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1854 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li>July 22 – Discovery of the asteroid <a href="/facts/30_Urania/6u5EI5WD">30 Urania</a> by <a href="/facts/John_Russell_Hind/jFII2Tbm">John Russell Hind</a>.</li> <li>October c. – <a href="/facts/George_Airy/R16bNg0k">George Airy</a> calculates the mean density of the <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a> by measuring the gravity in a coal mine in <a href="/facts/South_Shields/Lnr2K0nk">South Shields</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Benjamin_Silliman/chKNgEbI">Benjamin Silliman</a> of <a href="/facts/Yale_University/KUdS6jt1">Yale University</a> is the first person to <a href="/facts/Fractionation/85wUlYTN">fractionate</a> <a href="/facts/Petroleum/IQV0bHVd">petroleum</a> into its individual components by <a href="/facts/Distillation/plDvUMxn">distillation</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li>January 4 – First definite sighting of <a href="/facts/Heard_Island_and_McDonald_Islands/c86CwnQN">McDonald Islands</a> in the Antarctic.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li>March 26 – <a href="/facts/Playfair_cipher/PvSkKWpH">Playfair cipher</a> first demonstrated, by <a href="/facts/Charles_Wheatstone/935jnRhj">Charles Wheatstone</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/George_Boole/fWJT2rek">George Boole</a>'s work on <a href="/facts/Algebraic_logic/bnkuqNb0">algebraic logic</a>, <i><a href="/facts/The_Laws_of_Thought/kdkVw7Vj">An Investigation of the Laws of Thought on Which are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities</a></i>, published in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Arthur_Cayley/NBd7QkeE">Arthur Cayley</a> states the original version of <a href="/facts/Cayley%27s_theorem/a0M460K8">Cayley's theorem</a> and produces the first <a href="/facts/Cayley_table/1L05nSE7">Cayley table</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bernhard_Riemann/oV2fL0k8">Bernhard Riemann</a>, a <a href="/facts/German_people/F7mBCrJ4">German</a> mathematician, submits his <a href="/facts/Habilitation/VSEhfx78">habilitation</a> thesis <i>Ueber die Darstellbarkeit einer Function durch eine trigonometrische Reihe</i> ("About the representability of a function by a trigonometric series"), in which he describes the <a href="/facts/Riemann_integral/vWGrPhVh">Riemann integral</a>. It is published by <a href="/facts/Richard_Dedekind/CLkWDhY3">Richard Dedekind</a> in <a href="/facts/1867_in_science/W9300Kyo">1867</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>April–May – <a href="/facts/John_Snow_(physician)/84FXxjoP">Dr John Snow</a> traces the source of one outbreak of <a href="/facts/Cholera/rk8JfWEp">cholera</a> in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a> (which kills 500) to a single <a href="/facts/Pump/UtMn3Btt">water pump</a>, validating his theory that <a href="/facts/Cholera/rk8JfWEp">cholera</a> is water-borne, and forming the starting point for <a href="/facts/Epidemiology/wgTmxoMA">epidemiology</a>.</li> <li>November – <a href="/facts/Florence_Nightingale/uDvdkV8Y">Florence Nightingale</a> and her team of trained volunteer <a href="/facts/Nurse/xbmA4GNC">nurses</a> arrive at <a href="/facts/Selimiye_Barracks/QWoeDdkU">Selimiye Barracks</a> in <a href="/facts/%C3%9Csk%C3%BCdar/hGGETeEN">Scutari</a> in the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a> to care for <a href="/facts/British_Army/StuY9Jy2">British Army</a> troops invalided from the <a href="/facts/Crimean_War/v163wdr8">Crimean War</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spanish</a>-born <a href="/facts/Vocal_pedagogy/gqv6pwsz">vocal pedagogist</a> <a href="/facts/Manuel_Patricio_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Garc%C3%ADa/yM421BG8">Manuel García</a> observes his own functioning <a href="/facts/Glottis/ClsRRUkM">glottis</a> using a form of <a href="/facts/Laryngoscope/tCclGuJ5">laryngoscope</a> incorporating mirrors.<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> <li><a href="/facts/Claude_Bernard/eAhbMVwS">Claude Bernard</a> introduces the term <i><a href="/facts/Milieu_int%C3%A9rieur/7VDX5GJn">Milieu intérieur</a></i> in <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="microbiology">Microbiology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Filippo_Pacini/M0Geocah">Filippo Pacini</a>, an Italian anatomist, discovers <i><a href="/facts/Vibrio_cholerae/DbjgMz9Y">Vibrio cholerae</a></i>, the <a href="/facts/Bacterium/wC8xSCsU">bacterium</a> that causes cholera.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Louis_Pasteur/lboGfpy0">Louis Pasteur</a> begins studying <a href="/facts/Fermentation_(biochemistry)/rxaDr28b">fermentation</a> at the request of <a href="/facts/Brewer/aKCgJVyJ">brewers</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>May 9 – <a href="/facts/Albert_Fink/MEX9Isem">Albert Fink</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patents</a> the <a href="/facts/Truss_bridge/2ufXUJMQ">Fink truss</a> in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>May 17 – Deck of <a href="/facts/Wheeling_Suspension_Bridge/qN7MXsqq">Wheeling Suspension Bridge</a> in the United States destroyed through torsional movement and vertical undulations in a severe windstorm.</li> <li>June 13 – Anthony Faas patents improvements to the <a href="/facts/Accordion/h22CqQVA">accordion</a> in the United States.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>July – First voyage by a seagoing <a href="/facts/Steamship/Ay0fhKBW">steamship</a> fitted with a <a href="/facts/Compound_steam_engine/x2F844qg">compound steam engine</a>, the <a href="/facts/Propeller/0IN0JKXC">screw</a> steamer <i>Brandon</i>, built on the <a href="/facts/River_Clyde/8sYMEXwA">River Clyde</a> in <a href="/facts/Scotland/VGwbbxB2">Scotland</a> by <a href="/facts/John_Elder_(shipbuilder)/pohuB9AL">John Elder</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li>September 19 – <a href="/facts/Thaddeus_Hyatt/l3TrWQXW">Thaddeus Hyatt</a> patents a practical <a href="/facts/Pavement_light/tjyc9wxk">pavement light</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>November 27 – <a href="/facts/Andr%C3%A9-Adolphe-Eug%C3%A8ne_Disd%C3%A9ri/P8ruk9Gd">André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri</a> patents a method of producing <i><a href="/facts/Carte_de_visite/el5dcM8P">carte de visite</a></i> photographs in France.</li> <li>December 20 – In the case of <i><a href="/facts/Talbot_v._Laroche/TPdtVIJD">Talbot v. Laroche</a></i>, pioneer of <a href="/facts/Photography/ezLPT43M">photography</a> <a href="/facts/Henry_Fox_Talbot/B1MoKnd3">Henry Fox Talbot</a> fails in asserting that the <a href="/facts/Collodion/uGTT3Bmq">collodion</a> process infringes his <a href="/facts/Calotype/LcnTTp5K">calotype</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/James_Ambrose_Cutting/8AafvnMa">James Ambrose Cutting</a> takes out three <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patents</a> for improvements to the <a href="/facts/Wet_plate/7nexn45a">wet plate</a> <a href="/facts/Collodion_process/7nexn45a">collodion process</a> (<a href="/facts/Ambrotype/9qnnRt11">Ambrotype</a> photography).</li> <li><a href="/facts/Elisha_Otis/wqFp6XW1">Elisha Otis</a> completes work on the safety <a href="/facts/Elevator/ug3nh0o8">elevator</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Joseph_Whitworth/K4kQJpJ2">Joseph Whitworth</a> patents <a href="/facts/Polygonal_rifling/UtzY0orz">polygonal rifling</a> for ordnance in the United Kingdom.</li></ul> <h2 id="events">Events</h2> <ul><li>10 June – <a href="/facts/The_Crystal_Palace/NMPy0Bbq">The Crystal Palace</a> reopens in <a href="/facts/Sydenham,_London/PbnF3t1E">Sydenham</a>, <a href="/facts/South_London/LGevz0L6">South London</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> with life-size <a href="/facts/Dinosaur/JRdMqBnq">dinosaur</a> models in the grounds.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Johannes_Peter_M%C3%BCller/3SMNBPuf">Johannes Peter Müller</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/Richard_John_Griffith/UCV3TuDG">Richard John Griffith</a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 27 – <a href="/facts/George_Alexander_Gibson/LycezSmn">George Alexander Gibson</a> (died <a href="/facts/1913_in_science/6nl9Anqy">1913</a>), <a href="/facts/Scottish_people/0rp2bd12">Scottish</a> <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> and <a href="/facts/Geologist/vGc0tBHB">geologist</a>.</li> <li>January 29 – <a href="/facts/Fred_Baker_(physician)/gI5hGNT2">Fred Baker</a> (died <a href="/facts/1938_in_science/tUHHnx0z">1938</a>), <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> physician and naturalist.</li> <li>February 9 – <a href="/facts/Aletta_Jacobs/tWzwYJcL">Aletta Jacobs</a> (died <a href="/facts/1929_in_science/7e1fvv7I">1929</a>), <a href="/facts/Dutch_people/QhHtJ2WK">Dutch</a> physician and women's suffrage activist.</li> <li>March 4 – <a href="/facts/Napier_Shaw/5Yv08Lz3">Napier Shaw</a> (died <a href="/facts/1945_in_science/Nb05Rd7S">1945</a>), <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> <a href="/facts/Meteorologist/GDUQ6qxD">meteorologist</a>.</li> <li>March 15 – <a href="/facts/Emil_Adolf_von_Behring/bk06nMKy">Emil Adolf von Behring</a> (died <a href="/facts/1917_in_science/2F9GvY8e">1917</a>), <a href="/facts/German_people/F7mBCrJ4">German</a> <a href="/facts/Physiologist/fh25y2pQ">physiologist</a>, winner of the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a> in 1901.</li> <li>March 31 – <a href="/facts/Dugald_Clerk/7qhkpYwh">Dugald Clerk</a> (died <a href="/facts/1932_in_science/P11Ig2d5">1932</a>), Scottish <a href="/facts/Mechanical_engineer/cbId4fye">mechanical engineer</a>.</li> <li>April 28 – <a href="/facts/Hertha_Marks_Ayrton/wYdNfxkX">Phoebe Marks, <i>later</i> Hertha Ayrton</a> (died <a href="/facts/1923_in_science/P8DhUfan">1923</a>), English <a href="/facts/Electrical_engineer/YYXW1KLW">electrical engineer</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li> <li>April 29 – <a href="/facts/Henri_Poincar%C3%A9/AazL2j4X">Henri Poincaré</a> (died <a href="/facts/1912_in_science/ro3op4mA">1912</a>), <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>.</li> <li>May 11 – <a href="/facts/Ottmar_Mergenthaler/zvI8I5El">Ottmar Mergenthaler</a> (died <a href="/facts/1899_in_science/eeGQg6tL">1899</a>), German-born inventor.</li> <li>June 13 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Algernon_Parsons/hpaLc2Dv">Charles Algernon Parsons</a> (died <a href="/facts/1931_in_science/oL52v7VX">1931</a>), <a href="/facts/British_people/xn7cqlzV">British</a> inventor of the <a href="/facts/Steam_turbine/scacVXsB">steam turbine</a>.</li> <li>July 12 – <a href="/facts/George_Eastman/8FxpnoKV">George Eastman</a> (suicide 1932), <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> <a href="/facts/Photography/ezLPT43M">photographic</a> inventor.</li> <li>July 23 – <a href="/facts/Birt_Acres/JEbU0v7b">Birt Acres</a> (died <a href="/facts/1918_in_science/pShT8ADH">1918</a>), <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">American</a>-born cinematographic inventor.</li> <li>July 28 – <a href="/facts/Victor_Babe%C8%99/pF79W2Nx">Victor Babeș</a> (died <a href="/facts/1926_in_science/IYIaVGQD">1926</a>), Austrian-born <a href="/facts/Romanians/CzdFLDpf">Romanian</a> physician and <a href="/facts/Bacteriologist/Xk70D2YU">bacteriologist</a>.</li> <li>October 3 – <a href="/facts/Hermann_Struve/PeItKQoT">Hermann Struve</a> (died <a href="/facts/1920_in_science/FcwHBQPg">1920</a>), <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russian</a>-born <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>January 16 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Gaudichaud-Beaupr%C3%A9/L39pVrbo">Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré</a> (born <a href="/facts/1789_in_science/F2JRm7sz">1789</a>), French botanist.</li> <li>April 15 – <a href="/facts/Arthur_Aikin/4pU85c03">Arthur Aikin</a> (born <a href="/facts/1773_in_science/xaDVo9u4">1773</a>), English chemist and mineralogist.</li> <li>July 6 – <a href="/facts/Georg_Ohm/C9AXNDAg">Georg Ohm</a> (born 1789), German <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li> <li>September 28 – <a href="/facts/George_Field_(chemist)/YVANLnEM">George Field</a> (born c.1777), English colour chemist.</li> <li>October 27 – <a href="/facts/Golding_Bird/cmtSjkQz">Golding Bird</a> (born <a href="/facts/1814_in_science/p1b9vl3B">1814</a>), English physician.</li> <li>November 18 – <a href="/facts/Edward_Forbes/73lVabsV">Edward Forbes</a> (born <a href="/facts/1815_in_science/6K9os9sB">1815</a>), <a href="/facts/Manx_people/wtvbr7Vc">Manx</a> naturalist.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8. <a href="0-304-35730-8" target="_blank">0-304-35730-8</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Cayley, Arthur (1854), "On the theory of groups as depending on the symbolic equation θn=1", Philosophical Magazine, 7 (4): 40–47 <a href="/wiki/Philosophical_Magazine" target="_blank">/wiki/Philosophical_Magazine</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Riemann's Habilitationsschrift". Archived from the original on 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2008-05-19. <a href="http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Riemann/Trig/" target="_blank">http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Riemann/Trig/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Baly, Monica E.; Matthew, H. C. G. (2004). "Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2011-06-20. (subscription or UK public library membership required) <a href="/wiki/Monica_Baly" target="_blank">/wiki/Monica_Baly</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Garcia, Manuel (1855). "Observations on the Human Voice". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. 7: 399–410. doi:10.1098/rspl.1854.0094. JSTOR 111815. PMC 5180321. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5180321" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5180321</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Radomski, Teresa (2005). "Manuel García (1805–1906): a bicentenary reflection" (PDF). Australian Voice. 11: 25–41. Retrieved 2012-02-07. <a href="http://www.harmonicorde.com/Radomski%20Australian%20Voice.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.harmonicorde.com/Radomski%20Australian%20Voice.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Frerichs, Ralph R. (2001-08-05). "Who first discovered Vibrio cholera?". UCLA School of Public Health. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2007. Pacini's 1854 publication was titled "Osservazioni microscopiche e deduzioni patologiche sul cholera asiático" ("Microscopical observations and pathological deductions on cholera"). <a href="http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/snow/firstdiscoveredcholera.html" target="_blank">http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/snow/firstdiscoveredcholera.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Griggs, Frank (May 2006). "The Inspirations of a German Immigrant: Albert Fink" (PDF). Structure. National Council of Structural Engineers Associations: 52–4. Retrieved 2011-08-16. <a href="http://bridgeworld.net/wordpress/archives/docs/20060522.pdf" target="_blank">http://bridgeworld.net/wordpress/archives/docs/20060522.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Patent no. 11062. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"John Elder, 1824-1869". Memoirs and portraits of one hundred Glasgow men. Glasgow: James MacLehose & Sons. 1886. p. 118. Retrieved 2011-06-16. <a href="http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/mlemen/mlemen031.htm" target="_blank">http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/mlemen/mlemen031.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>US 11695, Hyatt, Thaddeus, "Vault cover", issued 1854-09-19. <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=11,695" target="_blank">http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=11,695</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Wood, R. D. (1975). The Calotype Patent Lawsuit of Talbot v. Laroche 1854. Bromley, Kent: privately published. ISBN 0-9504377-0-0. Archived from the original on 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2010-10-18. <a href="0-9504377-0-0" target="_blank">0-9504377-0-0</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0. <a href="0-14-102715-0" target="_blank">0-14-102715-0</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>Haines, Catharine M. C. (2001). International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-57607-090-1. <a href="978-1-57607-090-1" target="_blank">978-1-57607-090-1</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>