| Year | Event | Scientist or inventor |
| 5th-4th centuries BC |
The idea was put forward that matter has a granular structure and that the atom is the simplest and indivisible particle |
Democritus |
| 3rd century BC |
A theory of the lever was given, the value of the buoyant force was determined, and the concepts of “centre of gravity” and “torque” were introduced. The rectilinear propagation of light was established and the law of reflection of light was formulated |
Euclid |
| c. 1038 |
The density of various substances was measured |
A. Biruni |
| 1121-1122 |
Capillarity was described, the dependence of the density of water on temperature was found, and it was established that velocity is measured by the ratio of the distance covered to the time, and that the Archimedean force acts in air as well |
|
| 14th century |
The concepts of acceleration, angular velocity and uniformly accelerated motion were introduced |
|
| 1597 |
The thermometer (thermoscope) was invented |
Galileo Galilei |
| 1621 |
The law of refraction of light was discovered experimentally |
W. Snellius |
| 1632 |
The existence of inertia was pointed out for the first time |
Galileo Galilei
|
| 1636 |
Experiments to determine the speed of sound in air were described (a value of 414 m/s was obtained) |
Marin Mersenne |
| 1638 |
The laws of free fall of bodies were discovered |
Galileo Galilei
|
| 1643 |
Atmospheric pressure was discovered |
Evangelista Torricelli |
| 1650 |
The air pump was invented |
Otto von Guericke |
| 1653 |
The fundamental law of hydrostatics was discovered |
Blaise Pascal |
| 1657 |
The pendulum clock was constructed |
Christiaan Huygens |
| 1660 |
The law of elasticity for solids was discovered |
Robert Hooke |
| 1662 |
The law was discovered according to which, at constant temperature, the volume of a given mass of gas is inversely proportional to the pressure (in 1675 this law was discovered independently of R. Boyle by E. Mariotte) |
Robert Boyle |
| 1665 |
A treatise was published in which the diffraction of light was described |
Francesco Grimaldi |
| 1666 |
The dispersion of light was discovered |
Isaac Newton |
| 1672 |
The suggestion was put forward that light is corporeal (the corpuscular hypothesis of light) |
Isaac Newton |
| 1675 |
Interference fringes of equal thickness were discovered |
Isaac Newton |
| 1676 |
The speed of light was determined for the first time |
O. Rømer |
| 1678 |
The polarisation of light was detected. A general principle describing the behaviour of waves (“Huygens's principle”) was put forward, and the wave theory of light was set out and applied to the explanation of optical phenomena (published in 1690) |
Christiaan Huygens |
| 1687 |
A work was published in which the three laws of dynamics and the law of universal gravitation were formulated |
Isaac Newton |
| 1738 |
The fundamental law of hydrodynamics was discovered |
Daniel Bernoulli |
| 1742 |
The hundred-degree thermometer scale was proposed |
Anders Celsius |
| 1744-1750 |
The concepts of the molecule and the atom (“corpuscle” and “element”) were distinguished for the first time, ideas of the molecular structure of matter were introduced, and the corpuscular theory of heat was developed |
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov |
| 1746 |
The capacitor (“Leyden jar”) was invented |
Pieter van Musschenbroek |
| 1757 |
The concepts of the specific heats of fusion and vaporisation were introduced and their values were measured for the first time for a number of substances (in 1760 the concept of “specific heat capacity” was also introduced) |
Joseph Black |
| 1760 |
A work was published in which the law of illuminance was formulated |
Johann Heinrich Lambert |
| 1780 |
Experiments were begun that led to the discovery of electric current – “animal electricity” (the experiments were described in 1791) |
Luigi Galvani |
| 1781 |
Friction was studied and its laws were discovered |
Charles Augustin Coulomb |
| 1784 |
The invention of the universal heat engine (the universal steam engine) |
James Watt |
| 1785 |
The fundamental law of electrostatics was discovered |
Charles Coulomb |
| 1787 |
The law was discovered governing how the pressure of a given mass of gas changes with temperature at constant volume |
Jacques Alexandre César Charles |
| 1798 |
The force of attraction between two bodies was measured and the numerical value of the gravitational constant was determined |
Henry Cavendish |
| 1799 |
The first source of electric current was created – the galvanic cell and the battery of cells (“Volta's pile”) |
Alessandro Volta |
| 1800 |
Infrared rays were discovered |
W. Herschel |
| 1801 |
The interference of light was explained and the term “interference” was introduced |
Thomas Young |
| |
Ultraviolet rays were discovered |
Johann Wilhelm Ritter |
| |
The law was discovered according to which the pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures |
John Dalton |
| 1802 |
The law was discovered governing how the volume of a given mass of gas changes with temperature at constant pressure |
J. L. Gay-Lussac |
| 1807 |
A numerical characteristic of elasticity (“Young's modulus”) was introduced |
T. Young |
| |
The first steamboat (the Clermont) was built |
R. Fulton |
| 1811 |
The law was discovered according to which equal volumes of gases at the same temperatures and pressures contain the same number of molecules |
A. Avogadro |
| 1814 |
Absorption lines were discovered in the solar spectrum |
Joseph Fraunhofer |
| |
A steam locomotive was built, whose improved models came into practical use |
G. Stephenson |
| 1818 |
A quantitative theory of the diffraction of light was created |
Augustin Jean Fresnel |
| 1820 |
The magnetic action of current was discovered |
Hans Christian Ørsted |
| |
The law of interaction of electric currents was discovered, and the first theory of magnetism, based on the hypothesis of molecular currents, was created |
André Marie Ampère |
| 1821 |
Thermoelectricity was discovered |
Thomas Johann Seebeck |
| |
The transverse nature of light waves was proved |
A. Fresnel |
| 1823 |
The first liquefaction of a gas was achieved (liquid chlorine was obtained) |
Michael Faraday |
| 1824 |
The theoretically possible maximum efficiency of a heat engine was determined |
S. Carnot |
| 1827 |
The random motion of suspended particles (“Brownian motion”) was discovered |
R. Brown |
| |
The speed of sound in water was measured |
J. Sturm and J. Colladon |
| |
The fundamental law of the electric circuit was discovered |
Georg Simon Ohm |
| 1831 |
The law of electromagnetic induction was discovered |
M. Faraday |
| 1832 |
Self-induction was discovered |
J. Henry |
| |
The invention of the electromagnetic telegraph |
P. L. Schilling |
| 1833 |
The rule determining the direction of the induced current was formulated |
Emil Khristianovich Lenz |
| 1834 |
The equation of state of an ideal gas was derived |
Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron |
| 1838 |
Electrotyping was invented. The first electric motor suitable for practical purposes was created |
Boris Semyonovich Jacobi |
| 1839 |
A practically usable method of photography was developed |
L. Daguerre, J. Niépce |
| 1841-1842 |
The discovery of the law of the heating effect of current |
James Prescott Joule |
| 1842 |
The oscillatory nature of the discharge of a capacitor was established |
J. Henry |
| 1842-1847 |
The discovery of the law of conservation and transformation of energy |
J. Mayer, J. Joule, H. Helmholtz |
| 1843 |
The law of electrolysis was discovered |
M. Faraday |
| 1848 |
The concepts of absolute temperature and the absolute temperature scale were introduced |
W. Thomson |
| 1853 |
The formula for the period of electric oscillations (“Thomson's formula”) was derived |
W. Thomson |
| 1859 |
Spectral analysis was discovered |
G. Kirchhoff, R. Bunsen |
| |
The lead accumulator was invented |
Gaston Planté |
| 1860 |
The existence of a critical temperature was discovered |
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev |
| 1860-1865 |
The theory of the electromagnetic field was created |
James Clerk Maxwell |
| 1865 |
The idea of the electromagnetic nature of light was expressed and the existence of electromagnetic waves was postulated |
J. Maxwell |
| 1868 |
The “dry” galvanic cell was developed |
G. Leclanché |
| 1869 |
The periodic law of the chemical elements was discovered |
D. I. Mendeleev |
| 1870 |
The creation of an electric generator that came into practical use |
Z. T. Gramme |
| 1872 |
The fundamental kinetic equation of gases was derived |
Ludwig Boltzmann |
| 1873 |
The systematic study of the magnetic properties of ferromagnets was begun |
Alexander Grigoryevich Stoletov |
| |
The invention of the electric incandescent lamp |
A. N. Lodygin |
| 1874 |
The Clapeyron equation was generalised and the fundamental equation of state of an ideal gas was obtained |
D. I. Mendeleev |
| 1876 |
The invention of the telephone |
A. Bell |
| |
The invention of the arc lamp – the “Yablochkov candle”. The creation of a transformer to supply current to sources of lighting – electric candles |
P. N. Yablochkov |
| 1878 |
The first four-stroke internal combustion engine (a gas engine) was built |
N. Otto |
| 1879 |
The invention of the electric incandescent lamp |
Thomas Alva Edison |
| 1881 |
The invention of electric arc welding |
N. N. Benardos |
| 1882 |
The construction of the first electric power transmission line |
M. Deprez |
| 1883 |
Thermionic emission was discovered |
T. Edison |
| 1887 |
An oscillator for exciting electromagnetic oscillations was created |
H. Hertz |
| |
Experiments to detect the “aether wind” were carried out |
A. Michelson, E. Morley |
| 1888 |
The law of the photoelectric effect was discovered |
A. G. Stoletov |
| 1889 |
An impulse-type steam turbine was built |
C. Laval |
| 1895 |
X-rays were discovered |
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen |
| |
The invention of radio |
Alexander Stepanovich Popov |
| |
The creation of the cinematograph |
The brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière |
| 1896 |
Natural radioactivity was discovered |
A. A. Becquerel |
| 1897 |
The electron was discovered |
J. Thomson |
| |
The invention of the compression-ignition internal combustion engine (the diesel engine) |
R. Diesel |
| 1899 |
The existence of light pressure was proved experimentally and its value was found |
Petr Nikolayevich Lebedev |
| |
The presence of alpha and beta rays in the radiation of uranium was proved |
Ernest Rutherford |
| 1900 |
The hypothesis was put forward that atoms emit electromagnetic energy in separate portions |
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck |
| 1902-1903 |
The law of radioactive decay was discovered |
F. Soddy, E. Rutherford |
| 1903 |
A theory of rocket flight was given and the possibility of using the rocket for interplanetary travel was substantiated |
K. E. Tsiolkovsky |
| |
The building of an aeroplane fitted with an internal combustion engine and the first successful flight in it |
The brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright |
| 1904 |
The formula for the dependence of the mass of the electron on its velocity was obtained |
H. Lorentz |
| |
The invention of the diode |
John Ambrose Fleming |
| 1905 |
The foundations of the special theory of relativity were developed, the hypothesis of the quantum nature of light emission was put forward, the equation of the photoelectric effect was given, and the law of the relation between mass and energy was discovered |
Albert Einstein |
| |
The formula for the lift of an aeroplane wing was given |
N. E. Zhukovsky |
| 1906 |
The invention of the triode |
L. de Forest |
| 1908 |
An instrument for detecting charged particles was created |
G. Geiger, E. Rutherford |
| 1911 |
Experimental proof of the discreteness of electric charges was given (experiments with oil droplets) |
Robert Andrews Millikan |
| |
The existence of the atomic nucleus was discovered; the planetary model of the atom was created |
E. Rutherford |
| |
Superconductivity was discovered |
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes |
| 1912 |
A method of detecting the diffraction of X-rays was developed |
Max Felix Theodor von Laue |
| |
An instrument for observing the tracks of individual moving charged microparticles was created |
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson |
| 1913 |
The quantum theory of the atom was proposed |
Niels Henrik David Bohr |
| |
The discreteness of the energy levels of atoms was proved experimentally |
J. Franck, G. Hertz |
| |
Experiments (with specks of zinc dust) were carried out that confirmed the discreteness of electric charge |
Abram Fedorovich Ioffe |
| 1918 |
The inertia of electrons in metals was detected experimentally |
R. Tolman, T. Stewart |
| 1919 |
The first artificial nuclear reaction was carried out |
E. Rutherford |
| 1920 |
The direct measurement of the velocity of molecules was carried out for the first time |
Otto Stern |
| 1924 |
The first mainline diesel locomotive was built |
Y. M. Gakkel |
| 1925 |
A method of detecting charged particles by means of thick-layer photographic emulsions was developed |
Lev Vladimirovich Mysovsky |
| 1926 |
The kinetic theory of liquids was developed |
Yakov Ilyich Frenkel |
| 1930 |
The hypothesis of the existence of the neutrino was put forward |
Wolfgang Pauli |
| |
The existence of the positron was predicted theoretically (detected experimentally in 1932) |
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac |
| 1931 |
The first cyclotron was built |
Ernest Orlando Lawrence |
| 1932 |
The neutron was discovered |
J. Chadwick |
| |
The proton-neutron hypothesis of the structure of the nucleus was proposed |
D. D. Ivanenko, W. Heisenberg |
| 1934 |
Artificial radioactivity was discovered |
F. and I. Joliot-Curie |
| 1938 |
The fission of uranium nuclei was discovered |
O. Hahn, F. Strassmann |
| 1939 |
The possibility of using stimulated emission to amplify electromagnetic waves was indicated |
Valentin Alexandrovich Fabrikant |
| 1940 |
The spontaneous fission of heavy nuclei was discovered |
G. N. Flerov |
| 1942 |
The first nuclear reactor was created. A nuclear fission chain reaction of uranium nuclei was achieved in the first nuclear reactor |
Enrico Fermi |
| 1946 |
A nuclear fission chain reaction of uranium nuclei was achieved in the first Soviet nuclear reactor |
Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov |
| 1952 |
The bubble chamber was invented |
Donald Arthur Glaser |
| 1954 |
Quantum generators based on a beam of ammonia molecules were created |
N. G. Basov, A. M. Prokhorov, C. Townes |
| |
The first nuclear power station was built and put into operation |
I. V. Kurchatov |
| 1956 |
The antineutrino was detected experimentally |
C. Cowan et al. |
| |
The first jet passenger aircraft (the Tu-104) was built |
A. N. Tupolev |
| 1960 |
The invention of the laser |
Theodore Harold Maiman |
| 1964 |
The quark hypothesis was put forward |
M. Gell-Mann et al. |
| 1986 |
High-temperature superconductivity was discovered |
K. Müller, G. Bednorz |