1600s

• 1625 - First description of hydrogen by Johann Baptista van Helmont
  Jan Baptist van Helmont
  Jan Baptist van Helmont was an early modern period Flemish chemist, physiologist, and physician. He worked during the years just after Paracelsus and iatrochemistry, and is sometimes considered to be "the founder of pneumatic chemistry"...
  
  . First to use the word "gas".
• 1650 - Turquet de Mayerne
  Theodore de Mayerne
  Sir Théodore Turquet de Mayerne was a Swiss-born physician who treated kings of France and England and advanced the theories of Paracelsus....
  
   obtained by the action of dilute sulphuric acid on iron a gas or "inflammable air".
• 1662 - Boyle's law
  Boyle's law
  Boyle's law is one of many gas laws and a special case of the ideal gas law. Boyle's law describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system...
  
   (gas law relating pressure and volume)
• 1670 - Robert Boyle
  Robert Boyle
  Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
  
   produced hydrogen by reacting metals with acid.
• 1672 - "New Experiments touching the Relation between Flame and Air" by Robert Boyle
  Robert Boyle
  Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
  
  .
• 1679 - Denis Papin
  Denis Papin
  Denis Papin was a French physicist, mathematician and inventor, best known for his pioneering invention of the steam digester, the forerunner of the steam engine and of the pressure cooker.-Life in France:...
  
   - safety valve
  Safety valve
  A safety valve is a valve mechanism for the automatic release of a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits....
  
  

1700s

• 1700 - Nicolas Lemery
  Nicolas Lemery
  Nicolas Lémery , French chemist, was born at Rouen. He was one of the first to develop theories on acid-base chemistry....
  
   showed that the gas produced in the sulfuric acid/iron reaction was explosive in air
• 1755 - Joseph Black
  Joseph Black
  Joseph Black FRSE FRCPE FPSG was a Scottish physician and chemist, known for his discoveries of latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was professor of Medicine at University of Glasgow . James Watt, who was appointed as philosophical instrument maker at the same university...
  
   confirmed that different gases exist. / Latent heat
  Latent heat
  Latent heat is the heat released or absorbed by a chemical substance or a thermodynamic system during a process that occurs without a change in temperature. A typical example is a change of state of matter, meaning a phase transition such as the melting of ice or the boiling of water. The term was...
  
  
• 1766 - Henry Cavendish
  Henry Cavendish
  Henry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
  
   published in "On Factitious Airs" a description of "dephlogisticated
  Phlogiston theory
  The phlogiston theory , first stated in 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher, is an obsolete scientific theory that postulated the existence of a fire-like element called "phlogiston", which was contained within combustible bodies and released during combustion...
  
   air" by reacting zinc metal with hydrochloric acid
  Hydrochloric acid
  Hydrochloric acid is a solution of hydrogen chloride in water, that is a highly corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. It is found naturally in gastric acid....
  
   and isolated a gas 7 to 11 times lighter than air.
• 1774 - Joseph Priestley
  Joseph Priestley
  Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
  
   isolated and categorized oxygen.
• 1780 - Felice Fontana
  Felice Fontana
  Felice Fontana was an Italian physicist who discovered the water gas shift reaction in 1780. He is also credited with launching modern toxicology and investigating the human eye.-Early life:...
  
   discovers the water gas shift reaction
  Water gas shift reaction
  The water-gas shift reaction is a chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide reacts with water vapor to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen:The water-gas shift reaction is an important industrial reaction. It is often used in conjunction with steam reforming of methane or other hydrocarbons, which is...
  
  
• 1783 - Antoine Lavoisier
  Antoine Lavoisier
  Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
  
   gave hydrogen its name (Gk
  Greek language
  Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
  
  : hydro = water, genes = born of)
• 1783 - Jacques Charles
  Jacques Charles
  Jacques Alexandre César Charles was a French inventor, scientist, mathematician, and balloonist.Charles and the Robert brothers launched the world's first hydrogen-filled balloon in August 1783, then in December 1783, Charles and his co-pilot Nicolas-Louis Robert ascended to a height of about...
  
   made the first flight with his hydrogen balloon "La Charlière".
• 1783 - Antoine Lavoisier
  Antoine Lavoisier
  Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
  
   and Pierre Laplace measured the heat of combustion of hydrogen using an ice calorimeter
  Calorimetry
  Calorimetry is the science of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes. Calorimetry is performed with a calorimeter. The word calorimetry is derived from the Latin word calor, meaning heat...
  
  .
• 1784 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard
  Jean-Pierre Blanchard
  Jean-Pierre Blanchard , aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard, was a French inventor, most remembered as a pioneer in aviation and ballooning....
  
  , attempted a dirigible hydrogen balloon, but it would not steer.
• 1784 - The invention of the Lavoisier
  Antoine Lavoisier
  Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
  
   Meusnier iron-steam process, generating hydrogen by passing water vapor over a bed of red-hot iron at 600 °C.
• 1785 - Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier built the hybrid Rozière balloon
  Rozière balloon
  The Rozière balloon is a type of hybrid balloon that has separate chambers for a non-heated lifting gas as well as a heated lifting gas...
  
  .
• 1787 - Charles's law
  Charles's law
  Charles' law is an experimental gas law which describes how gases tend to expand when heated. It was first published by French natural philosopher Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1802, although he credited the discovery to unpublished work from the 1780s by Jacques Charles...
  
   (Gas law, relating volume and temperature)
• 1789 - Jan Rudolph Deiman and Adriaan Paets van Troostwijk using an electrostatic machine and a Leyden jar
  Leyden jar
  A Leyden jar, or Leiden jar, is a device that "stores" static electricity between two electrodes on the inside and outside of a jar. It was invented independently by German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist on 11 October 1745 and by Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden in 1745–1746. The...
  
   for the first electrolysis of water
  Electrolysis of water
  Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas due to an electric current being passed through the water.-Principle:...
  
  .

1800s

• 1800 - William Nicholson
  William Nicholson (chemist)
  William Nicholson was a renowned English chemist and writer on "natural philosophy" and chemistry, as well as a translator, journalist, publisher, scientist, and inventor.-Early life:...
  
   and Anthony Carlisle
  Anthony Carlisle
  Sir Anthony Carlisle FRCS, FRS was an English surgeon.He was born in Stillington, County Durham, the third son of Thomas Carlisle and his first wife, and the half-brother of Nicholas Carlisle, FRS. He was apprenticed to medical practitioners in York and Durham, including his uncle Anthony Hubback...
  
   decomposed water
  Water
  Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
  
   into hydrogen
  Hydrogen
  Hydrogen 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...
  
   and oxygen
  Oxygen
  Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
  
   by electrolysis
  Electrolysis
  In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
  
   with a voltaic pile
  Voltaic pile
  A voltaic pile is a set of individual Galvanic cells placed in series. The voltaic pile, invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800, was the first electric battery...
  
  .
• 1800 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter
  Johann Wilhelm Ritter
  Johann Wilhelm Ritter was a German chemist, physicist and philosopher. He was born in Samitz near Haynau in Silesia , and died in Munich.-Life and work:...
  
   duplicated the experiment with a rearranged set of electrodes to collect the two gases separately.
• 1806 - François Isaac de Rivaz
  François Isaac de Rivaz
  François Isaac de Rivaz was a French politician, chancellor, Deputé , entrepreneur and inventor. In retirement, as a Swiss citizen, circa 1807, he invented a hydrogen powered internal combustion engine with electric ignition...
  
   built the de Rivaz engine
  De Rivaz engine
  The de Rivaz engine was a pioneering reciprocating engine designed and developed from 1804 by the Franco-Swiss inventor Isaac de Rivaz. The engine has a claim to be the world's first internal combustion engine and contained some features of modern engines including spark ignition and the use of...
  
  , the first internal combustion engine
  Internal combustion engine
  The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
  
   powered by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen.
• 1809 - Thomas Foster
  Thomas Foster
  Thomas Foster may refer to:* Thomas Foster , Canadian politician and mayor of Toronto* Thomas Foster , physician and mayor of Los Angeles* Thomas Flournoy Foster , American Congressman from the state of Georgia...
  
   observed with a theodolite
  Theodolite
  A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are mainly used for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like metrology and rocket launch technology...
  
   the drift of small free pilot balloon
  Ceiling balloon
  A ceiling balloon is used by meteorologists to determine the height of the base of clouds above ground level during daylight hours.The principle behind the ceiling balloon is a balloon with a known ascent rate and determining how long the balloon rises until it disappears into the cloud.Ascent...
  
  s filled with "inflammable gas"
• 1809 - Gay-Lussac's law
  Gay-Lussac's law
  The expression Gay-Lussac's law is used for each of the two relationships named after the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and which concern the properties of gases, though it is more usually applied to his law of combining volumes, the first listed here...
  
   (Gas law, relating temperature and pressure)
• 1811 - Amedeo Avogadro
  Amedeo Avogadro
  Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro di Quaregna e di Cerreto, Count of Quaregna and Cerreto was an Italian savant. He is most noted for his contributions to molecular theory, including what is known as Avogadro's law...
  
   - Avogadro's law
  Avogadro's law
  Avogadro's law is a gas law named after Amedeo Avogadro who, in 1811, hypothesized that two given samples of an ideal gas, at the same temperature, pressure and volume, contain the same number of molecules...
  
   a gas law
• 1819 - Edward Daniel Clarke
  Edward Daniel Clarke
  Edward Daniel Clarke was an English naturalist, mineralogist and traveller.-Life:Edward Daniel Clarke was born at Willingdon, Sussex, and educated first at Tonbridge....
  
   invented the hydrogen gas blowpipe
  Blowpipe (tool)
  The term blowpipe refers to one of several tools used to direct streams of gases into any of several working media.- Blowpipes for torches :...
  
  .
• 1820 - W. Cecil wrote a letter "On the application of hydrogen gas to produce a moving power in machinery"
• 1823 - Goldsworthy Gurney
  Goldsworthy Gurney
  Sir Goldsworthy Gurney was a surgeon, chemist, lecturer, consultant, architect, builder and prototypical British gentleman scientist and inventor of the Victorian period....
  
   demonstrated Limelight
  Limelight
  Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime , which can be heated to 2572 °C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and...
  
  .
• 1823 - Döbereiner's Lamp
  Döbereiner's lamp
  Döbereiner's lamp is a lighter invented in 1823 by the German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner, the lighter is based on the Fürstenberger lighter and was in production until ca. 1880. In the jar, zinc metal reacts with sulfuric acid to produce hydrogen gas. When a valve is opened, a jet of...
  
   a lighter
  Lighter
  A lighter is a portable device used to generate a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.- History :...
  
   invented by Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner
  Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner
  Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner was a German chemist who is best known for work that foreshadowed the periodic law for the chemical elements.- Life and work :...
  
  .
• 1823 - Goldsworthy Gurney
  Goldsworthy Gurney
  Sir Goldsworthy Gurney was a surgeon, chemist, lecturer, consultant, architect, builder and prototypical British gentleman scientist and inventor of the Victorian period....
  
   devised an oxy-hydrogen blowpipe
  Blowpipe (tool)
  The term blowpipe refers to one of several tools used to direct streams of gases into any of several working media.- Blowpipes for torches :...
  
  .
• 1824 - Michael Faraday
  Michael Faraday
  Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
  
   invented the rubber balloon
  Balloon
  A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
  
  .
• 1826 - Thomas Drummond
  Thomas Drummond
  Captain Thomas Drummond , from Edinburgh, Scotland, was an army officer, civil engineer and senior public official. Drummond used the Drummond light which was employed in the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain and Ireland. He is sometimes mistakenly given credit for the invention of limelight,...
  
   built the Drummond Light
  Limelight
  Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime , which can be heated to 2572 °C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and...
  
  .
• 1826 - Samuel Brown
  Samuel Brown (engineer)
  This article is about the English engineer and inventor. See Samuel Brown for other persons of the same name.Samuel Brown was an English engineer and inventor credited with developing one of the earliest examples of an internal combustion engine, during the early 19th century.Brown, a cooper by...
  
   tested his internal combustion engine
  Internal combustion engine
  The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
  
   by using it to propel a vehicle up Shooter's Hill
  Shooter's Hill
  Shooter's Hill is a district and electoral ward in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. It lies east of Blackheath and west of Welling, south of Woolwich and north of Eltham...
  
  
• 1834 - Michael Faraday
  Michael Faraday
  Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
  
   published Faraday's laws of electrolysis
  Faraday's laws of electrolysis
  Faraday's laws of electrolysis are quantitative relationships based on the electrochemical researches published by Michael Faraday in 1834.-Statements of the laws:Several versions of the laws can be found in textbooks and the scientific literature...
  
  .
• 1834 - Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron
  Benoit Paul Émile Clapeyron
  Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron was a French engineer and physicist, one of the founders of thermodynamics.-Life:...
  
   - Ideal gas law
  Ideal gas law
  The ideal gas law is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. It is a good approximation to the behavior of many gases under many conditions, although it has several limitations. It was first stated by Émile Clapeyron in 1834 as a combination of Boyle's law and Charles's law...
  
  
• 1836 - John Frederic Daniell
  John Frederic Daniell
  John Frederic Daniell was an English chemist and physicist.Daniell was born in London, and in 1831 became the first professor of chemistry at the newly founded King's College London. His name is best known for his invention of the Daniell cell , an electric battery much better than voltaic cells...
  
   invented a primary cell
  Primary cell
  A primary cell is any kind of battery in which the electrochemical reaction is not reversible, rendering the cell non-rechargeable. A common example of a primary cell is the disposable battery. Unlike a secondary cell, the reaction cannot be reversed by running a current into the cell; the chemical...
  
   in which hydrogen was eliminated in the generation of the electricity.
• 1839 - Christian Friedrich Schönbein
  Christian Friedrich Schönbein
  Christian Friedrich Schönbein was a German-Swiss chemist who is best known for inventing the fuel cell and his discoveries of guncotton and ozone.- Life :...
  
   published the principle of the fuel cell
  Fuel cell
  A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
  
   in the "Philosophical Magazine
  Philosophical Magazine
  The Philosophical Magazine is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. Initiated by Alexander Tilloch in 1798, in 1822 Richard Taylor became joint editor and it has been published continuously by Taylor & Francis ever since; it was the journal of choice for such luminaries as...
  
  ".
• 1839 - William Robert Grove
  William Robert Grove
  Sir William Robert Grove PC QC FRS was a judge and physical scientist. He anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energy, and was a pioneer of fuel cell technology.-Early life:...
  
   developed the Grove cell
  Grove cell
  The Grove cell was an early electric primary cell named after its inventor, British chemist William Robert Grove, and consisted of a zinc anode in dilute sulfuric acid and a platinum cathode in concentrated nitric acid, the two separated by a porous ceramic pot.-Cell details:The Grove cell voltage...
  
  .
• 1842 - William Robert Grove
  William Robert Grove
  Sir William Robert Grove PC QC FRS was a judge and physical scientist. He anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energy, and was a pioneer of fuel cell technology.-Early life:...
  
   developed the first fuel cell (which he called the gas voltaic battery)
• 1849 - Eugene Bourdon - Bourdon gauge (manometer)
• 1863 - Etienne Lenoir
  Etienne Lenoir
  -Sources:* Georgano, G.N. Cars: Early and Vintage 1886-1930. London: Grange-Universal, 1990 . ISBN 0-9509620-3-1....
  
   made a test drive from Paris to Joinville-le-Pont with the 1-cylinder, 2-stroke Hippomobile
  Hippomobile (car)
  The Hippomobile is an automobile invented by Étienne Lenoir in 1863 which carried its own internal combustion engine. It was based on his 1860 invention the Lenoir gas engine...
  
  .
• 1866 - August Wilhelm von Hofmann
  August Wilhelm von Hofmann
  August Wilhelm von Hofmann was a German chemist.-Biography:Hofmann was born at Gießen, Grand Duchy of Hesse. Not intending originally to devote himself to physical science, he first took up the study of law and philology at Göttingen. But he then turned to chemistry, and studied under Justus von...
  
   invents the Hofmann voltameter
  Hofmann voltameter
  A Hofmann voltameter is an apparatus for electrolyzing water, invented by August Wilhelm von Hofmann in 1866. It consists of three joined upright cylinders, usually glass. The inner cylinder is open at the top to allow addition of water and an ionic compound to improve conductivity, such as a...
  
   for the electrolysis of water
  Electrolysis of water
  Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas due to an electric current being passed through the water.-Principle:...
  
  .
• 1873 - Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
  Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
  Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe , also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, mostly self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and aeronautics, and the father of military aerial reconnaissance in the United States...
  
   - Water gas
  Water gas
  Water gas is a synthesis gas, containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is a useful product but requires careful handling because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas is made by passing steam over a red-hot hydrocarbon fuel such as coke:...
  
  , the process used the water gas shift reaction
  Water gas shift reaction
  The water-gas shift reaction is a chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide reacts with water vapor to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen:The water-gas shift reaction is an important industrial reaction. It is often used in conjunction with steam reforming of methane or other hydrocarbons, which is...
  
  .
• 1874 - Jules Verne
  Jules Verne
  Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
  
   - The Mysterious Island
  The Mysterious Island
  The Mysterious Island is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1874. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though thematically it is...
  
  , "water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen of which it is constituted will be used"
• 1884 - Charles Renard
  Charles Renard
  Charles Renard was a French military engineer. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 he started work on the design of air ships at the French army aeronautical department. Together with Arthur C...
  
   and Arthur Constantin Krebs launch the airship
  Airship
  An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
  
   La France
  La France (airship)
  The La France was a French Army airship launched by Charles Renard and Arthur Constantin Krebs in 1884. Collaborating with Charles Renard, Arthur Constantin Krebs piloted the first fully controlled free-flight with the La France. The long, airship, electric-powered with a 435 kg battery...
  
  .
• 1885 - Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski
  Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski
  Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski was a Polish physicist and chemist.-Life:Wróblewski was born in Grodno . He studied at Kiev University. After a six-year exile for participating in the January 1863 Uprising against Imperial Russia, he studied in Berlin and Heidelberg...
  
   published hydrogen's critical temperature as 33 K; critical pressure, 13.3 atmospheres; and boiling point, 23 K.
• 1889 - Ludwig Mond
  Ludwig Mond
  Dr Ludwig Mond , was a German-born chemist and industrialist who took British nationality.-Education and career:...
  
   and Carl Langer coined the name fuel cell
  Fuel cell
  A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
  
  and tried to build one running on air and Mond gas
  Mond gas
  Mond gas is a water-coal gas that was used for the production of ammonia and as fuel gas. The gas is named after its inventor Ludwig Mond. Mondgas has a high content of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, ammonia and volatile tar and a heating value 800 to 1500 kcal/Nm³.-History:In the 19th and 20 Century...
  
  .
• 1893 - Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald experimentally determined the interconnected roles of the various components of the fuel cell.
• 1895 - Hydrolysis
  Hydrolysis
  Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...
  
  
• 1896 - Jackson D.D. and Ellms J.W., hydrogen production
  Hydrogen production
  Hydrogen production is the family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen. Currently the dominant technology for direct production is steam reforming from hydrocarbons. Many other methods are known including electrolysis and thermolysis...
  
   by microalgae (Anabaena
  Anabaena
  Anabaena is a genus of filamentous cyanobacteria that exists as plankton. It is known for its nitrogen fixing abilities, and they form symbiotic relationships with certain plants, such as the mosquito fern. They are one of four genera of cyanobacteria that produce neurotoxins, which are harmful to...
  
  )
• 1896 - Leon Teisserenc de Bort
  Léon Teisserenc de Bort
  Léon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort was a French meteorologist who became famous for his discovery of the stratosphere...
  
   carries out experiments with high flying instrumental weather balloon
  Weather balloon
  A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
  
  s.
• 1897 - Paul Sabatier
  Paul Sabatier (chemist)
  Paul Sabatier FRS was a French chemist, born at Carcassonne. He taught science classes most of his life before he became Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Toulouse in 1905....
  
   facilitated the use of hydrogenation
  Hydrogenation
  Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...
  
   with the discovery of the Sabatier reaction
  Sabatier reaction
  The Sabatier reaction or Sabatier process involves the reaction of hydrogen with carbon dioxide at elevated temperatures and pressures in the presence of a nickel catalyst to produce methane and water. Optionally ruthenium on alumina makes a more efficient catalyst...
  
  .
• 1898 - James Dewar
  James Dewar
  Sir James Dewar FRS was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is probably best-known today for his invention of the Dewar flask, which he used in conjunction with extensive research into the liquefaction of gases...
  
   liquefied hydrogen
  Liquid hydrogen
  Liquid hydrogen is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form.To exist as a liquid, H2 must be pressurized above and cooled below hydrogen's Critical point. However, for hydrogen to be in a full liquid state without boiling off, it needs to be...
  
   by using regenerative cooling
  Regenerative cooling
  Regenerative cooling in rockets is where some or all of the propellant is passed through tubes, channels or otherwise in a jacket around the combustion chamber or nozzle to cool the engine because the fuel in particular and sometimes the oxidizer are good coolants...
  
   and his invention, the vacuum flask
  Vacuum flask
  A vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel which keeps its contents hotter or cooler than its surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck...
  
   at the Royal Institute of London.
• 1899 - James Dewar
  James Dewar
  Sir James Dewar FRS was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is probably best-known today for his invention of the Dewar flask, which he used in conjunction with extensive research into the liquefaction of gases...
  
   collected solid hydrogen
  Solid hydrogen
  Solid hydrogen is the solid state of the element hydrogen, achieved by decreasing the temperature below hydrogen's melting point of 14.01 K . It was collected for the first time by James Dewar in 1899 and published with the title "Sur la solidification de l'hydrogène" in the Annales de Chimie et...
  
   for the first time.

1900s

• 1900 - Count
  Count
  A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
  
   Ferdinand von Zeppelin
  Ferdinand von Zeppelin
  Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later aircraft manufacturer. He founded the Zeppelin Airship company...
  
   launched the first hydrogen-filled Zeppelin LZ1 airship
  Airship
  An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
  
  .
• 1901 - Wilhelm Normann
  Wilhelm Normann
  Wilhelm Normann was a German chemist who introduced the hydrogenation of fats in 1901, creating what later became known as trans fats...
  
   introduced the hydrogenation
  Hydrogenation
  Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...
  
   of fats.
• 1903 - Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii published "The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices"
• 1907 - Lane hydrogen producer
  Lane hydrogen producer
  The Lane hydrogen producer was an apparatus for hydrogen production based on the steam-iron process and water gas invented in 1903 by Howard Lane.-History:...
  
  
• 1909 - Count Ferdinand Adolf August von Zeppelin
  Ferdinand von Zeppelin
  Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later aircraft manufacturer. He founded the Zeppelin Airship company...
  
   made the first long distance flight with the Zeppelin LZ5.
• 1909 - Linde-Frank-Caro process
  Linde-Frank-Caro process
  The Linde-Frank-Caro process is a method for hydrogen production by removing hydrogen and carbon dioxide from water gas by condensation. The process was invented in 1909 by Adolf Frank and developed with Carl von Linde and Heinrich Caro..-Process description:...
  
  
• 1910 - The first Zeppelin passenger flight with the Zeppelin LZ7.
• 1910 - Fritz Haber
  Fritz Haber
  Fritz Haber was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid...
  
   patented the Haber process
  Haber process
  The Haber process, also called the Haber–Bosch process, is the nitrogen fixation reaction of nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas, over an enriched iron or ruthenium catalyst, which is used to industrially produce ammonia....
  
  .
• 1912 - The first scheduled international Zeppelin passenger flights with the Zeppelin LZ13
  Zeppelin LZ13
  The Zeppelin LZ 13 Hansa was a German civilian rigid airship first flown in 1912 with a volume of 18,700 cubic metres. It was first operated by DELAG to carry passengers and post and flew the first scheduled international passenger flights...
  
  .
• 1913 - Niels Bohr
  Niels Bohr
  Niels 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...
  
   explains the Rydberg formula
  Rydberg formula
  The Rydberg formula is used in atomic physics to describe the wavelengths of spectral lines of many chemical elements. It was formulated by the Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg, and presented on November 5, 1888.-History:...
  
   for the spectrum of hydrogen by imposing a quantization condition on classical orbits of the electron in hydrogen
• 1919 - The first Atlantic crossing by airship with the Beardmore
  William Beardmore and Company
  William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active between about 1890 and 1930 and at its peak employed about 40,000 people...
  
   HMA R34.
• 1920 - Hydrocracking, a plant for the commercial hydrogenation of brown coal is commissioned at Leuna
  Leuna
  Leuna is a town in the Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle. It is known for the Leunawerke , at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany, where a very wide range of chemicals and plastics is produced...
  
   in Germany.
• 1923 - Steam reforming
  Steam reforming
  Fossil fuel reforming is a method of producing hydrogen or other useful products from fossil fuels such as natural gas. This is achieved in a processing device called a reformer which reacts steam at high temperature with the fossil fuel. The steam methane reformer is widely used in industry to...
  
  , the first synthetic methanol is produced by BASF in Leuna
  Leuna
  Leuna is a town in the Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle. It is known for the Leunawerke , at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany, where a very wide range of chemicals and plastics is produced...
  
  
• 1923 - J. B. S. Haldane
  J. B. S. Haldane
  John Burdon Sanderson Haldane FRS , known as Jack , was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. A staunch Marxist, he was critical of Britain's role in the Suez Crisis, and chose to leave Oxford and moved to India and became an Indian citizen...
  
   envisioned in Daedalus; or, Science and the Future
  Daedalus; or, Science and the Future
  Daedalus; or, Science and the Future is a book by the British scientist J. B. S. Haldane, published in England in 1924. It was the text of a lecture read to the Heretics Society, an intellectual club at Cambridge University on 4 February 1923....
  
   "great power stations where during windy weather the surplus power will be used for the electrolytic decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen."
• 1926 - Wolfgang Pauli
  Wolfgang Pauli
  Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
  
   and Erwin Schrödinger
  Erwin Schrödinger
  Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
  
   show that the Rydberg formula for the spectrum of hydrogen follows from the new quantum mechanics
  Quantum mechanics
  Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
  
  
• 1926 - Partial oxidation
  Partial oxidation
  Partial oxidation is a type of chemical reaction. It occurs when a substoichiometric fuel-air mixture is partially combusted in a reformer, creating a hydrogen-rich syngas which can then be put to further use, for example in a fuel cell...
  
  , Vandeveer and Parr at the University of Illinois used oxygen in the place of air for the production of syngas
  Syngas
  Syngas is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal, biomass, and in some types of waste-to-energy...
  
  .
• 1926 - Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
  Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
  Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood OM PRS was an English physical chemist.Born in London, his parents were Norman Macmillan Hinshelwood, a chartered accountant, and Ethe Frances née Smith. He was educated first in Canada, returning in 1905 on the death of his father to a small flat in Chelsea where he...
  
   described the phenomenon of chain reaction
  Chain reaction
  A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events....
  
  .
• 1926 - Umberto Nobile
  Umberto Nobile
  Umberto Nobile was an Italian aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships during the Golden Age of Aviation between the two World Wars...
  
   made the first flight over the north pole
  North Pole
  The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
  
   with the hydrogen airship Norge
  Norge (airship)
  The Norge was a semi-rigid Italian-built airship that carried out what many consider the first verified overflight of the North Pole on May 12, 1926. It was also the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America...
  
  
• 1929 - Paul Harteck
  Paul Harteck
  Paul Karl Maria Harteck was a German physical chemist. He was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces and incarcerated at Farm Hall for six months in 1945 under Operation Epsilon.-Education:Harteck studied chemistry at the University of Vienna and the Humboldt University of Berlin...
  
   and Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer
  Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer
  -Life:Born in Breslau, he was an older brother of martyred theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.Bonhoeffer studied from 1918 in Tübingen and Berlin, finishing his PhD in 1922 in Berlin with Walther Nernst. From 1923 to 1930 he was an assistant with Fritz Haber at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical...
  
   achieve the first synthesis of pure parahydrogen
  Spin isomers of hydrogen
  Molecular hydrogen occurs in two isomeric forms, one with its two proton spins aligned parallel , the other with its two proton spins aligned antiparallel...
  
  .
• 1930 - Rudolf Erren - Erren engine - GB patent GB364180 - Improvements in and relating to internal combustion engines using a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen as fuel
• 1935 - Eugene Wigner and H.B. Huntington predicted metallic hydrogen
  Metallic hydrogen
  Metallic hydrogen is a state of hydrogen which results when it is sufficiently compressed and undergoes a phase transition; it is an example of degenerate matter. Solid metallic hydrogen is predicted to consist of a crystal lattice of hydrogen nuclei , with a spacing which is significantly smaller...
  
  .
• 1937 - The Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg
  LZ 129 Hindenburg
  LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
  
   was destroyed by fire
  Hindenburg disaster
  The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey...
  
  .
• 1937 - The Heinkel HeS 1
  Heinkel HeS 1
  The Heinkel HeS 1 was Germany's first jet engine, which was a stationary test item that ran on hydrogen.-History:In 1933, Hans von Ohain wrote his PhD thesis at the University of Göttingen on the topic of an optical microphone that could be used to record sound directly to film. Siemens bought the...
  
   experimental gaseous hydrogen
  Hydrogen
  Hydrogen 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...
  
   fueled centrifugal jet engine is tested at Hirth in March- the first working jet engine
• 1937 - The first hydrogen-cooled turbogenerator
  Hydrogen-cooled turbogenerator
  A hydrogen-cooled turbo generator is a turbo generator with gaseous hydrogen as a coolant. Hydrogen-cooled turbo generators are designed to provide a low-drag atmosphere and cooling for single-shaft and combined-cycle applications in combination with steam turbines...
  
   went into service at Dayton
  Dayton, Ohio
  Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
  
  , Ohio.
• 1938 - The first 240 km hydrogen pipeline
  Hydrogen pipeline transport
  Hydrogen pipeline transport is a transportation of hydrogen through a pipe as part of the hydrogen infrastructure.-Economics:Hydrogen pipeline transport is used to transport hydrogen from the point of production or delivery to the point of demand...
  
   Rhine-Ruhr
  Rhine-Ruhr
  The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is the largest metropolitan region in Germany with about 10,100,000 inhabitants. It is of polycentric nature and the only megacity in Germany. It covers an area of 7,110 square kilometers and lies entirely within the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia...
  
  .
• 1938 - Igor Sikorsky
  Igor Sikorsky
  Igor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft...
  
   from Sikorsky Aircraft
  Sikorsky Aircraft
  The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. Its parent company is United Technologies Corporation.-History:...
  
   proposed liquid hydrogen
  Liquid hydrogen
  Liquid hydrogen is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form.To exist as a liquid, H2 must be pressurized above and cooled below hydrogen's Critical point. However, for hydrogen to be in a full liquid state without boiling off, it needs to be...
  
   as a fuel.
• 1939 - Rudolf Erren - Erren engine - US patent 2,183,674 - Internal combustion engine using hydrogen as fuel
• 1939 - Hans Gaffron
  Hans Gaffron
  Dr. Hans Gaffron is born in Lima, Peru, on May 17, 1902, as the son of the German physician Eduard Gaffron and his wife Hedwig von Gevekot....
  
   discovered that algae
  Algae
  Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
  
   can switch between producing oxygen and hydrogen.
• 1941 - The first mass application of hydrogen in internal combustion engine
  Internal combustion engine
  The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
  
  s: Russian lieutenant Boris Shelishch in the besieged Leningrad
  Siege of Leningrad
  The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
  
   has converted some hundreds cars "GAZ-AA" which served posts of barrage balloon
  Barrage balloon
  A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
  
  s of air defense.
• 1943 - Liquid hydrogen
  Liquid hydrogen
  Liquid hydrogen is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form.To exist as a liquid, H2 must be pressurized above and cooled below hydrogen's Critical point. However, for hydrogen to be in a full liquid state without boiling off, it needs to be...
  
   is tested as rocket fuel at Ohio State University
  Ohio State University
  The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
  
  .
• 1943 - Arne Zetterström
  Arne Zetterström
  Arne Zetterström is best known for his research with the breathing mixture hydrox for the Swedish Navy.Zetterström first described the use of hydrogen as a breathing gas in 1943...
  
   describes hydrox
  Hydrox (breathing gas)
  Hydrox, a gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, is used as a breathing gas in very deep diving. It allows divers to descend several hundred metres....
  
  
• 1947 - Willis Lamb
  Willis Lamb
  Willis Eugene Lamb, Jr. was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 together with Polykarp Kusch "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum". Lamb and Kusch were able to precisely determine certain electromagnetic properties of the electron...
  
   and Robert Retherford measure the small energy shift (the Lamb shift) between the 2s1/2 and 2p1/2 levels of hydrogen, providing a great stimulus to the development of quantum electrodynamics
  Quantum electrodynamics
  Quantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved...
  
  
• 1949 - Hydrodesulfurization
  Hydrodesulfurization
  Hydrodesulfurization is a catalytic chemical process widely used to remove sulfur from natural gas and from refined petroleum products such as gasoline or petrol, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel fuel, and fuel oils...
  
   (Catalytic reforming
  Catalytic reforming
  Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert petroleum refinery naphthas, typically having low octane ratings, into high-octane liquid products called reformates which are components of high-octane gasoline...
  
   is commercialized under the name Platforming process)
• 1952 - Ivy Mike
  Ivy Mike
  Ivy Mike was the codename given to the first United States test of a thermonuclear weapon, in which a major part of the explosive yield came from nuclear fusion. It was detonated on November 1, 1952 by the United States at on Enewetak, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, as part of Operation Ivy...
  
  , the first successful test of a nuclear explosive based on hydrogen (actually, deuterium) fusion
• 1952 - Hydrogen maser
  Hydrogen maser
  A Hydrogen maser, also known as hydrogen frequency standard, is a specific type of maser that uses the intrinsic properties of the hydrogen atom to serve as a precision frequency reference....
  
  
• 1952 - Non-Refrigerated transport Dewar
  Refrigerated transport Dewar
  A refrigerated transport Dewar is a refrigerated transport vessel with an insulated Dewar flask design to carry cryogenic liquid. To prevent pressure build-up they are equipped with safety relief valves and/or rupture discs...
  
  
• 1955 - W. Thomas Grubb modified the fuel cell design by using a sulphonated polystyrene ion-exchange membrane as the electrolyte.
• 1957 - Pratt & Whitney's model 304 jet engine using liquid hydrogen as fuel tested for the first time as part of the Lockheed CL-400 Suntan project.
• 1957 - The specifications for the U-2
  U-1 (semi-trailer)
  The U-1 was a liquid hydrogen trailer designed to carry cryogenic liquid hydrogen on roads being pulled by a powered vehicle. It was constructed by the Cambridge Corporation and had a capacity of 26 500 liters with a hydrogen loss rate of approximately 2 percent per day...
  
   a double axis liquid hydrogen semi-trailer
  Liquid hydrogen trailer
  A liquid hydrogen trailer is a trailer designed to carry cryogenic liquid hydrogen on roads being pulled by a powered vehicle. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tanktainers which are also designed to carry liquefied loads. Liquid hydrogen trailers tend to be large; they are...
  
   were issued.
• 1958 - Leonard Niedrach devised a way of depositing platinum onto the membrane, this became known as the Grubb-Niedrach fuel cell
• 1958 - Allis-Chalmers
  Allis-Chalmers
  The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. of West Allis, Wisconsin, is an American company known for its past as a manufacturer with diverse interests, perhaps most famous for their bright Persian Orange farm tractors...
  
   demonstrated the D 12
  Allis-Chalmers D Series
  The Allis-Chalmers D Series is a series of tractors made by the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company from 1957 to 1969. Most of the D Series tractors, except for the D21, had hand-operated, shift-on-the-go oil clutches, commonly referred to as a hand clutch. Allis-Chalmers marketed this...
  
  , the first 15 kW fuel cell tractor
  Tractor
  A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
  
  .
• 1959 - Francis Thomas Bacon
  Francis Thomas Bacon
  Francis Thomas Bacon OBE FREng F.R.S. was an English engineer who developed the first practical hydrogen–oxygen fuel cell.- Life and works :...
  
   built the Bacon Cell, the first practical 5 kW hydrogen-air fuel cell to power a welding machine.
• 1960 - Allis-Chalmers
  Allis-Chalmers
  The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. of West Allis, Wisconsin, is an American company known for its past as a manufacturer with diverse interests, perhaps most famous for their bright Persian Orange farm tractors...
  
   builds the first fuel cell forklift
• 1961 - RL-10
  RL-10
  The RL10 was USA's first liquid hydrogen fueled rocket engine. An updated version is used in several current launch vehicles. Six RL10 engines were used in the S-IV second stage of the Saturn I rocket. One or two RL10 engines are used in the Centaur upper stages of Atlas and Titan rockets...
  
   liquid hydrogen fuelled rocket engine
  Rocket engine
  A rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...
  
   first flight
• 1964 - Allis-Chalmers
  Allis-Chalmers
  The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. of West Allis, Wisconsin, is an American company known for its past as a manufacturer with diverse interests, perhaps most famous for their bright Persian Orange farm tractors...
  
   built a 750-watt fuel cell to power a one-man underwater research vessel.
• 1965 - The first commercial use of a fuel cell in Project Gemini
  Project Gemini
  Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
  
  .
• 1965 - Allis-Chalmers
  Allis-Chalmers
  The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. of West Allis, Wisconsin, is an American company known for its past as a manufacturer with diverse interests, perhaps most famous for their bright Persian Orange farm tractors...
  
   builds the first fuel cell golf carts.
• 1966 - Slush hydrogen
  Slush hydrogen
  Slush hydrogen is a combination of liquid hydrogen and solid hydrogen at the triple point with a lower temperature and a higher density than liquid hydrogen. It is formed by bringing liquid hydrogen down to nearly the melting point that increases density by 16–20% as compared to liquid hydrogen...
  
  
• 1966 - J-2 (rocket engine)
  J-2 (rocket engine)
  Rocketdyne's J-2 rocket engine was a major component of the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo program to send men to the Moon. Five J-2 engines were used on the S-II second stage, and one J-2 was used on the S-IVB third stage. The S-IVB was also used as the second stage of the smaller Saturn IB...
  
   liquid hydrogen rocket engine flies
• 1967 - Akira Fujishima
  Akira Fujishima
  is a Japanese chemist, professor emeritus, University of Tokyo known for significant contributions to the discovery and research of photocatalytic and superhydrophilic properties of titanium dioxide .-Career and research:...
  
   discovers the Honda-Fujishima effect which is used for photocatalysis
  Photocatalysis
  In chemistry, photocatalysis is the acceleration of a photoreaction in the presence of a catalyst. In catalysed photolysis, light is absorbed by an adsorbed substrate. In photogenerated catalysis, the photocatalytic activity depends on the ability of the catalyst to create electron–hole pairs,...
  
   in the photoelectrochemical cell
  Photoelectrochemical cell
  Photoelectrochemical cells or PECs are solar cells which generate electrical energy from light, including visible light. Some photoelectrochemical cells simply produce electrical energy, while others produce hydrogen in a process similar to the electrolysis of water.-Photogeneration cell:In this...
  
  .
• 1967 - Hydride compressor
  Hydride compressor
  A hydride compressor is a hydrogen compressor based on metal hydrides with absorption of hydrogen at low pressure and desorption of hydrogen at high pressure by raising the temperature with an external heat source like a heated waterbed or electric coil....
  
  
• 1970 - Nickel hydrogen battery
  Nickel hydrogen battery
  A nickel–hydrogen battery is a rechargeable electrochemical power source based on nickel and hydrogen. It differs from a nickel–metal hydride battery by the use of hydrogen in a pressurized cell at up to 1200 psi pressure.The cathode is made up of a dry sintered porous nickel plaque, which...
  
  
• 1970 - John Bockris
  John Bockris
  John O'Mara Bockris is a former professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University whose unorthodox views have provoked controversy. He has authored, coauthored or edited more than 700 papers and 22 books principally in electrochemistry but also in environmental chemistry, photoelectrochemistry and...
  
   or Lawrence W. Jones coined the term hydrogen economy
  Hydrogen economy
  The hydrogen economy is a proposed system of delivering energy using hydrogen. The term hydrogen economy was coined by John Bockris during a talk he gave in 1970 at General Motors Technical Center....
  
  
• 1973 - The 30 km hydrogen pipeline
  Hydrogen pipeline transport
  Hydrogen pipeline transport is a transportation of hydrogen through a pipe as part of the hydrogen infrastructure.-Economics:Hydrogen pipeline transport is used to transport hydrogen from the point of production or delivery to the point of demand...
  
   in Isbergues
  Isbergues
  Isbergues is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Isbergues is situated about northwest of Béthune and west of Lille at the junction of the D186, D187 and the D91 roads and by the banks of the Canal d’Aire...
  
  
• 1973 - Linear compressor
  Linear compressor
  A linear compressor is a gas compressor where the piston moves along a linear track to compress to minimize energy loss during conversion.-History:...
  
  
• 1975 - John Bockris
  John Bockris
  John O'Mara Bockris is a former professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University whose unorthodox views have provoked controversy. He has authored, coauthored or edited more than 700 papers and 22 books principally in electrochemistry but also in environmental chemistry, photoelectrochemistry and...
  
   - Energy The Solar-Hydrogen Alternative - ISBN 0470084294
• 1979 - HM7B
  HM7B
  The HM7B is a European cryogenic rocket engine which currently powers the upper stage of the Ariane 5 ECA, ESC-A.-History:The HM7 engine, built upon the development work of HM4, first flew in 1979, powering the third stage of the Ariane 1. The evolved HM7B, with higher specific impulse, powered the...
  
   rocket engine
• 1981 - Space Shuttle Main Engine
  Space Shuttle main engine
  The RS-25, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine , is a reusable liquid-fuel rocket engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the Space Shuttle, running on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Each Space Shuttle was propelled by three SSMEs mated to one powerhead...
  
   first flight
• 1990 - The first solar-powered hydrogen production plant Solar-Wasserstoff-Bayern became operational.
• 1996 - Vulcain
  Vulcain
  Vulcain is a family of European cryogenic first stage rocket engines for the Ariane 5.-History:The development of Vulcain, assured by a European collaboration, began in 1988 with the Ariane 5 rocket program. It first flew in 1996 powering the ill-fated flight 501 without being the cause of the...
  
   rocket engine
• 1997 - Anastasios Melis
  Anastasios Melis
  Anastasios Melis is a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley who is researching the possibility of creating hydrogen from algae. Hydrogen power is considered one of the key ways of producing electricity without continuing to use up fossil fuels...
  
   discovered that the deprivation of sulfur
  Sulfur
  Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
  
   will cause algae
  Algae
  Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
  
   to switch from producing oxygen to producing hydrogen
  Biological hydrogen production
  Biohydrogen reactors use a method of photobiological water splitting which is done in a closed photobioreactor based on the production of hydrogen by algae. Algae produce hydrogen under certain conditions. In 2000 it was discovered that if C...
  
  
• 1998 - Type 212 submarine
  Type 212 submarine
  The German Type 212 class, also Italian Todaro class, is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG and Fincantieri S.p.a. for the German and Italian Navy. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion system using...
  
  
• 1999 - Hydrogen pinch
  Hydrogen pinch
  Hydrogen pinch analysis is a hydrogen management method that originates from the concept of heat pinch analysis. HPA is a systematic technique for reducing hydrogen consumption and hydrogen generation through integration of hydrogen-using activities or processes in the petrochemical industry,...
  
  

2000s

• 2000 - Peter Toennies demonstrates superfluidity of hydrogen at 0.15 K
• 2001 - The first type IV hydrogen tank
  Hydrogen tank
  A Hydrogen tank is used for hydrogen storage. The first type IV hydrogen tanks for compressed hydrogen at 700 Bar were demonstrated in 2001, the first fuel cell vehicles on the road with type IV tanks are the Toyota FCHV, Mercedes-Benz F-Cell and the HydroGen4.At the hydrogen station Hamburg...
  
  s for compressed hydrogen
  Compressed hydrogen
  Compressed hydrogen is the gaseous state of the element hydrogen kept under pressure. Compressed hydrogen in hydrogen tanks at 350 bar and 700 bar is used for mobile hydrogen storage in hydrogen vehicles...
  
   at 700 Bar (10000 PSI) were demonstrated.
• 2002 - Type 214 submarine
  Type 214 submarine
  The Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH . It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane hydrogen fuel cells...
  
  
• 2004 - DeepC
  DeepC
  The DeepC is a hydrogen-fueled Autonomous Underwater Vehicle , power-assisted by an electric motor that gets its electricity from a fuel cell. It debuted in 2004...
  
  
• 2005 - Ionic liquid piston compressor
  Ionic liquid piston compressor
  An ionic liquid piston compressor, ionic compressor or ionic liquid piston pump is a hydrogen compressor based on an ionic liquid piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-metal diaphragm compressor.-Principle:...
  
  
• 2009 - Fabian del Valle and K. Domen, in a Mexican, Japanese and Spanish publication show the impact of the thermal treatment in a closed atmosphere using Cd1-xZnxS photocatalysts. Cd1-xZnxS solid solution reports an incredible high activity in Hydrogen production from water splitting under sunlight irradiation.