carl Jung dies
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, dies at age 85 in Küsnacht, Switzerland.
First Human in Space
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to journey into outer space. He completed one orbit of Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
First Human Cryopreservation
Seventy-three-year-old psychology professor James Bedford became the first person to be cryonically preserved. The preservation was done with the intent of future resuscitation.
Apollo 11 Moon landing
NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon, fulfilling President Kennedy's vision.
President Nixon announces the space shuttle program
U.S. President Richard Nixon approves development of the reusable space shuttle system, shaping NASA's next era of human spaceflight.
Apollo 17 launches
Apollo 17 launches from Kennedy Space Center, becoming the last crewed mission to the Moon in the 20th century.
Peking Man fossils discovered
Fossils of Peking Man, an early human ancestor, were discovered near Beijing, China.
Viking 1 lands on Mars
NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft becomes the first successful mission to land on Mars and operate on its surface, returning images and scientific data.
Uranus ring system discovered
Astronomers using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory discovered a faint ring system around Uranus.
Death of Kurt Gödel
Austrian logician Kurt Gödel died of starvation after his wife, who he feared would poison him, was hospitalized.
First Non-US/Soviet Cosmonaut in Space
As a cosmonaut on Soyuz 28, Vladimír Remek became the first person from outside the Soviet Union or the United States to go into space.
Volcanoes on Io Confirmed
Images taken by Voyager 1 on March 8, 1979, proved the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered a catastrophic accident, leading to widespread radioactive contamination and long-term health and environmental consequences.
SN 1987A Supernova Observed
SN 1987A, the first supernova studied in detail by modern astronomers, was observed from Earth. It occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Discovery of first exoplanets
Radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of two exoplanets orbiting pulsar PSR B1257+12. This marked the first confirmed detection of planets outside our solar system.
Discovery of Top Quark Announced
Researchers at Fermilab in Illinois announced the discovery of the top quark, the most massive of all observed elementary particles.
Valeri Polyakov Returns from Mir
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned from the Mir space station after 437 days. He set a new record for the longest spaceflight in history.
Copernicium First Created
Researchers at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany, successfully created the chemical element copernicium. This marked a significant achievement in scientific discovery.
Comet Hale–Bopp Closest Approach
Comet Hale–Bopp reached its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 1.315 AU. This celestial event was a significant astronomical observation.
Maldacena publishes AdS/CFT correspondence paper
Argentinian physicist Juan Maldacena published a landmark paper initiating the study of AdS/CFT correspondence. This work links string theory and quantum gravity.
World population reaches 6 billion
The United Nations designates October 12, 1999 as the day the world population reaches six billion people.
📅 21th Century(40)
NEAR Shoemaker lands on Eros
The NASA space probe NEAR Shoemaker touched down on Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
Discovery of 208996 Achlys
The trans-Neptunian object 208996 Achlys was discovered at Palomar Observatory, California.
Pioneer 10 Final Signal
The final signal was detected from the NASA space probe Pioneer 10, then about 12 billion kilometres from Earth.
Stardust spacecraft collects material from comet Wild 2
NASA's Stardust mission gathers dust grains from comet Wild 2, later providing scientists with valuable evidence about the early solar system.
Spirit Rover Lands on Mars
Spirit, the first of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, successfully landed on Mars.
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity lands on Mars
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landed on Mars and rolled into Eagle crater on the Meridiani Planum.
Dwarf Planet Eris Discovered
The dwarf planet Eris was discovered by a team using images from the Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory.
Discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb
Three independent observing campaigns announced the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, a super-Earth exoplanet. It is located 21,500 ± 3,300 light-years away from Earth near the center of the Milky Way.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters orbit
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached and entered orbit around Mars.
Comet McNaught Reaches Perihelion
Comet McNaught reached perihelion, becoming the brightest comet in over 40 years. It had an apparent magnitude of −5.5.
GRB 080319B Observed
The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B, the farthest object from Earth that was observable by the naked eye, was observed.
Farthest Naked-Eye Event Observed
The gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B was observed, setting a record for the farthest event from Earth observable with the naked eye.
Kepler Space Telescope Launched
The Kepler space telescope, designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, was launched.
Assassination of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi
Iranian physicist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was assassinated while leaving his home for the University of Tehran. He was a professor at the university.
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan triggers a devastating tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Hottest white dwarf documented
Astronomers documented H1504+65, a white dwarf with the hottest known surface temperature of 200,000 kelvins, on January 27, 2011.
Chelyabinsk Meteor Explosion
A meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, producing a shock wave that injured about 1,500 people.
Happisburgh Footprints Discovery
Researchers announced the discovery of the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa.
Sheppard Frere
Sheppard Frere was an English historian and archaeologist.
Richard Levins
American ecologist and geneticist, born in 1930.
Lloyd Shapley
Lloyd Shapley was an American mathematician and economist, and a Nobel Prize laureate.
Naming Ceremony for New Elements
A naming ceremony for the chemical elements moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson took place at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Peter Nicholls
Peter Nicholls was an Australian science fiction critic and encyclopedist.
New Horizons flies by Arrokoth
The NASA space probe New Horizons flew by the trans-Neptunian object Arrokoth. This made it the farthest object ever visited by a spacecraft.
Michael Atiyah
British-Lebanese mathematician Michael Atiyah died at the age of 89. He was born in 1929.
Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede was a Dutch social psychologist.
Freeman Dyson dies
British-American theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson dies at age 96 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson was an American physicist and mathematician.
Alfred Worden
American test pilot, engineer, and astronaut who flew on the Apollo 15 mission.
Pedro Trebbau
Pedro Trebbau was a German-born Venezuelan zoologist.
Nunuk Nuraini
Indonesian food scientist (born 1961) died on January 27, 2021.
Lou Ottens
Lou Ottens was a Dutch engineer and inventor, known for developing the cassette tape.
Glynn Lunney
Glynn Lunney, American engineer, died.
Jacob Ziv
Jacob Ziv was an Israeli electrical engineer who developed the LZ family of compression algorithms.
Allen J. Bard
Allen J. Bard, an American chemist, died on February 11, 2024. He was born in 1933.
Thomas P. Stafford
American Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut.
Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman was an Israeli-American author, psychologist, and economist, and a Nobel Prize laureate.
Ana Gligić
Serbian virologist Ana Gligić died.
Kanzi
Bonobo known for his ability to understand and use English.
Betty Webb
Death of Betty Webb, an English code breaker (born 1923).
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the most important science events in history?
- Notable science events include: Leonardo da Vinci born (1452), Columbus uses lunar eclipse to influence Jamaican villagers (1504), Gregorian calendar is introduced in parts of Europe (1582).
- How many science events are in the timeline?
- Our collection includes 81 historical entries related to science, spanning centuries of human history.
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