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1863 in science
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<h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li>August 1 – <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Bayer/pfVC2RSm">Friedrich Bayer</a> founds the chemical manufacturing company of <a href="/facts/Bayer/fnYepBcG">Bayer</a> at <a href="/facts/Barmen/qC0VF71f">Barmen</a> in <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Hoechst_AG/jC4ydehg">Teerfarbenfabrik Meister, Lucius & Co.</a> of <a href="/facts/H%25C3%25B6chst_(Frankfurt)/jqhvBEck">Höchst (Frankfurt)</a> in Germany produce a green dye from <a href="/facts/Coal_tar/6lLDL4Ic">coal tar</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li> <li>French chemist <a href="/facts/Angelo_Mariani_(chemist)/YjVpLhPR">Angelo Mariani</a> produces the first commercially successful <a href="/facts/Coca_wine/Q2DlMdmT">coca wine</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="cryptography">Cryptography</h2> <ul><li>German military officer <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Kasiski/V1xqjEbh">Friedrich Kasiski</a> publishes <i>Die Geheimschriften und die Dechiffrir-Kunst</i> ("Secret writing and the Art of Deciphering"), the first published general method for <a href="/facts/Cryptanalysis/7CPEQlJI">cryptanalysis</a> of <a href="/facts/Polyalphabetic_cipher/BmSXrp02">polyalphabetic ciphers</a>, especially the <a href="/facts/Vigen%25C3%25A8re_cipher/rlpyPDSY">Vigenère cipher</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="life-sciences">Life sciences</h2> <ul><li>August 7 – <a href="/facts/Amalie_Dietrich/VKy3e4tJ">Amalie Dietrich</a> arrives in <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a> to begin a decade of collecting specimens in <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">natural history</a> and <a href="/facts/Anthropology/W6WK1C3a">anthropology</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Max_Schultze/aPV9ymdu">Max Schultze</a> advances <a href="/facts/Cell_theory/71xtwL7f">cell theory</a> with the observation that animal and vegetable <a href="/facts/Protoplasm/lNN5ImPn">protoplasm</a> are identical.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li>The first outbreak of <a href="/facts/Phylloxera/sY6NecVY">phylloxera</a> on the European mainland is observed, in the vineyards of the southern Rhône region of France.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Henry_Walter_Bates/7ALVwt9I">Henry Walter Bates</a> publishes <i>The Naturalist on the River Amazons</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>February 17 – First meeting of what will become the <a href="/facts/International_Committee_of_the_Red_Cross/0EmbgHCT">International Committee of the Red Cross</a> is held in <a href="/facts/Geneva/14gXxjcq">Geneva</a>, <a href="/facts/Switzerland/LcGuxeTe">Switzerland</a>, following the lead of humanitarian <a href="/facts/Henry_Dunant/6uDnEGyt">Henry Dunant</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/William_Banting/xKCAaLyf">William Banting</a> publishes <i>Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public</i> in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>, the first popular <a href="/facts/Low-carbohydrate_diet/0gfJgD2J">low-carbohydrate diet</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ivan_Sechenov/WGpF7ERd">Ivan Sechenov</a> publishes <i>Refleksy golovnogo mozga</i> ("Reflexes of the brain").<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="meteorology">Meteorology</h2> <ul><li>The <a href="/facts/Paris_Observatory/Q4MUg7EW">Paris Observatory</a> begins to publish <a href="/facts/Weather_map/rlRyVys2">weather maps</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="paleontology">Paleontology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Richard_Owen/M8H3td41">Richard Owen</a> publishes the first description of a fossilised bird, <i><a href="/facts/Archaeopteryx/2sR4Tns8">Archaeopteryx</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li>January – <a href="/facts/John_Tyndall/EH2dSEV3">John Tyndall</a> first explains the workings of the <a href="/facts/Greenhouse_effect/LGdNYYj3">greenhouse effect</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>February 10 – Alanson Crane <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patents</a> a <a href="/facts/Fire_extinguisher/Lh96vD2x">fire extinguisher</a>.</li> <li>April 14 – <a href="/facts/William_Bullock_(inventor)/sVUuBsbx">William Bullock</a> is granted a United States patent for improvements to the <a href="/facts/Rotary_printing_press/Nj4XAfhw">rotary printing press</a> to use a continuous web or roll of paper to be printed on both sides, the first machine designed especially for curved stereotype plates.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>Spring – <a href="/facts/John_Pratt_(inventor)/BMqt65zY">John Pratt</a> builds a practical form of <a href="/facts/Typewriter/CHE43FWP">typewriter</a> in the United States.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>July – The tiny <a href="/facts/Confederate_States_of_America/jMSDM4q3">Confederate States of America</a> hand-propelled <a href="/facts/Submarine/6fhcAKHV">submarine</a> <i><a href="/facts/H._L._Hunley_(submarine)/dCBcV5CV">H. L. Hunley</a></i> is first tested successfully (although thirteen crew – including her inventor <a href="/facts/Horace_Lawson_Hunley/U38FtpXq">Horace Lawson Hunley</a> – are lost in two sinkings later in the year).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li>October 23 – The <a href="/facts/Ffestiniog_Railway/QxI0ABKU">Ffestiniog Railway</a> in <a href="/facts/North_Wales/71KFFTgs">North Wales</a> introduces <a href="/facts/Steam_locomotive/cXEQwhFk">steam locomotives</a> into general service, the first time this has been done anywhere in the world on a public railway of such a <a href="/facts/Narrow-gauge_railway/AM4D6E6I">narrow gauge</a> (2 ft (60 cm)).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>December 19 – <a href="/facts/Linoleum/FwhkazoR">Linoleum</a> patented in the United Kingdom.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li>John W. Murphy builds a Whipple-type <a href="/facts/Truss_bridge/2ufXUJMQ">truss bridge</a> across the <a href="/facts/Lehigh_River/o2YuXIWC">Lehigh River</a> at <a href="/facts/Jim_Thorpe%2c_Pennsylvania/w9VoF4UY">Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania</a> for the <a href="/facts/Lehigh_Valley_Railroad/wnX7zllC">Lehigh Valley Railroad</a> in the United States, the first known to have both tension and compression members in <a href="/facts/Wrought_iron/zynpjrIv">wrought iron</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="events-and-institutions">Events and institutions</h2> <ul><li>March 3 – <a href="/facts/National_Academy_of_Sciences/M3oePVeG">National Academy of Sciences</a> incorporated in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>.</li> <li>Summer – The <a href="/facts/Ch%25C5%258Dsh%25C5%25AB_Five/lHFqJMpI">Chōshū Five</a> leave Japan secretly to study Western science and technology in Britain, at <a href="/facts/University_College_London/7dmHhCf5">University College London</a>, part of the ending of <i><a href="/facts/Sakoku/vRuvcoKt">sakoku</a></i>.</li> <li>November 29 – <a href="/facts/Polytechnic_University_of_Milan/h1wuNxp6">Polytechnic University of Milan</a> founded as the <i>Istituto Tecnico Superiore</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li>January 31 – The first of <a href="/facts/Jules_Verne/lLA0B0EF">Jules Verne</a>'s scientifically inspired <i><a href="/facts/Voyages_Extraordinaires/hmAKaSA2">Voyages Extraordinaires</a></i>, the novel <i>Cinq semaines en ballon</i> (<i><a href="/facts/Five_Weeks_in_a_Balloon/Casnf46T">Five Weeks in a Balloon</a></i>), is published in <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Adam_Sedgwick/3bc2ua7s">Adam Sedgwick</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wollaston_Medal/uVkuXBYJ">Wollaston Medal</a> for Geology: <a href="/facts/Gustav_Bischof/Q16oWKcg">Gustav Bischof</a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>March 25 – <a href="/facts/Simon_Flexner/Ij4DhzrP">Simon Flexner</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1946_in_science/zGLDDTAv">1946</a>), <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> <a href="/facts/Pathologist/U9b18LJG">pathologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Bacteriologist/Xk70D2YU">bacteriologist</a>.</li> <li>April 7 – <a href="/facts/Andr%25C3%25A9_Rochon-Duvigneaud/tIBadNcX">André Rochon-Duvigneaud</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1952_in_science/0unqKB6j">1952</a>), <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> <a href="/facts/Ophthalmologist/024hdTWF">ophthalmologist</a>.</li> <li>April 29 – <a href="/facts/Signe_H%25C3%25A4ggman/6oKGEM1q">Signe Häggman</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1911_in_science/gnx7WAwC">1911</a>), Finnish pioneer of physical education of the disabled.</li> <li>May 14 – <a href="/facts/John_Charles_Fields/Pz72qj7y">John Charles Fields</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1932_in_science/P11Ig2d5">1932</a>), <a href="/facts/Canadians/9y5ceYgk">Canadian</a> <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>.</li> <li>July 12 <ul><li><a href="/facts/Albert_Calmette/KUeDbyX6">Albert Calmette</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1933_in_science/3R88mjlY">1933</a>), French <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>, <a href="/facts/Bacteriologist/Xk70D2YU">bacteriologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Immunology/vylm0L8e">immunologist</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Paul_Drude/PL4u5Qpq">Paul Drude</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1906_in_science/9aKmEL28">1906</a>), <a href="/facts/Germans/F7mBCrJ4">German</a> <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>October 16 – <a href="/facts/Beverly_Thomas_Galloway/xePg7Hb4">Beverly Thomas Galloway</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1938_in_science/tUHHnx0z">1938</a>), American <a href="/facts/Plant_pathologist/h6DTufWF">plant pathologist</a>.</li> <li>November 25 – <a href="/facts/Ioan_Cantacuzino/mtPL4SEg">Ioan Cantacuzino</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1934_in_science/QVectKTG">1934</a>), <a href="/facts/Romanians/CzdFLDpf">Romanian</a> <a href="/facts/Microbiologist/cqEyJwNK">microbiologist</a>.</li> <li>December 5 – <a href="/facts/Paul_Painlev%25C3%25A9/s0PUTAgS">Paul Painlevé</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1933_in_science/3R88mjlY">19333</a>), mathematician and statesman, 62nd <a href="/facts/Prime_Minister_of_France/oUtnAz7E">Prime Minister of France</a>.</li> <li>December 11 – <a href="/facts/Annie_Jump_Cannon/jDKxrhgA">Annie Jump Cannon</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1941_in_science/JC6AnWC8">1941</a>), American astronomer and academic.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li> <li>Undated – <a href="/facts/Cuthbert_Christy/tYmMRG3b">Cuthbert Christy</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1932_in_science/P11Ig2d5">1932</a>), <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> medical investigator, <a href="/facts/Zoologist/6Kj13mBt">zoologist</a> and explorer.</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>March 7 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Wilkins_Short/Hl9rExb8">Charles Wilkins Short</a> (b. <a href="/facts/1794_in_science/rbU8QBMq">1794</a>), American <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a>.</li> <li>June 25 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Evans_Blackwell/2vwAPCbb">Thomas Evans Blackwell</a> (b. <a href="/facts/1819_in_science/uGXFYvvJ">1819</a>), English civil and hydraulic engineer.</li> <li>July 21 – <a href="/facts/Josephine_Kablick/zhpPbHaY">Josephine Kablick</a> (b. <a href="/facts/1787_in_science/5QrRoAHS">1787</a>), Czech <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a> and <a href="/facts/Paleontologist/60n5yldd">paleontologist</a>.</li> <li>December 8 – <a href="/facts/Jacques_Etienne_Chevalley_de_Rivaz/VMkBjkY9">Jacques Etienne Chevalley de Rivaz</a> (b. <a href="/facts/1801_in_science/KVXQTp5q">1801</a>), Swiss-born physician</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Burke, James (1978). Connections. London: Macmillan. p. 205. ISBN 0-333-24827-9. <a href="0-333-24827-9" target="_blank">0-333-24827-9</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Lestrange, Aymon de (2018). Coca wine: Angelo Mariani's miraculous elixir and the birth of modern advertising (Rev. ed.). Rochester, VT: Park Street Press. ISBN 978-1-62055-784-6. OCLC 1029444492. <a href="978-1-62055-784-6" target="_blank">978-1-62055-784-6</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Das Protoplasma der Rhizopoden und der Pflanzenzellen; ein Beiträg zur Theorie der Zelle. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Boissier, Pierre (1985). History of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Volume I: From Solferino to Tsushima. Geneva: Henry Dunant Institute. ISBN 2-88044-012-2. <a href="2-88044-012-2" target="_blank">2-88044-012-2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Groves, Barry (2002). "William Banting: The Father of the Low-Carbohydrate Diet". Second Opinions. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-21. <a href="http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/banting.html" target="_blank">http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/banting.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Meditsinsky vestnik 47–48. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1863". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>In a public lecture, "On Radiation Through The Earth's Atmosphere", reprinted in his book Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat (1872). <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Patent 38,200. "Pittsburgh World Firsts: By Event". Pennsylvania Department, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2016-02-05. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160113005156/http://www.clpgh.org/research/pittsburgh/history/pghsts3.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160113005156/http://www.clpgh.org/research/pittsburgh/history/pghsts3.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Centre Man Invented First Typewriter". The Coosa River News. Centre, Alabama. 1951-11-30. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com . <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52526632/" target="_blank">https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52526632/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Chaffin, Tom (2008). The H. L. Hunley: the Secret Hope of the Confederacy. New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-9512-4. <a href="978-0-8090-9512-4" target="_blank">978-0-8090-9512-4</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Ransom, P. J. G. (1996). Narrow Gauge Steam: its origins and world-wide development. Sparkford: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-86093-533-7. <a href="0-86093-533-7" target="_blank">0-86093-533-7</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1863". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Cooper, Theodore (1889). American Railroad Bridges. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-06-05. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=SwM5AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Mauch+Chunk%22+truss+bridge&pg=PA18" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=SwM5AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Mauch+Chunk%22+truss+bridge&pg=PA18</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 23 July 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Reynolds, Moira Davison (2004). American Women Scientists: 23 Inspiring Biographies, 1900-2000. Jefferson NC: McFarland. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-78642-161-9. <a href="978-0-78642-161-9" target="_blank">978-0-78642-161-9</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>