1846 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1846 in science
and technology
involved some significant events, listed below.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
involved some significant events, listed below.
Astronomy
- February 20 - Francesco de VicoFrancesco de VicoFather Francesco de Vico was an Italian astronomer at Vatican Observatory, and also a Jesuit priest. His name is also written De Vico and even DeVico....
discovers cometCometA comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
122P/de Vico122P/de Vico122P/de Vico is a short-period comet. It was discovered by Francesco de Vico in Rome on February 20, 1846.- External links :*...
. - June 1 - Urbain Le Verrier predicts the existence and location of NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
from irregularities in the orbit of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. - August 8 - Neptune observed but not recognised by James ChallisJames ChallisJames Challis FRS was an English clergyman, physicist and astronomer. Plumian Professor and director of the Cambridge Observatory, he investigated a wide range of physical phenomena though made few lasting contributions outside astronomy...
. - August 31 - Urbain Le Verrier publishes full details of the predicted orbit and the mass of the new planet.
- September 23 - Johann Galle discovers NeptuneDiscovery of NeptuneNeptune was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed. With a prediction by Urbain Le Verrier, telescopic observations confirming the existence of a major planet were made on the night of September 23, 1846, and into the early morning of the 24th, at the Berlin Observatory, by...
. - October 10 - William LassellWilliam LassellWilliam Lassell FRS was an English merchant and astronomer.Born in Bolton and educated in Rochdale after the death of his father, he was apprenticed from 1814 to 1821 to a merchant in Liverpool. He then made his fortune as a beer brewer, which enabled him to indulge his interest in astronomy...
discovers TritonTriton (moon)Triton is the largest moon of the planet Neptune, discovered on October 10, 1846, by English astronomer William Lassell. It is the only large moon in the Solar System with a retrograde orbit, which is an orbit in the opposite direction to its planet's rotation. At 2,700 km in diameter, it is...
, Neptune's moonNatural satelliteA natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
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Medicine
- December 21 - Surgeon Robert ListonRobert ListonRobert Liston was a pioneering Scottish surgeon, and the son of the Scottish minister and inventor Henry Liston, whose father was also a Robert Liston, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland....
carries out the first operation under anesthesiaAnesthesiaAnesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
in Europe. - Édouard SéguinEdouard SeguinÉdouard Séguin was a physician and educationist who was born in Clamecy, Nièvre. He is remembered for his work with children having cognitive impairments in France and the United States....
publishes Traitement moral, hygiène et éducation des idiots et des autres enfants arriérés in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the earliest systematic textbook dealing with the special needsSpecial needsIn the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
of children with developmental disabilities; his views will be influential on both sides of the Atlantic. - Dr J. Collis BrowneJohn Collis BrowneDr. John Collis Browne MRCS was a British Army officer, inventor of items for yachts and the originator of the medicine Chlorodyne. Dr. Browne first used the remedy in India in 1848, when there was a desperate visitation of cholera, whilst he was serving with the 98th Regiment of Foot as their...
formulates his laudanumLaudanumLaudanum , also known as Tincture of Opium, is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight ....
-based pain-relieving ChlorodyneChlorodyneChlorodyne was the name for one of the most famous patent medicines sold in the British Isles. It was invented in the 19th century by a Dr. John Collis Browne, a doctor in the British Indian Army; its original purpose was in the treatment of cholera...
compound while serving in the British Indian ArmyBritish Indian ArmyThe British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
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Technology
- June 28 - Adolphe SaxAdolphe SaxAntoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax was a Belgian musical instrument designer and musician who played the flute and clarinet, and is best known for having invented the saxophone.-Biography:...
patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s the saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
. - September 10 - Elias HoweElias HoweElias Howe, Jr. was an American inventor and sewing machine pioneer.-Early life & family:Howe was born on July 9, 1819 to Dr. Elias Howe, Sr. and Polly Howe in Spencer, Massachusetts. Howe spent his childhood and early adult years in Massachusetts where he apprenticed in a textile factory in...
is awarded the first United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
patent for a sewing machineSewing machineA sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies...
using a lockstitchLockstitchA lockstitch is the most common mechanical stitch made by a sewing machine. The term "single needle stitching", often found on dress shirt labels, refers to lockstitch.-Structure:...
design. - William Armstrong's first hydraulicHydraulic machineryHydraulic machines are machinery and tools that use liquid fluid power to do simple work. Heavy equipment is a common example.In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is transmitted throughout the machine to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders and which becomes pressurised according to...
craneCrane (machine)A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
is erected at Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
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Deaths
- January 30 - Joseph CarpueJoseph Constantine CarpueJoseph Constantine Carpue was an English surgeon who was born in London. He was associated with St. George's Hospital and Duke of York Hospital in Chelsea. He was a skilled surgeon and popular lecturer of anatomy....
(b. 17641764 in scienceThe year 1764 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Technology:* The spinning jenny, a multi-spool spinning wheel, is invented by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, near Blackburn, Lancashire, England.-Births:...
) surgeonSurgeonIn medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
. - March 17 - Friedrich BesselFriedrich Bessel-References:* John Frederick William Herschel, A brief notice of the life, researches, and discoveries of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, London: Barclay, 1847 -External links:...
(b. 17841784 in scienceThe year 1784 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Biology:* Publication of the Annals of Agriculture edited by Arthur Young begins in Great Britain....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
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