Chronography of Biology

Page last modified 15 May 2023

 

Home Page

 

See also Medical

See also Science and Innovation

 


20 May 2010, Craig Venter announced the creation of the world�s first synthetic organism.

3 February 2005, Ernst Mayr, evolutionary biologist, died (born 5 July 1904)

 

World�s oldest mother

29 December 2006, Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara, 67, gave birth to twins in a Barcelona hospital, becoming the world�s oldest mother.

7 July 2006, In the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, UK, 62 year old Dr Patricia Rashbrook became Britain�s oldest mother, giving birth to a 6lb 10 oz son after IVF treatment.

16 January 2005, Adriana Iliescu, aged 66, became the oldest woman in the world to give birth.

 

25 January 2004, The fossil of the oldest known land creature, a centipede dated at 428 million years old, was found.

20 April 2003, Easter Sunday. Bernard Katz, biophysicist, died.

 

14 April 2003, The Human Genome Project, to completely map the human genome, was completed.

15 February 2001, An initial version of the Human Genome Sequence was released.�������

 

Cloning

2013, Scientists cloned a cell from a human baby with a rare genetic disorder. This created a source of embryonic stem cells that could be used in treatment.

11 August 2004, The first licences for the cloning of human embryos were granted in Britain.

28 May 2003, The first horse cloned by Italian scientists, Prometea, was born

14 February 2003, Dolly the Sheep, the first cloned mammal, died.

9 August 2001, US President George W Bush announced there would be Federal funding for limited research into human embryonic stem cells.

9 March 2001, Italian gynaecologist Severino Antinori announced his intention to clone a human. This led to calls for an international ban on such research.

23 July 1998, A team of scientists at the University of Hawaii, led by Ryuzo Yanagimachi, announced they had produced three generations of cloned mice.

12 January 1998, 19 European nations agreed to forbid human cloning after an announcement by Richard Seed that he would use techniques from Dolly the Sheep to clone humans.

24 February 1997. The cloned sheep, Dolly, was presented to the public. She had been cloned from a single cell of her mother at the Royal Institute in Edinburgh. There was moral panic about the possibility of cloning humans, but some saw it as a useful way to create organs for transplant. Lamb 6LL3 was named after Dolly Parton. The animal died prematurely in February 2003.

1987, Two calves, called Fusion and Copy, were successfully cloned from embryonic cells.

1984, An egg cell emptied of its nucleus was fused with a cell from a lamb embryo, resulting in the birth of three live cloned lambs.

1952, A tadpole was cloned using the new technique of transfer of cellular nuclearnaterial to a new cell.

1902, A salamander became the first vertebrate to be �cloned� using the technique of splitting a two-celled embryo.

 

30 January 1995, Gerald Durrell, naturalist, died.

7 October 1994, Neils Kaj Jerne, immunologist.

30 May 1988, Ernst August Freidrich Ruska, inventor of the electron microscope, died in West Berlin.

18 March 1988, Percy Thrower, horticulturalist, died.

24 January 1988, Biochemist Charles Glen King, who first isolated vitamin C, died in Westchester, Pennsylvania.

21 May 1987, Archie Carr, US marine biologist, died in Florida.

23 October 1986, Edward Adelbert Doisy, biochemist, died.

20 October 1984, Carl Ferdinand Cori, biochemist, died.

18 April 1984, Kenneth S Cole, US biophysicist, died.

22 May 1983, Albert Claude, Belgian biologist, died.

10 March 1983, Ulf von Euler, Swedish biochemist, died.

15 August 1982, Hugo Theorell, Swedish biochemist, died.

22 November 1981, Hans Krebs, British biochemist, died aged 81.

9 March 1980, Max Delbruck, German-US microbiologist, died in Pasadena, California.

6 August 1979, Feodor Lynen, German biochemist, died in Munich.

11 December 1978, Vincent du Vigneaud, US biochemist, dies in Scarsdale, New York, USA.

20 November 1976, Trofim Denisovich Lysenko, Soviet biologist, died in Kiev, Ukraine.

31 May 1976, J L Monod, French biochemist, died aged 66.

24 April 1976, Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist, died aged 81.

1975, The technique of cellular transfer of nuclear material was used to succesfuly transfer material in mammalian cells.

5 November 1975, Edward Lawrie Tatum, US biochemist, died in New York City, USA.

 

DNA

5 January 1987, Genetic fingerprinting was first used to catch a murderer, Colin Pitchfork. Police asked all men in Narborough, Leicestershire, to take DNA tests after two 15 year old girls were killed.

1977, Genetech began to synthesis medicines by use of recombinant DNA.

1973, Stanley Cohen (Stanford University) and Herbert Boyer (University of California) inserted recombinant DNA into a bacteria which then cloned this new DNA. This was the start of genetic engineering.

1970, At John Hopkins University, Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans discovered restriction enzymes, chemical scissors that snipped RNA molecules.

1965, RNA synthesis of protein was achieved in a test tube; the code of three bases for each amino acid was discovered.

25 April 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick described the double-helix structure of DNA in Nature magazine.

20 September 1952, Hervey-Chase�s paper demonstrating that genetic material is made from DNA was published in the Journal of General Physiology.

19 October 1946, Genetic recombination in bacteria was first described.

1944, O A T Overy of Rockerfeller University, working with the pneumonia bacterium, established that genes were made from DNA.

23 August 1931, Hamilton Othaniel Smith was born in New York City, USA. In 1970 he discovered the first �restriction enzyme�, one that cuts DNA at a specific base juncture.

8 June 1918, Francis H Crick was born in Northampton, UK. In 1953, along with James Dewey Watson (born Chicago, USA, 6 April 1928) he developed the double-helix model for DNA.

11 August 1905, Austrian-American biochemist Erwin Chargaff was born in Czernowitz. He demonstrated in the 1940s that for DNA the number of adenine and thymine bases, and the number of cytosine and guanine bases, were equal. This was an important clue to the structure of DNA.

 

1972, Paul Berg, st Stanford University, combined the DNA from two different viruses.

1 August 1970, Otto Heinrich Warburg, German biochemist, died in Berlin-Dahlem.

5 April 1970, Alfred Henry Sturtevant, US geneticist, died in Pasadena, California.

16 February 1970, Francis Peyton Rous, who discovered that viruses can cause cancer, died in New York City, USA.

19 May 1965, The world�s oldest tortoise, Tui Malila, born 1773, died.

4 June 1962, Charles William Beebe, US naturalist, died at Simla Research Station, Trinidad.

9 August 1960, Bernard Ogilvie Dodge, USbotanist, died aged 88.

23 January 1959, Wilhelm Ludwig, zoologist and geneticist, died in Leipzig (born 20 October 1901).

26 October 1957, Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori, Czech-US biochemist, died in St Louis, Missouri.

7 October 1955, Henry Clapp Sherman, US biochemist, died in Rensselaer, New York, USA.

8 January 1955, Sir Arthur Keith, British anthropologist, died.

16 November 1954, Albert Francis Blakeslee, US botanist, died in Northampton, Massachusetts.

16 May 1947, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist, died in Cambridge.

17 April 1946, George Kohler, German biologist, was born (died 1995).

26 January 1943, Nikolay Ivanovich Vavilov, Russian botanist, died as a result of mistreatment by Soviet prison guards. He had been imprisoned for opposing the views of Trofim Lysenko, who held that acquired traits could be inherited.

7 March 1938, David Baltimore, US biologist, was born.

19 July 1936, Herbert Boyer, biotechnologist, was born.

27 February 1936, Death of Ivan Pavlov (born 14 September 1849 in Ryazan, Russia). He is famous for his work on conditioned reflexes in dogs.

20 August 1935, In the US, H McLean announced the isolation of Vitamin E.

15 March 1934, Davidson Black, Canadian anthropologist, died in Beijing, China.

19 May 1933,Edward de Bono, who developed the concept of lateral thinking, was born.

1932, In Germany the biochemist Hans Krebs described the citric acid cycle in cells, where sugars, fats and proteins are converted into carbon dioxide, water and energy.

16 January 1932, Dian Fossey, zoologoist, was born.

20 March 1931, Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov, Russian biologist, died in Alma Ata, USSR.

29 April 1928, Professor Heinz Wolff, bioengineer, was born.

24 January 1928, Desmond Morris, zoologist, was born.

11 August 1926, Sir Aaron Klug, biochemist, was born.

30 June 1926, Paul Berg was born in New York City, USA. In 1974 he recommended a halt to genetic engineering experiments.

11 April 1926, Luther Burbank, botanist, died.

26 July 1925, William Jennings Bryan, US Democratic Party orator and prosecutor in the Scopes �Monkey Trial�, born 19 March 1860 in Salem, Illinois, died in Dayton, Tennessee.

10 July 1925, The Scopes trial began in Dayton Tennessee.Mr Scopes, a science teacher, was accused of teaching evolution and so breaching State laws against teaching ideas contradicting the Bible.The real issue was the role of the State in determining the religious nature of school education.The outcome was inconclusive.Scopes was found guilty on 21 July 1925 but the US$100 penalty was set aside on a technicality.

5 May 1925, John Scopes was arrested. His trial began on 10 July 1925.

7 April 1925, Charles Yanofsky was born in New York City, USA. In 1967 he helped crack the DNA code for proteins.

7 January 1925, Gerald Durrell, naturalist, was born.

11 November 1923, Robert C. Murdoch, Australian zoologist and mollusc expert, died aged 72,

27 June 1923, Beth Chatto, horticulturalist, was born

1921, The first polygraph (lie detector) was built, by John Larson of the Berkely Police Department, California.

15 July 1921, Bruce Merrifield, biochemist, was born (died 14 May 2006)

20 June 1920, Dmitri Iosifovich, Russian botanist, died.

17 June 1920, Francois Jacob was born in Nancy, France. In 1960, along with Jacques Monod (born 9 February 1910, Paris, France), he proved in 1960 that messenger RNA exists.

31 January 1920, Wilhelm Pfeffer, German botanist, died in Kassel, Hesse.

28 August 1919, Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, who invented the EMI scanner and winner of the Nobel prize for psychology in 1979, was born.

2 October 1917, Rene de Duve, cytologist, was born in Thames Ditton, England. In 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for electron microscopy and cell structure studies.

24 March 1917, John Cowdery Kendrew was born in Oxford, England. In 1960 he determined the molecular structure of myoglobain, similar to haemoglobin.

1915, The enzyme thyroxine was first isolated from thyroid gland tissue.

1913, Richard Willstatter discovered the composition of chlorophyll. In the US, E McCollum isolated vitamin A.

1912, Casimir Funk of the Pasteur Institute, Paris, noticed that people who ate unpolished rice were less susceptible to beri-beri. He found that the substance responsible for preventing beri-beri was an amine, a chemical that contained nitrogen, so he called this a vital amine, or vitamine. It was later known as vitamin B1, or thiamine. He went on to doscover other such �vital amines�, including B3 (niacin). Later it was discovered that niot all such vital amines contained nitrogen, for example vitamin C, so the final �e� was dropped to lessen the link to amines.

19 November 1912, Rumanian-US physiologist George Emil Palade was born in Iasi, Rumania. In 1956 he discovered the that the small bodies within cells now known as ribosomes, are mostly RNA. It was soon afterwards found that this was where the cell manufactures proteins.

24 March 1912, Biochemist Sidney Walter Fox was born in Los Angeles, California.

8 April 1911, Melvin Calvin was born in St Paul, Minnesota, USA. In 1945 he investigated photosynthesis in plants using carbon-14.

6 April 1911, Feodor Lynen, medical researcher, was born in Munich., Germany.

28 March 1911, Herve de Toulgoet, French entomologist, was born (died 14 September 2009)

9 February 1910, J L Monod, French biochemist, was born (died 1976).

13 January 1908, German physician Wilhelm Weinberg described the mathematical basis of population genetics.

18 August 1908, English plant pathologist Frederick Charles Bawden was born in North Tawton.

3 October 1905, US zoologist Edmund Wilson described the XX and XY system of sex chromosomes.

24 March 1903, Adolf Friedrich Butenandt was born in Bremerhaven, Germany. In 1929 he isolated estrone, a female sex hormone.

19 July 1901, Eleanor Ormerod, English entomologist, died in St Albans (born 11 May 1828)

18 May 1901, Vincent du Vigneaud, US biochemist, was born.

28 February 1901, Dr Linus Pauling, American biochemist and twice winner of the Nobel Prize, was born in Portland, Oregon.

18 January 1901, US zoologist Thomas Montgomery described chromosome pairing in meiosis (cell division).

30 October 1900, Physiologist Ragnar Arthur Granit was born in Helsinki.

25 January 1900, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Russian-American biologist who studied population genetics, was born in Nemtrov, Russia.

1899, The �lock and key� mechanism was proposed as to how enzymes work.

3 September 1899, Frank MacFarlane, biologist, was born,

6 March 1899, The painkiller Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was patented by Felix Hoffman. The active ingredient is derived from willow.

24 November 1898, George James Allman, British biologist, died in Parkstone, Dorset (born 1812).

25 September 1898, Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet, French anthropologist, died at St Germain en Laye.

25 June 1898, German botanist Ferdinand Julius Cohn died in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland).

19 April 1898, Biologist Charles Naudin died.

20 July 1897, Tadeusz Reichsteinwas born in Wloclawek, Poland. In 1933 he succeeded in synthesising ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

5 December 1896, Carl Cori, US biochemist, was born in Prague.

8 September 1894, Hermann Ludwig von Helmholtz died (born 31/8.1821) He researched the relationship between nerve cells and nerve fibres.

18 December 1892, Sir Richard Owen, English biologist, died in Richmond (born 20 July 1804 in Lancaster)

5 November 1892, John Haldane, pioneer in genetic research, was born.

16 February 1892, Henry Bates, English naturalist, died 16 February 1892 (born in Leicester 8 February 1825).

12 January 1892, Jean Quatrefages de Breau, French naturalist, died in Paris (born 10 February 1810 near Vallerauge, Gard

20 January 1890, Boris Mikhailovich Kozo-Polyansky, Russian biologist, was born (died 21 April 1957).

21 October 1889, John Ball, Irish politician and naturalist, died in London (born in Dublin 20 August 1818).

30 July 1889, Miles Berkeley, English botanist, died in Sibbertoft (born in Northamptonshire 1 April 1803).

19 January 1888, Heinrich DeBary, German botanist, died (born 26 January 1831).

25 November 1887, Russian botanist Nikolay Vavilov was born in Moscow.

19 November 1887, James Batcheller Sumner was born in Canton, Massachusetts, USA. In 1926 he crystallised urea, the first enzyme to be crystallised, and established that is was a protein.

19 August 1887, Spencer Baird, US naturalist, died in Massachusetts (born in Reading, Pennsylvania 3 February 1823).

11 May 1887, Jean Baptiste Dieudonne Boussingault died in Paris. In 1840 he proved that plants obtain their nitrogen from nitrates in the soil.

10 August 1886, George Busk, zoologist, died (born 12 August 1807)

20 March 1886, Thomas Cobbold, helminthologist, died (born 1828)

1885, Two-celled seas urchins were split into single cells, which developed into the first pair of genetically-identical �cloned� organisms.

19 November 1885, William Benjamin Carpenter, English naturalist, died (born 29 November 1813).

10 September 1884, George Bentham, English botanist, died (born near Portsmouth 22 September 1800).

12 April 1884, Otto Fritz Meyerhof, German biochemist, was born in Hanover. He studied the conversion of glycogen to lactic acid during muscular exertion.

29 July 1882, Andrew Adams, Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist, died (born 21 March 1827).

19 July 1882, Embryologist Francis Balfour died in Switzerland (born in Edinburgh 10 November 1851).

 

Mendel, Heredity

6 January 1884, Gregor Mendel, Augustine monk and botanist who pioneered the study of genetics, died in Brunn, Austria, aged 62.

1869, Gregor Mendel�s experiments with pea plants helped establish the mechanisms of heredity.

22 July 1822, Gregor Mendel, Austrian monk and botanist who discovered the principles of modern genetics, was born at Heinzendorf near Odrau, in Austrian Silesia.

 

Charles Darwin

19 April 1882. Charles Darwin, who developed his theory of evolution, died aged 73 near Orpington, Kent. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

24 November 1859, Charles Darwin, born 12 February 1809, published The Origin of the Species.

1 July 1858, Charles Darwin first presented his theory of evolution, to the Linnean Society.

18 June 1858, Charles Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russell Wallace, who had formulated a theory of evolution through survival of the fittest. This was close to Darwin�s ideas in his as yet unpublished Origin of the Species.

1 July 1838, Charles Darwin presented a paper on his evolutionary theory.

2 October 1836, Charles Darwin arrived back in England nearly five years after he left on HMS Beagle.

15 September 1835, Charles Darwin arrived on the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador).

27 December 1831, The Admiralty survey ship The Beagle left Plymouth with Charles Darwin on board on a scientific voyage around the world. This led to Darwin�s controversial book, The Origin of the Species. Darwin was inspired by Professor Henslow (1796-1861), a renowned mineralogist at Cambridge, 13 years older than Darwin, who was elected unopposed to the Chair of Botany at Cambridge when that position fell vacant. Henslow supported �evolutionary� theories, although retaining a strong religious faith.

8 February 1825, Henry Walter Bates was born in Leicester, England. His theory of insect mimicry, developed during an 11-year stay in South America, contributed to the acceptance of Darwin�s Theory of Evolution.

16 February 1822, Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, founder of a new science called eugenics, was born in Birmingham, England. Among his ideas was the systematic creation of a superior race of human beings, an idea later adopted by Hitler.

12 February 1809, Charles Darwin was born.His father, Robert Darwin, was a doctor and financier, and his mother, Susannah Darwin, was the daughter of pottery magnate Josiah Wedgewood.

 

10 March 1882, Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish naturalist, died in Linlithgowshire (born 5 March 1830 in Linlithgowshire)

11 January 1882, Theodore Schwann, German physiologist, died in Liege.

23 June 1881, Matthias JakobSchleiden, German botanist, died in Frankfort on Main (born 5 April 1804 in Hamburg)

19 December 1880, Francis Buckland, zoologist, died (born 17 December 1826)

28 November 1876, Karl Baer, embryologist, died in Dorpat (born 29 February 1719 in Piep, Estonia)

27 June 1876, Christian Ehrenberg, German naturalist, was born (died 27 June 1876)

10 May 1875, Gustave Adolphe Thuret, French botanist, diedin Nice (born 23 May 1817 in Paris)

21 February 1875, Jean Calment was born, going on to live for 122 years 164 days, the longest confirmed human lifespan.

4 July 1873, Johann Kaup, German naturalist, died (born 10 April 1803)

10 March 1873, John Torrey, US botanist, died in New York (born 15 August 1876 in New York)

19 February 1873, John Reed Swanton, anthropologist and ethnologist, was born.

15 February 1873, Hans von Euler Chelpin, Swedish, was born in Augsburg, Germany. In 1929 he, along with Sir Arthur Harden, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their research into sugar fermentation.

15 March 1872, Francois Jules Pictet de la Rive, Swiss zoologist, died in Geneva (born in Geneva 27 September 1809)

31 May 1870, Jean Claparede, Swiss naturalist, died (born 24 April 1832).

2 August 1869, John William Salter, English naturalist, died (born 15 December 1820)

13 December 1868, Carl Martius, German botanist, died (born 17 April 1794).

25 June 1866, Thomas Hunt Morgan was born in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1907 he began his work with fruit flies, drosophila melanogaster, to establish the laws of heredity.

5 June 1865, Sir John Richardson, British naturalist, died in Grasmere (born 5 November 1787 in Dumfries)

9 November 1864, Russian biologist Dmitri Ivanovsky was born in Gdov. In 1892 he proved the existence of viruses.

13 May 1864, Rudolph Wagner, German zoologist, died in Gottingen (born 30 June 1805 in Bayreuth

24 November 1863, Edwin Conklin, US biologist, was born in Ohio (died 20 November 1952).

1862, Haemoglobin was first crystallised.

10 September 1859, Thomas Nuttall, English botanist, diedin St Helens, Lancashire (born in Settle, Yorkshire, 5 January 1786)

9 July 1858, Framz Boaz, anthropologist, was born,

10 June 1858, Robert Brown, botanist, died (born 21 December 1773).

4 May 1858, Aime Bonpland, botanist, died (born in La Rochelle 22 August 1773)

2 January 1858, John Forbes Royle, British botanist, died in Acton, London (born 1799 in Cawnpore)

1856, Claude Bernard discovered that the liver stores glucose as glycogen, to be converted back to glucose when the body needs energy.

3 November 1854, Jokichi Takamine was born in Takaoka, Japan. In 1901 he artificially synthesised adrenaline.

29 June 1853, Adrien de Jussieu, natiuralist, died (born 23 December 1797).

15 October 1852, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the gymnastic movement (Turnverein) in Germany, died at Freyburg aged 74.

10 November 1851, Embryologist Francis Balfour was born in Edinburgh (died in Switzerland 19 July 1882).

11 August 1851, Lorenz Oken, German naturalist, died (born 1 august 1779 in Swabia).

27 January 1851, John James Audubon, US naturalist, died in New York.

20 May 1848, George John Romanes, British biologist, was born in Kingston, Canada (died 23 May 1894 in Oxford, England)

4 February 1847, Rene Dutrochet, physiologist, died (born 14 November 1776)

23 December 1846, Jean Boiry, French naturalist, died.

9 September 1842, Elliott Coues, naturalist, was born (died 25 December 1899).

9 September 1841, Augustin Candolle, Swiss botanist (born 4 February 1778) died.

22 January 1840, Anthropologist Johann Blumenbach died in Gottingen, Saxony, Germany.

1837, The significance of chlorophyll to plant photosynthesis was realised by the French scientist Rene Joachim Henri Dutrochet, 61.

16 February 1837, Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, German naturalist, died in Bremen (born 4 February in Bremen)

1 February 1837, Edward Donovan, English naturalist, died (born 1768).

17 September 1836, Antoine de Jussieu, naturalist, died (born 12 April 1748).

1833, Anselme Payen discovered the first enzyme, diastase. It speeds the conversion of starch to sugar.

1833, In Britain the passing of the Anatomy Act meant cadavers for dissection could be legally obtained and stored, and no longer need to be stolen.

16 November 1833, Rene Desfontaines, French botanist, died (born 14 February 1750)

15 March 1833, Kurt Sprengel, German botanist, died in Halle (born 3 August 1766 in Pomerania)

19 December 1832, Sir John Kirk, British naturalist, was born,

2 October 1832, Julius von Sachs, German botanist, was born oin Breslau (died 29 May 1897)

13 May 1832, Georges Cuvier, French naturalist, died (born 23 August 1769).

24 April 1832, Jean Claparede, Swiss naturalist, was born (died 31 May 1870).

26 January 1831, Heinrich DeBary, German botanist, was born (died 19 January 1888)

5 March 1830, Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish naturalist, was born in Linlithgowshire (died 10 March 1882 in Linlithgowshire)

18 December 1829, Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet Lamarck, French scientist, died aged 75. He believed that extra usage ofsome feature of an animal strengthened it, and this enhancement could be passed down the generations.

10 July 1828, Louis Bosc, French naturalist, died in Paris (born in Paris 29 January 1759).

11 May 1828, Eleanor Ormerod, English entomologist, was born (died 19 July 1901 in St Albans)

24 January 1828, German botanist Ferdinand Julius Cohn was born in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland). In 1850 he showed that plant and animal cytoplasm were essentially the same.

21 March 1827, Andrew Adams, Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist, was born (died 29 July 1882).

17 December 1826, Francis Buckland, zoologist, was born (died19 December 1880).

4 May 1825, Thomas Huxley, English biologist, was born (died 29 June 1895)

25 March 1825, Max Johann Sigismund Schultze, German microscopic anatomist, was born in Freiburg (died 16 January 1874 in Bonn)

1824, English physician Peter Mark Roger discovered that the human eye can retain an image for a fraction of a second after it has seen it. This became the basis for converting a rapid series of still images into an apparently animated film which the brain sees as continuous motion.

30 November 1823, Nathaniel Pringsheim, German botanist, was born in Wziesko, Silesia (died 6 October 1894 in Berlin)

3 February 1823, Spencer Baird, US naturalist, was born in Reading, Pennsylvania (died in Massachusetts 19 August 1887)

8 January 1823, Alfred Russell Wallace, English naturalist, was born in Usk, Monmouthshire.

31 August 1821, Hermann Ludwig von Helmholtz was born in Potsdam, Prussia. He researched the relationship between nerve cells and nerve fibres.

29 August 1821, Anthropologist Louis Laurent Mortillet was born in Meylan, Isere, France. He subdivided the Palaeolithic (older Stone Age) into separate periods, based on the tools in use at the time.

19 June 1820, Sir Joseph Banks, English botanist who accompanied Cook on his voyage round the world in The Endeavour, died aged 77.

1819, Naturalist Henri Braconnot, born in Commercy, France, on 29 May 1781, obtained glucose from sawdust, linen and bark. This proved that plant materials such as cellulose were made up from this sugar.

13.8/1819, Erik Acharius, Swedish botanist (born 28 April 1753) died 13 August 1819 in Wadstena.

7 November 1818, Emil Dobois-Reymond, physiologist, was born (died 26 November 1896).

20 August 1818, John Ball, Irish politician and naturalist, was born in Dublin (died in London 21 October 1889).

1817, Chlorophyll was discovered by Pierre Pelletier (born in Paris 22 March 178, and Joseph Benaime Caventou (born St Omer, 30 June 1795).

6 July 1817, Rudolf Albert von Kolliker was born in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1844 he showed that the egg is a cell and all cells in the organism originate by divisions from the egg cell.

30 June 1817,Sir Joseph Hooker, English botanist, was born.

23 May 1817, Gustave Adolphe Thuret, French botanist, was born in Paris (died 10 May 1875 in Nice)

19 December 1815, Benjamin Barton, US naturalist, died in Philadelphia (born 1766).

5 March 1815, Friedrich Mesmer, German doctor who developed the theory of animal magnetism, or mesmerism, for curing diseases, died aged 80.

29 October 1813, William Benjamin Carpenter, English naturalist, was born (died 19 November 1885).

12 July 1813, Claude Bernard, French physiologist, was born near Villefranche (died in Paris 10 February 1878)

7 December 1810, Theodor Schwann, German physiologist, was born in Prussia (died 11 January 1882 in Liege)

18 November 1810, Botanist Asa Gray was born in Sauquoit, New York, USA.

8 July 1810, Gabriel Gustav Valentin, Swiss-German physiologist, was born in Breslau (Wroclaw, now Poland). Along with Jan Purkinje, he discovered, in 1834, the role of the cilia in moving the ovum along the oviduct.

10 February 1810, Jean Quatrefages de Breau, French naturalist, was born near Vallerauge, Gard (died 12 January 1892 in Paris)

27 September 1809, Francois Jules Pictet de la Rive, Swiss zoologist, was born in Geneva (died 15 March 1872 in Geneva)

22 July 1809, Jean Senebier, researcher on plant physiology, died in Geneva (born 6 May 1742 in Geneva)

12 August 1807, George Busk, zoologist, was born (died 10 August 1886).

17 January 1807, Pierre Broussonet, French naturalist, died (born 28 February 1761).

3 August 1806, Michel Adanson, French naturalist, died in Paris (born 7 April 1727 in Aix en Provence).

23 June 1806, Mathurin Brisson, French zoologist, died (born 30 April 1723)

30 June 1805, Rudolph Wagner, German zoologist, was born in Bayreuth (died 13 May 1864 in Gottingen)

1804, The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in London, UK.

1 April 1803, Miles Berkeley, English botanist, was born in Northamptonshire (died in Sibbertoft 30 July 1889).

10 April 1803, Easter Sunday; Johann Kaup, German naturalist, was born (died 4 July 1873)

10 August 1802, Franz Aepinus, German natural philosopher, died 10 August 1802 in Dorpat (born 13 December 1724 in Rostock).

22 July 1802, Marie Bichat, French anatomist, died (born in Jura 14 November 1771).

2 February 1802, Jean Baptiste Dieudonne Boussingault was born in Paris. In 1840 he proved that plants obtain their nitrogen from nitrates in the soil.

14 July 1801, German physiologist Johannes Peter Muller was born in Koblenz. He researched the action of the nerves.

14 January 1801, Adolphe Brongniart, French botanist, was born (died 18 February 1876).

22 September 1800, George Bentham, English botanist, was born near Portsmouth (died 10 September 1884).

1 January 1800, Louis Jean Marie Daubenton, French naturalist and palaeontologist, died in Paris aged 83.

4 October 1799, Augustin Saint Hilaire, French botanist, was born in Orleans (died 30 September 1853 in Orleans)

6 August 1799, Mark Bloch, German naturalist, died

16 December 1798, Thomas Pennant, British naturalist, died in Flintshire (born 14 June 1726 in Flintshire)

4 December 1798. Luigi Galvani, Italian scientist who researched animal electricity, died.

23 December 1797, Adrien de Jussieu, natiuralist, was born (died 29 June 1853).

27 April 1797, Jean Audouin, naturalist, was born in Paris (died in Paris 9 November 1841).

19 April 1795, Christian Ehrenberg, German naturalist, was born (died 27 June 1876).

24 July 1794, Russian zoologist Christian Pander was born in Riga. He studied the development of the chick embryo.

17 April 1794, Carl Martius, German botanist, was born (died 13 December 1868).

22 February 1794, German physiologist Kaspar Wolff died in St Petersburg, Russia.

10 June 1793, The Museum of Natural History was founded in Paris.

20 May 1793, Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist, died near Geneva (born in Geneva 13 March 1720).

2 February 1793, William Aiton, Scottish botanist, born 1731, died.

28 February 1792, Russian biologist Karl Ernst von Baer was born in Peip, Estonia, In 1827 he reported his discovery that humans and other mammals developed from internal eggs.

4 September 1789, Charles Gaudichaud, French botanist, was born (died 16 January 1854).

15 April 1788, George Buffon, French naturalist, died (born 7 September 1707).

22 March 1788, Pierre Pelletier was born in Paris. In 1817 he jointly discovered chlorophyll with Joseph Bienaime Caventou (born 30 June 1795 in Saint Omer, France)

5 November 1787, Sir John Richardson, British naturalist, was born in Dumfries (died 5 June 1865 in Grasmere)

5 January 1786, Thomas Nuttall, English botanist, was born in Settle, Yorkshire (died 10 September 1859 in St Helens, Lancashire)

8 July 1784, Torbern Bergman, Swedish naturalist, died in Medevi (born in Katrineberg 20 March 1735).

13 August 1782, Henri Duhamel, French botanist, died (born 1700)

23 August 1781, Friedrich Tuedemann, German anatomist, was born in Cassel (died 22 Janaury 1861 in Munich)

5 May 1780, John James Audubon, US naturalist, was born (died 27 January 1851).

1779, Lazzaro Spallanzani studied animal reproduction, proving that for fertilisation to take place the sperm must make physical contact with the egg,

1779, Jan Ingenhousz, in Experiments on vegetables, concluded that sunlight is essential for production of oxygen by leaves. He discovered two separate respiratory cycles in plants; in the day, carbon disoxide is absorbed and oxygen released; at night the process reverses. The exact nature of the gases involved was clear with Lavoisier�s discoveries.

11 April 1779, Joseph de Jussieu, naturalist, died (born 3 September 1704)).

4 February 1778, Augustin Candolle, Swiss botanist (died 9 September 1841) was born.

10 January 1778, Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who devised the modern system of naming and classifying plants, died in Uppsala.

12 September 1777, Henri Blainville, French naturalist, was born near Dieppe (died in Paris 1 May 1850).

14 November 1776, Rene Dutrochet, physiologist, was born (died 4 February 1847)

4 February 1776, Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, German naturalist, was born in Bremen (died 16 February 1837 in Bremen)

21 December 1773, Robert Brown, botanist, was born (died 10 June 1858).

22 August 1773, Aime Bonpland, botanist, was born in La Rochelle (died 4 May 1858).

14 November 1771, Marie Bichat, French anatomist, was born in Jura (died 22 July 1802).

17 August 1771, The Birmingham scientist Joseph Priestley discovered that oxygen is released from growing plants.

14 September 1769, Birth of Baron von Humboldt, German scientist who explored Central and South America, and founded the science of ecology.

23 August 1769, Georges Cuvier, French naturalist, was born (died 13 May 1832).

29 January 1768, John Martyn, English botanist, died (born 12 September 1699)

14 September 1767, Nicolas Saussure, botanical writer, was born (died 18 April 1845)

3 August 1766, Kurt Sprengel, German botanist, was born in Pomerania (died 15 March 1833 in Halle)

1761, The first vetinary school opened, in Lyons, France.

28 February 1761, Pierre Broussonet, French naturalist, was born (died 17 January 1807).

29 January 1759, Louis Bosc, French naturalist, was born in Paris (died in Paris 10 July 1828)

28 October 1758, John Sibthope, English botanist, was born in Oxford (died 8 February 1796 in Bath)

1 January 1758, The formal starting date for standardised species names across the animal kingdom, based on Carl Linnaeus� work, Systema Naturae.

10 October 1757, Erik Acharius, Swedish botanist (died 13 August 1819 in Wadstena) was born.

1 May 1753, Carl Linnaeus� Species Plantarum was published. This is regarded as the formal starting date of plant taxonomy.

11 May 1752, Johann Blumenbach, German physiologist, was born in Gotha (died in Gottingen 22 January 1840).

2 July 1750, Francois Huber, naturalist, was born (died 1831).

14 February 1750, Rene Desfontaines, French botanist, was born (died 16 November 1833).

12 April 1748, Antoine de Jussieu, naturalist, was born (died 17 September 1836).

2 April 1747, Johann Dillen, English botanist, died (born 1684).

1 August 1744, The Chevalier de Lamarck, naturalist, was born.

13 February 1743, Sir Joseph Banks, naturalist, was born in Argyle Street, London (died in Isleworth, 19 June 1820)

6 May 1742, Jean Senebier, researcher on plant physiology, was born in Geneva (died 22 July 1809 in Geneva)

22 September 1741, Simon Peter Pallas, German naturalist, was born in Berlin (died 8 September 1811 in Berlin)

9 September 1737, Luigi Galvani, Italian scientist and anatomist, was born in Bologna.

1736, Linnaeus classified the plant species.

27 September 1735, Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist, died in Amsterdam (born 22 February 1705 in Angermania, Sweden).

20 March 1735, Torbern Bergman, Swedish naturalist, was born in Katrineberg (died in Medevi 8 July 1784).

23 May 1734, Franz Anton Mesmer, Austrian doctor and founder of Mesmerism, was born near Constance. He was the son of a gamekeeper.

7 April 1727, Michel Adanson, French naturalist, was born in Aix en Provence (died 3 August 1806 in Paris).

14 June 1726, Thomas Pennant, British naturalist, was born in Flintshire (died 16 December 1798 in Flintshire)

12 October 1725, Etienne Louis Geoffroy, entomologist, was born.

13 December 1724, Franz Aepinus, German natural philosopher, was born in Rostock (died 10 August 1802 in Dorpat).

26 August 1723, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, naturalist, died.

30 April 1723, Mathurin Brisson, French zoologist, was born (died 23 June 1806).

11 September 1721, Rudolf Camerarius, botanist, died (born 12 February 1665).

13 March 1720, Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist, was born in Geneva (died near Geneva 20 May 1793).

29 May 1716, Louis Daubenton, French naturalist, was born (died 1 January 1800).

3 April 1715, William Watson, physician, died.

28 December 1708, Joseph Tournefort, French botanist, died (born 5 June 1656 in Aix en Provence)

7 September 1707, George Buffon, French naturalist, was born (died 15 April 1788).

23 May 1707, Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist who established principles for classifying living organisms, was born as Carl Linne, the son of the parish clergyman of Rashult.

22 February 1705, Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist, was born in Angermania, Sweden (died 17 September 1735 in Amsterdam).

17 January 1705, John Ray, naturalist, died near Braintree, Essex (born 29 November 1628 near Braintree)

3 September 1704, Joseph de Jussieu, naturalist, was born (died 11 April 1779).

12 September 1699, John Martyn, English botanist, was born (died 29 January 1768).

3 April 1693, George Edwards, British naturalist, was born (died 23 July 1773).

17 September 1683, Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek wrote to the Royal Society to report his discovery of bacteria. See also Medical.

15 February 1680, Jan Swammerdam, naturalist, died in Amsterdam (born 12 February 1637 in Amsterdam)

12 February 1665, Rudolf Camerarius, botanist, was born (died 11 September 1721)

5 June 1656, Joseph Tournefort, French botanist, was born in Aix en Provence (died 28 December 1708)

15 October 1564, Flemish anatomist Vesalius died (born 1514)

1648, Jan Baptista von Hellmont proved by experimentation that the increase in weight of a growing willow tree did not come from the soil in which it was planted. This result was published after his death in Ortus Medicinae (�On the development of medicine�).

22 November 1635, Naturalist Francis Willoughby was born in Middleton, England. His systematic work on birds and fish helped pave the way for Linnaeus� classification.

29 November 1628, John Ray, naturalist, was born near Braintree, Essex (died 17 January 1705 near Braintree)

4 April 1609, Charles de l�Ecluse, botanist, died.

10 May 1605, Ulissi Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist, died in Bologna (born 11 September 1522 in Bologna).

11 October 1598, Joachim Camerarius, botanist, died (born 6 November 1534).

6 November 1534, Joachim Camerarius, botanist, was born (died 11 October 1598).

11 September 1522, Ulissi Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist, was born in Bologna (died 10 May 1605 in Bologna).

345 BCE, Aristotle produced the first animal classification system, dividing some 500 known species into 8 classes.

 

Back to top