Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
1769 in science
open-in-new
<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li>March 4 – <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> astronomer <a href="/facts/Charles_Messier/dTokW7Yy">Charles Messier</a> first records the <a href="/facts/Orion_Nebula/6VWbcqzL">Orion Nebula</a> (<i><a href="/facts/Messier_objects/YKz2MxzQ">Messier</a> 42</i>).</li> <li>June 3 – <a href="/facts/Transit_of_Venus/Ygk5w0WC">Transit of Venus</a> is observed from many places in order to obtain data for measuring the distance from the <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a> to the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">Sun</a>. Those taking part include <ul><li><a href="/facts/Jean-Baptiste_Chappe_d%2527Auteroche/PXTydrS0">Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche</a> at <a href="/facts/San_Jos%25C3%25A9_del_Cabo/GlhF4l0W">San José del Cabo</a>, <a href="/facts/Baja_California/vJY3AFwn">Baja California</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/James_Cook/wy3cXCXp">James Cook</a> and <a href="/facts/Charles_Green_(astronomer)/2bXFbe8W">Charles Green</a> on <a href="/facts/Tahiti/uymjlbIb">Tahiti</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Jeremiah_Dixon/9Lx3fRp7">Jeremiah Dixon</a> and <a href="/facts/William_Bayly_(astronomer)/UPAlMPJE">William Bayly</a> in northern <a href="/facts/Norway/wlDRKRTR">Norway</a>, Dixon at <a href="/facts/Hammerfest_(town)/uvRh5l2F">Hammerfest</a> and Bayly at <a href="/facts/North_Cape%2c_Norway/KNnjJfwn">North Cape</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Maximilian_Hell/sfaI2mJP">Maximilian Hell</a> and <a href="/facts/J%25C3%25A1nos_Sajnovics/QaHqReKB">János Sajnovics</a> in <a href="/facts/Vard%25C3%25B8_(town)/X4vpf67C">Vardø</a>, Norway</li> <li><a href="/facts/Guillaume_Le_Gentil/XWKeP6tm">Guillaume Le Gentil</a> in <a href="/facts/Pondicherry_(city)/kRl7qwb0">Pondicherry</a>, <a href="/facts/India/1kKHcnxM">India</a>: Le Gentil had hoped to go to <a href="/facts/Manila/1jLySodG">Manila</a> in the <a href="/facts/Philippines/ARpmxXQV">Philippines</a> but was turned away by the local Spanish colonial governor. The weather in Pondicherry is cloudy that day. Le Gentil had also missed the 1761 transit through bad luck.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Alexandre_Guy_Pingr%25C3%25A9/M3Q5Qm0G">Alexandre Guy Pingré</a> in <a href="/facts/Haiti/yjgyeK9w">Haiti</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/William_Wales_(astronomer)/Qm0MITdx">William Wales</a> and Joseph Dymond at <a href="/facts/Prince_of_Wales_Fort/bx542caq">Prince of Wales Fort</a> on <a href="/facts/Hudson_Bay/KApYeskW">Hudson Bay</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Anders_Johan_Lexell/JfP7Gaq0">Anders Johan Lexell</a> and <a href="/facts/Christian_Mayer_(astronomer)/FuqG0TME">Christian Mayer</a> in <a href="/facts/Saint_Petersburg/pNuCBxaM">Saint Petersburg</a>; with other members of <a href="/facts/Russian_Academy_of_Sciences/RuUqhtFb">Russian Academy of Sciences</a> at eight other locations in the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a></li> <li>Members of the <a href="/facts/American_Philosophical_Society/auqTbV2C">American Philosophical Society</a> at three locations</li></ul></li></ul> <p>The transit is followed five hours later by a total <a href="/facts/Solar_eclipse/2XsCFG1a">solar eclipse</a> visible from Britain. </p> <ul><li>November 9 – Transit of <a href="/facts/Mercury_(planet)/lVa1GIyX">Mercury</a>. James Cook observes this from Mercury Bay in <a href="/facts/New_Zealand/4mpSlJdg">New Zealand</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Pluto/egq7MBeR">Pluto's</a> 8th complete orbit around the Sun from its present-day position</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Carl_Wilhelm_Scheele/kcKBwyXa">Carl Wilhelm Scheele</a> discovers a method of mass-producing <a href="/facts/Phosphorus/27xCeIqs">phosphorus</a>.</li> <li>Approximate date – <a href="/facts/Britannia_metal/ydD0lhmI">Britannia metal</a> is first produced, in <a href="/facts/Sheffield/rp05rhlH">Sheffield</a>, England.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>April 29 – <a href="/facts/James_Watt/29KvGNW0">James Watt</a> is granted a <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain/5yBEtQIt">British</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> for "A method of lessening the consumption of steam in <a href="/facts/Watt_steam_engine/FYzx2z2D">steam engines</a>" – the separate condenser,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> a key improvement (first devised by Watt in 1765) which stimulates the <a href="/facts/Industrial_Revolution/B6E3Fasm">Industrial Revolution</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> In September he completes a full-size experimental engine at <a href="/facts/Kinneil_House/Tko0LrdN">Kinneil House</a> in Scotland.</li> <li>July 3 – <a href="/facts/Richard_Arkwright/7J17vaNo">Richard Arkwright</a> is granted a British patent for a water-powered <a href="/facts/Spinning_frame/t2fya1ot">spinning frame</a> able to spin thread mechanically.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li>October 23 – <a href="/facts/Nicolas-Joseph_Cugnot/36NvwWwW">Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot</a> demonstrates a steam-powered artillery tractor (or '<a href="/facts/Automobile/I1IsH8IK">automobile</a>') in <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a> (<i>see drawing</i>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wolfgang_von_Kempelen/mNE0cU4T">Wolfgang von Kempelen</a> begins development of <a href="/facts/Wolfgang_von_Kempelen%2527s_speaking_machine/QdAW3xQA">his speaking machine</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li>March 16 – <a href="/facts/Louis_Antoine_de_Bougainville/KQr4MlIX">Louis Antoine de Bougainville</a> returns to <a href="/facts/Saint-Malo/BS4HzQTD">Saint-Malo</a> following a three-year <a href="/facts/Circumnavigation/8R6vSgTM">circumnavigation</a> of the world with the ships <i><a href="/facts/French_frigate_La_Boudeuse_(1766)/UWW3jX1h">La Boudeuse</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/French_fluyt_%25C3%2589toile_(1767)/mnwVsPbc">Étoile</a></i>, with the loss of only seven out of 330 men.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/William_Hewson_(surgeon)/vpd6KRy7">William Hewson</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 1 <ul><li><a href="/facts/Marie-Louise_Lachapelle/pt5JR97y">Marie-Louise Lachapelle</a>, French <a href="/facts/Midwife/TPmf0st6">midwife</a> (died <a href="/facts/1821_in_science/AQaWAbct">1821</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Jane_Marcet/r9dDsCpW">Jane Marcet</a>, née Haldimand, English popular science writer (died <a href="/facts/1858_in_science/bxUykk1b">1858</a>)</li></ul></li> <li>March 23 – <a href="/facts/William_Smith_(geologist)/3IpguaqC">William Smith</a>, English geologist (died <a href="/facts/1839_in_science/Y7P9ukYx">1839</a>)</li> <li>March 29 – <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Accum/wH8Vnv4I">Friedrich Accum</a>, German chemist (died <a href="/facts/1838_in_science/rynCmVy0">1838</a>)</li> <li>April 25 – <a href="/facts/Marc_Isambard_Brunel/5A119kbY">Marc Isambard Brunel</a>, French-born engineer (died <a href="/facts/1849_in_science/mmaQsEug">1849</a>)</li> <li>August 23 – <a href="/facts/Georges_Cuvier/4mmE7NzN">Georges Cuvier</a>, French zoologist (died <a href="/facts/1832_in_science/mwlEp7qT">1832</a>)</li> <li>September 14 – <a href="/facts/Alexander_von_Humboldt/5AuxyDbh">Alexander von Humboldt</a>, German naturalist and explorer (died <a href="/facts/1859_in_science/t8oVY6aT">1859</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Micropædia (15th ed.). 2002. <a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica" target="_blank">/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Patent 913; specification accepted January 5. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 224–225. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2. <a href="0-7126-5616-2" target="_blank">0-7126-5616-2</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 325. ISBN 0-304-35730-8. <a href="0-304-35730-8" target="_blank">0-304-35730-8</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"A Concise History of the Traction Engine". Steam Up. Retrieved 2014-10-15. <a href="http://steam-up.co.uk/traction_engine_history.htm" target="_blank">http://steam-up.co.uk/traction_engine_history.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><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:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>