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1781 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li>March 13 – <a href="/facts/William_Herschel/SsruaBvq">William Herschel</a> observes <a href="/facts/Uranus/x7YwT1ar">Uranus</a> (although initially recording it as a comet).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li> <li>March 20 – <a href="/facts/Pierre_M%C3%A9chain/UX3KNhV1">Pierre Méchain</a> discovers <a href="/facts/Dwarf_galaxy/TKS7W9tA">dwarf galaxy</a> <a href="/facts/NGC_5195/wKVlLzk2">NGC 5195</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Charles_Messier/dTokW7Yy">Charles Messier</a>'s final catalogue of <a href="/facts/Messier_object/YKz2MxzQ">Messier objects</a> is published.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Christian_Mayer_(astronomer)/FuqG0TME">Christian Mayer</a>'s catalogue of <a href="/facts/Binary_star/TYlDe1bD">binary stars</a> is published.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="biology">Biology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Felice_Fontana/g26yl7Lm">Felice Fontana</a> uses a <a href="/facts/Microscope/ldJp0CI3">microscope</a> to describe the <a href="/facts/Axon/5DCd4wLo">axon</a> of a <a href="/facts/Brain_cell/C1blhJJ4">brain cell</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/John_Latham_(ornithologist)/uNFxFeF2">John Latham</a> begins publication of <i>A General Synopsis of Birds</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Archibald_Cochrane,_9th_Earl_of_Dundonald/V8L0BSql">Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald</a> is granted a <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain/5yBEtQIt">British</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> for the manufacture of <a href="/facts/Coal_tar/6lLDL4Ic">coal tar</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Carl_Wilhelm_Scheele/kcKBwyXa">Carl Wilhelm Scheele</a> ascertains that a new <a href="/facts/Acid/FySU18n1">acid</a> can be made from tungstenite, leading to the discovery of <a href="/facts/Tungsten/WYwbNDYX">tungsten</a> in <a href="/facts/1783_in_science/9kHSMVd9">1783</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li>Autumn – <a href="/facts/Peter_Jacob_Hjelm/EmhBdXjb">Peter Jacob Hjelm</a> isolates <a href="/facts/Molybdenum/RX6vp2bF">molybdenum</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/William_Herschel/SsruaBvq">William Herschel</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 30 – <a href="/facts/Adelbert_von_Chamisso/ryBtzznz">Adelbert von Chamisso</a>, <a href="/facts/Poet/KpH2BTgg">poet</a> and <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1838_in_science/rynCmVy0">1838</a>)</li> <li>February 17 – <a href="/facts/Rene_Theophile_Hyacinthe_Laennec/8TxlrVS6">Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec</a>, <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">French</a> <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>, inventor of the <a href="/facts/Stethoscope/DrKjH4x1">stethoscope</a> (died <a href="/facts/1826_in_science/v1nVYKN1">1826</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>May 29 – <a href="/facts/John_Walker_(inventor)/gMgzyTwd">John Walker</a>, <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1859_in_science/t8oVY6aT">1859</a>)</li> <li>June 9 – <a href="/facts/George_Stephenson/cd3W2GEP">George Stephenson</a>, English <a href="/facts/Locomotive/C9YV7wrQ">locomotive</a> <a href="/facts/Engineer/ph4TnHnG">engineer</a> (died <a href="/facts/1848_in_science/A16HGzWh">1848</a>)</li> <li>June 21 – <a href="/facts/Sim%C3%A9on_Poisson/zmsDITrY">Siméon Poisson</a>, <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a> (died <a href="/facts/1840_in_science/fY8Ru4uU">1840</a>)</li> <li>July 6 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Stamford_Raffles/edtQze7B">Thomas Stamford Raffles</a>, founder of the <a href="/facts/Zoological_Society_of_London/9JhAvLCp">Zoological Society of London</a> (died 1826)</li> <li>September 14 – <a href="/facts/James_Walker_(engineer)/g3uAJXhz">James Walker</a>, <a href="/facts/Scottish_people/0rp2bd12">Scottish</a> <a href="/facts/Civil_engineer/RjIFIjNe">civil engineer</a> (died <a href="/facts/1862_in_science/QgMtveLf">1862</a>)</li> <li>October 5 – <a href="/facts/Bernhard_Bolzano/BUbRVY4p">Bernhard Bolzano</a>, <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a> (died 1848)</li> <li>December 11 – <a href="/facts/David_Brewster/n8YgnRBx">David Brewster</a>, Scottish <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1868_in_science/K35shjPr">1868</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>May 27 – <a href="/facts/Giovanni_Battista_Beccaria/IGYLAGfH">Giovanni Battista Beccaria</a>, <a href="/facts/Italian_people/dsdUeJ1n">Italian</a> physicist (born <a href="/facts/1716_in_science/kT9uhtPr">1716</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Herschel, W.; Watson, Dr. (1781). "Account of a Comet, By Mr. Herschel, F.R.S.; Communicated by Dr. Watson, Jun. of Bath, F.R.S". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. 71. London: 492–501. Bibcode:1781RSPT...71..492H. doi:10.1098/rstl.1781.0056. S2CID 186208953. <a href="/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society" target="_blank">/wiki/Philosophical_Transactions_of_the_Royal_Society</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Verzeichniss aller bisher entdeckten Doppeltsterne" In Johann Elert Bode's Astronomisches Jahrbuch for 1784, pp. 183-6. <a href="http://spider.seds.org/spider/Doubles/cmayer.html" target="_blank">http://spider.seds.org/spider/Doubles/cmayer.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Burke, James (1978). Connections. London: Macmillan. p. 196. ISBN 0-333-24827-9. <a href="0-333-24827-9" target="_blank">0-333-24827-9</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Coal Tar Before the Invention of Town's Gas". Retrieved 2011-12-31. <a href="http://www.glias.org.uk/Chemicals_from_Coal/PART_1.HTM" target="_blank">http://www.glias.org.uk/Chemicals_from_Coal/PART_1.HTM</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Emsley, John (2001). Nature's Building Blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850341-5. <a href="978-0-19-850341-5" target="_blank">978-0-19-850341-5</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Emsley, John (2001). Nature's Building Blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850341-5. <a href="978-0-19-850341-5" target="_blank">978-0-19-850341-5</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Hjelm, P. J. (1788). "Versuche mit Molybdäna, und Reduction der selben Erde". Der Königl. Schwedischen Akademie der Wissenschaften neue Abhandlungen aus der Naturlehre, Haushaltungskunst und Mechanik. 49. Leipzig: 268. <a href="http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN324352840_0009_02_NS" target="_blank">http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN324352840_0009_02_NS</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Laennec, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe (1781-1826)". catalogue.bnf.fr (in French). Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Retrieved 6 February 2021. <a href="https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12462982h" target="_blank">https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12462982h</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>