1885 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1885 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
- August 20 - Ernst HartwigErnst HartwigCarl Ernst Albrecht Hartwig was a German astronomer.He discovered a new star in M31 on August 20, 1885. This object was designated as supernova "S Andromedae". During the 1883 observation campaign of comet 6P/d'Arrest he found five NGC objects working at the Strasbourg Observatory...
discovers S AndromedaeS Andromedae|- style="background-color: #A0B0FF;" colspan="3"| Database References|- bgcolor="#FFFAFA"| Simbad || |- bgcolor="#FFFAFA"| ||...
, a supernovaSupernovaA supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
in the Andromeda galaxyAndromeda GalaxyThe Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. It is also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, and is often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts. Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to the...
, the first supernova discovered beyond the Milky WayMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
.
Biology
- The genusGenusIn biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
PlasmodiumPlasmodiumPlasmodium is a genus of parasitic protists. Infection by these organisms is known as malaria. The genus Plasmodium was described in 1885 by Ettore Marchiafava and Angelo Celli. Currently over 200 species of this genus are recognized and new species continue to be described.Of the over 200 known...
is described by Ettore Marchiafava and Angelo Celli. - The bacterium Escherichia coliEscherichia coliEscherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...
(E. coli) is discovered by Theodor EscherichTheodor EscherichTheodor Escherich was a German-Austrian pediatrician and a professor at universities in Graz, and Vienna...
.
Medicine
- July 6 - Louis PasteurLouis PasteurLouis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...
successfully tests his vaccineVaccineA vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
against rabiesRabiesRabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy bitten by a rabid dog. - Georges Gilles de la TouretteGeorges Gilles de la TouretteGeorges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette was a French neurologist who is the eponym of Tourette syndrome, a neurological condition...
publishes an account of nine patients with what will become known as Tourette syndromeTourette syndromeTourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
.
Physics
- Johann BalmerJohann Jakob BalmerJohann Jakob Balmer was a Swiss mathematician and mathematical physicist.-Biography :Balmer was born in Lausen, Switzerland, the son of a Chief Justice also named Johann Jakob Balmer. His mother was Elizabeth Rolle Balmer, and he was the oldest son...
publishes an empiricalEmpiricalThe word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....
mathematical formula for the visible spectral lineSpectral lineA spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from a deficiency or excess of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies.- Types of line spectra :...
s of the hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
atom.
Psychology
- Hermann EbbinghausHermann EbbinghausHermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve...
publishes Über das Gedächtnis ("On Memory", later translated as Memory: a Contribution to Experimental Psychology).
Technology
- Karl BenzKarl BenzKarl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...
produces the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, regarded as the first automobileAutomobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
(patented and publicly launched the following year). - Gottlieb DaimlerGottlieb DaimlerGottlieb Daimler was an engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf , in what is now Germany. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development...
and Wilhelm MaybachWilhelm MaybachWilhelm Maybach was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of constructors"....
produce the Daimler ReitwagenDaimler ReitwagenThe Daimler Reitwagen or Einspur was a motor vehicle made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885, and is widely recognized as the first motorcycle. Daimler is often called "the father of the motorcycle" for this invention...
, regarded as the first motorcycleMotorcycleA motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
. - John Kemp StarleyJohn Kemp StarleyJohn Kemp Starley was an English inventor and industrialist who is widely considered the inventor of the modern bicycle, and also originator of the name Rover....
demonstrates the RoverRover (car)The Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
safety bicycleSafety bicycleA safety bicycle is a type of bicycle that became very popular beginning in the late 1880s as an alternative to the penny-farthing or ordinary and is now the most common type of bicycle. Early bicycles of this style were known as safety bicycles because they were noted for, and marketed as, being...
, regarded as the first practical modern bicycle. - Completion of the Home Insurance BuildingHome Insurance BuildingThe Home Insurance Building was built in 1884 in Chicago, Illinois, USA and destroyed in 1931 to make way for the Field Building . It was the first building to use structural steel in its frame, but the majority of its structure was composed of cast and wrought iron...
in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, designed by William Le Baron JenneyWilliam Le Baron JenneyWilliam Le Baron Jenney was an American architect and engineer who became known as the Father of the American skyscraper.- Life and career :...
. With 10 floors and a fireproof weight-bearing metal frame, it is regarded as the first skyscraperSkyscraperA skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
. - Completion of Sway Tower in HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, designed by Andrew PetersonAndrew Thomas Turton PetersonAndrew Thomas Turton Peterson was an Anglo-Indian barrister, spiritualist, socialist and amateur architect.After three years at school, Peterson ran away to sea, working at a salt works in India. Returning to England, he trained as a lawyer and married Charlotte Myers St Clair, daughter of a...
using concrete made with Portland cementPortland cementPortland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
. It remains the world's tallest non-reinforced concrete structure.
Awards
- Copley MedalCopley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
: Friedrich August Kekulé von StradonitzFriedrich August Kekulé von StradonitzFriedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekule was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially in theoretical chemistry... - Wollaston MedalWollaston MedalThe Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
for Geology: George BuskGeorge BuskGeorge Busk RN FRS was a British Naval surgeon, zoologist and palaeontologist.-Biography:Busk was born in St Petersburg, the son of the merchant Robert Busk and grandson of Sir Wadsworth Busk...
Births
- January 24 - Marjory StephensonMarjory StephensonMarjory Stephenson, MBE, FRS was a British biochemist. She was one of the first two women elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1945....
(d. 19481948 in scienceThe year 1948 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* October 5 - Delegates to a conference organised by Sir Julian Huxley at Fontainebleau agree to formation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature....
), BritishBritish peopleThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
biochemistBiochemistBiochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:... - June 2 - Hans Gerhard CreutzfeldtHans Gerhard CreutzfeldtHans Gerhard Creutzfeldt was a German neuropathologist, who first described the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. He was born in Harburg upon Elbe and died in Munich.-Biography:...
(d. 19641964 in scienceThe year 1964 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* March 20 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO is established .* July 31 - Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the Moon; images...
), German neuropathologist - August 1 - George de HevesyGeorge de HevesyGeorge Charles de Hevesy, Georg Karl von Hevesy, was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study chemical processes such as in the metabolism of animals.- Early years :Hevesy György was born in Budapest,...
(d. 19661966 in scienceThe year 1966 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* February 3 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon....
), Nobel laureate in chemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,... - October 7 - Niels BohrNiels BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
(d. 19621962 in scienceThe year 1962 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* January 26 - Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon...
), Danish physicist - October 23 - Jan CzochralskiJan CzochralskiJan Czochralski was a Polish chemist who invented the Czochralski process, which is used to grow single crystals and is used in the production of semiconductor wafers....
(d. 19531953 in scienceThe year 1953 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biochemistry:* April 25 - Francis Crick and James D...
), discoverer of the Czochralski processCzochralski processThe Czochralski process is a method of crystal growth used to obtain single crystals of semiconductors , metals , salts, and synthetic gemstones...
for growing crystalCrystalA crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
s - November 9 - Hermann WeylHermann WeylHermann Klaus Hugo Weyl was a German mathematician and theoretical physicist. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland and then Princeton, he is associated with the University of Göttingen tradition of mathematics, represented by David Hilbert and Hermann Minkowski.His...
(d. 19551955 in scienceThe year 1955 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed below.-Astronomy:* January 8 - Penumbral lunar eclipse....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change.... - December 2 - George MinotGeorge MinotGeorge Richards Minot was an American medical researcher who shared the 1934 Nobel Prize with George Hoyt Whipple and William P. Murphy for their pioneering work on pernicious anemia.-Life:...
(d. 19501950 in scienceThe year 1950 in science and technology included some significant events.-Astronomy and space sciences:* Dutch astronomer Jan Oort postulates the existence of an orbiting cloud of planets at the outermost edge of the Solar System....
), Nobel laureate in physiologyNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...