| Flight of Mohammed from Mecca. Beginning of the Hegira era.
| 622
|
|
|
| 625
| Wang Hs'iao-t'ung (numerical cubic equations)
|
|
| 628
| Brahmagupta (598-670) (geometry, algebra, is the first to use zero and negative numbers consistently)
|
| Huan-tsang goes to India and translates Hindu works
| 629
|
|
|
| 635
| Asclepias of Tralles writes on Nicomachus
|
| Priest from Rome visits China
| 636
|
|
|
| 640
| Joannes Philoponus (astrolabe, writes on Nicomachus)
|
| Library of Alexandria burned
| 642
|
|
|
| 650
| Sebokht (Hindu numerals)
|
| Emperor Tenchi (Tenji) reigns 668-672
| 670
| Emperor Tenchi establishes an observatory
|
| top |
|
| 700
| Mayans introduce a symbol for zero into their number system
|
|
| 710
| Bede (673-735) (calendar, finger reckoning)
|
| Saracens invade Spain
| 711
|
|
| Arab ambassadors visit China and foreign ships sail to Canton
| 713
|
|
|
| 727
| I-hsing (or Yi Xing) (683-727) (Chinese calendar, indeterminate equations)
|
| Battle of Tours. Charles Martel defeats the Saracens
| 732
|
|
|
| 750
| Akhmim Papyrus written c. 7th or 8th century
|
| Cordova made the seat of the western caliphate
| 756
|
|
| Baghdad founded by al-Mansur c. 762-763
| 762
|
|
|
| 766
| The Sindhind translated into Arabic and Hindu numerals become Arabic numerals
|
|
| 770
| Geber (alchemy, astrolabe)
|
| Charlemagne's reign begins (771-814)
| 771
|
|
|
| 775
| Alcuin called to the court of Charlemagne to present mathematical problems.
Ya'qub ibn Tarq (sphere)
Abu Yahya (translates Ptolemy)
|
| Harun al-Rashid (reigned 786 - 808/9) is a patron of mathematics
| 790
| Al-Fazari (mathematical instruments)
|
| top |
| Harun al-Rashid sends an embassy to China
| 800
| Jacob ben Nissim (theory of numbers)
Messahala (astrolabe)
Al-Tabari (astronomy)
|
| Al-Mamun (reigned 809 - 833) is a patron of mathematics
| 820
| Mohammed ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi (al-Khwarizmi) (780-850) coins the term "al-jabr" or algebra from Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala (Calculation by Completion and Balancing)
Hrabanus Maurus (computus)
Al-Nehavendi (astronomy)
Al-Hajjaj (translates Greek mathematics)
|
|
| 830
| Al-'Abbas (Greek mathematics)
Al-Astorlabi (astrolabe)
|
|
| 840
| Honein ibn Ishaq (Greek mathematics)
Walafried Stabus (Strabo) (teacher)
|
|
| 850
| Mahavira (arithmetic, algebra, mensuration)
Sahl ibn Bishr (astronomy, arithmetic, algebra)
Al-Arjani (Greek mathematics)
Abu'l-Taiyib (trigonometry)
|
|
| 860
| Alchindi (astronomy, optics, proportion)
Almahani (trigonometry, cubic equation)
Al-Mervazi (astronomy)
|
|
| 870
| Tabit ibn Qorra (conics, Greek mathematics)
The Three Brothers (geometry, astronomy)
|
| Alfred the Great begins his reign |
871 |
|
|
| 880
| Al-Himsi (Greek mathematics)
Albumasar (astronomy)
|
|
| 890
| Ahmed ibn al-Taiyib (algebra)
Ahmed ibn Da'ud (algebra)
Tenjin (Japanese patron of mathematics)
|
| top |
|
| 900
| Abu Kamil (geometry, algebra)
Ishaq ibn Honein ibn Ishaq (Greek mathematics)
Remigius of Auxerre writes on Capella
Muslim ibn Ahmed al-Leiti (arithmetic)
Al-Qass writes on Euclid
Qosta ibn Luqa writes on Diophntus
Al-Misri (geometry)
|
|
| 910
| Al-Nairizi (geometry)
Al-Faradi (arithmetic)
|
|
| 915
| Sa'id ibn Ya'qub (Greek mathematics)
|
|
| 920
| Rhases (geometry)
Albategnius (astronomy)
Odo of Cluny (abacus)
|
| Aethelstan's reign begins in England, learning fostered
| 925
| Al-Hasan ibn 'Obeidallah writes on Euclid
|
|
| 940
| Al-Farrabi writes on Euclid and Ptolemy
|
|
| 950
| Hasan (date very doubtful) (calendar)
Bakhshali manuscript (algebra)
|
|
| 960
| Abu Ja'far al-Khazin (geometry)
|
|
| 970
| Hrotsvitha, a nun (number theory)
|
|
| 975
| Al-Harrani writes on Euclid
|
|
| 980
| Abu'l-Wea (trigonometry)
Abbo of Fleury (computus)
|
|
| 987
| Abu'l-Faradsh The Fihrist
|
|
| 993
| Bernward (theory of numbers)
Al-Masihi writes on Ptolemy
|
| top |
|
| 1000
| Gerbert (Sylvester II) (Arithmetic)
Avicenna (geometry, arithmetic)
Alberuni writes on Hindu mathematics
|
| Firdusi, Persia poet, dies
| 1020
| Al-Karkhi (algebra)
|
|
| 1025
| Al-Nasawi (Greek mathematics)
|
| Edward the Confessor becomes king
| 1042
|
|
|
| 1050
| Hermannus Contractus (arithmetic, astrolabe)
|
| Norman Conquest - William the Conqueror becomes King of England and Normandy
| 1066
|
|
| Turks capture Jerusalem
| 1076
|
|
|
| 1083
| China prints Liu Hui's classic. Block book
|
|
| 1084
| China prints Ch'ang K'iu-kien's arithmetic
|
| First Crusade proclaimed
| 1095
|
|
| top |
|
| 1100
| Savasorda (geometry)
Omar Khayyam, the poet (algebra, astronomy)
|
|
| 1115
| China prints the Huang-ti K'iu-ch'ang
|
|
| 1120
| Plato of Tivoli Translates from the Arabic
Adelard of Bath (1075-1164) Translates from the Arabic
|
|
| 1140
| Abraham ben Ezra (Rabbi ben Ezra) works on Theory of numbers, magic squares, calendar
Avenpace (geometry)
Johannes Hispalensis translates from the Arabic
Robert of Chester translates from the Arabic
|
|
| 1144
| Rudolph of Bruges translates Ptolemy
|
| Second Crusade proclaimed
| 1146
|
|
|
| 1150
| Gherardo of Cremona translates from the Arabic
Bhaskara (algebra)
Fujiwara Michinori (mensuration)
|
|
| 1175
| Averroes (astronomy, trigonometry)
|
|
| 1180
| Ts'ai Yuan-ting writes on the I-king
|
| top |
|
| 1200
| Ta'asif writes on Euclid
|
|
| 1202
| Leonardo Fibonnaci (1170-1240) (algebra, arithmetic, geometry)
|
| Genghis Khan's great expedition to Europe
| 1220
|
|
|
| 1225
| Jordanus Nemorarius (algebra)
Michael Scott translates from Greek and Arabic
|
|
| 1230
| Barlaam (algebra, Euclid)
Rise of European universities
|
| Europeans visit the Mongol court
| 1250
| Sacrobosco (numerals and the sphere)
Nasir ed-din (trigonometry)
Roger Bacon (1219-1292) (astronomy, general mathematics)
Ch'in Kiu-shao (higher numerical equations)
Liu Ju-hsieh (algebra)
|
| Kublai Khan's reign begins
| 1260
| Campanus translates Euclid into Latin
Ibn al-Lubudi (algebra, Euclid)
|
|
| 1261
| Yang Hui on the "Nine Sections"
|
| Marco Polo begins his travels
| 1271
|
|
|
| 1275
| Oldest algorithm in French
|
|
| 1280
| John Peckman (perspective)
|
|
| 1286
| Friar Odoric goes to Canton
Western learning
|
|
| 1299
| Chu Shih-Chieh (algebra)
|
| top |
|
| 1300
| Albanna (algebra, proportion)
Pacymeres (general mathematics)
|
| Dante (1265-1321)
| 1315
|
|
|
| 1320
| William of Ockham (1288-1848) (logic, Ockham's Razor)
|
| Battle of Crecy. Attack on feudalism.
| 1346
|
|
| Black Death destroys large percent of European population.
| 1349
|
|
Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Petrarch (1304-1374)
| 1350
| Joannes de Muris (arithmetic, calendar)
Ibn al-Shatier (trigonometry)
|
|
| 1360
| Nicole Oresme (exponents, proportion, coordinates)
|
|
| 1365
| Heinrich von Hessen (geometry)
Albert of Saxony (geometry)
|
| Wycliffe's English Bible completed
| 1384
|
|
|
| 1390
| Uniform weights and measures in most of England
|
|
| 1392
| Moschopoulus (magic squares)
|
| top |
| Era of the Medici in Florence
| 1420
|
|
|
| 1424
| Rollandus (theory of numbers, algebra)
|
|
| 1430
| Johann von Gmunden (trigonometry)
|
| Joan of Arc burned
| 1431
|
|
| Donatello the artist, Florence (1386-1466)
| 1440
| Al-Kashi (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy
|
|
| 1449
| Jacob of Cremona translates Archimedes
|
| Printing from movable type
| 1450
| Nicholas Cusa (geometry, theory of numbers)
|
| Fall of Constantinople
| 1453
|
|
|
| 1460
| Georg von Peurbach (trigonometry)
|
| Sack of Nassau affects printing
| 1462
|
|
| Lorenzo the Magnificent, Florence
| 1469
|
|
|
| 1470
| Regiomontanus (trigonometry)
|
|
| 1475
| Al-Qalasadi (theory of numbers)
|
|
| 1478
| First printed arithmetic, Treviso, Italy
|
|
| 1482
| First printed edition of Euclid, Venice
First printed German arithmetic, Bamberg
|
|
| 1484
| Nicolas Chuquet (algebra)
|
|
| 1490
| Johann Widman (algebra, arithmetic)
|
| Columbus lands in America
| 1492
|
|
| Maximilian I, emperor of Germany
| 1493
|
|
|
| 1494
| Pacioli (general mathematics)
|
| top |
|
| 1500
| Leonardo da Vinci (optics, geometry)
Jacques le Fevre d'Estaples (geometry, arithmetic)
Scipione del Ferro (Ferreo) (quadratic equations)
|
| Raphael (1483-1520)
| 1510
| Albrecht Dürer (geometry of curves)
|
|
| 1515
| The Taglientes (commercial arithmetic)
|
|
| 1518
| Adam Riese (arithmetic)
|
|
| 1520
| Jakob Kobel (arithmetic)
Copernicus (astronomy, trigonometry)
|
| Martin Luther excommunicated
| 1521
|
|
|
| 1522
| Cuthbert Tunstall First arithmetic printed in England
|
| Erasmus (thinker)
| 1525
| Micheal Stifel (algebra, arithmetic)
Christoff Rudolff (algebra, decimals) First German algebra book.
|
|
| 1532
| The vast Incan empire uses no writing, but instead relys on quipus and mathematics for storing numbers and managing the government.
|
| Jesuit order founded by Loyola
| 1534
| Gerardus Mercator (Mercator projection) used math to create the first map of the world.
|
Calvin goes to Geneva
Tyndale is burned
| 1536
|
|
|
| 1540
| Gemma Frisius (arithmetic)
|
| De Soto explores the Mississippi
| 1541
|
|
|
| 1542
| Robert Recorde (algebra, geometry, and arithmetic)
|
|
| 1543
| Copernican system published
|
|
| 1545
| Ferrari (biquadratic equation)
Tartaglia (cubic equation, general mathematics)
Cardan (cubic equation, general mathematics)
|
| top |
Titian (1477-1576)
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
| 1550
| Rhaeticus (trigonometry)
T'ang Shun-ki (circle)
Ramus (geometry, optics, arithmetic)
Mohammed ibn Na'ruf (algebra, spherics, arithmetic)
|
| Elizabeth becomes queen of England (dies 1603)
| 1558
|
|
|
| 1562
| Juan Perez de Moya (algebra, arithmetic)
|
|
| 1570
| Billingsley and Dee write the first English translation of Euclid.
|
|
| 1572
| Bombelli (algebra)
Tycho Brahe (astronomy) first published observations of a supernova.
|
|
| 1577
| Herbestus (Polish arithmetic)
Girjka Gorla z Gorlssteyna (arithmetic)
|
|
| 1580
| Francois Viete (algebra)
Ludolf van Ceulen (on pi)
|
|
| 1583
| Christopher Clavius (geometry, arithmetic, algebra, the calendar)
Petrus Bongus (mystery of the numbers)
|
|
| 1587
| Fyzi writes a Persian translation of the Lilavati
|
|
| 1590
| Pietro Antonio Cataldi (perfect numbers, arithmetic, continued fractions, algebra)
Stevin (decimal fractions)
|
|
| 1592
| Mori Kambei Shigeyoshi (abacus)
|
|
| 1593
| Adriaen van Roomen (value of pi)
|
| top |
| Shakespeare (1564-1616)
| 1600
| Thomas Harriot (algebra, analytic geometry)
Jobst (Joost) Bürgi (logarithms)
Galileo Galilei (geometry, astronomy, mechanics)
Beha Eddin (the sphere, arithmetic)
|
| James I proclaimed king of Great Britain
| 1603
| Matteo Ricci, Hsu Kuang-ching, and Li Chi Ts'ao translate Euclid into Chinese
|
| Telescope invented
| 1608
|
|
|
| 1610
| Johannes Kepler (astronomy, geometry, optics, logarithms, calculus) Discovered three laws of planetary motion that still bear his name.
|
|
| 1612
| Bachet de Meziriac (on Diophantus, recreations)
|
|
| 1614
| Sir John Napier (logarithms)
|
|
| 1615
| Henry Briggs (logarithms)
|
| Savilian professorships (Oxford) founded
| 1619
|
|
| Francis Bacon, Novum Organum published
| 1620
| Edmund Gunter (logarithms)
Willebrord van Roijen Snell (geometry, trigonometry)
|
|
| 1621
| Raganatha (Hindu mathematics)
|
|
| 1630
| Mersenne (Greek mathematics, theory of numbers, geometry)
Oughtred (algebra, slide rule, logarithms)
Albert Girard (algebra, trigonometry)
|
|
| 1635
| Pierre de Fermat (analytic geometry, theory of numbers)
Cavalieri (indivisibles)
|
|
| 1637
| Rene Descartes (analytic geometry, Cartesian coordinates)
|
|
| 1640
| Desargues (projective geometry)
Florimond de Beaune (Cartesian geometry)
Torricelli (geometry, physics)
Borelli (Greek mathematics)
Antoine de la Loubere (curves)
Roberval (geometry)
|
| Civil war in England between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians.
| 1643
| John Wallis (cryptography, calculus)
Thomas Hobbes (geometry, mechanics, motion)
|
| Charles I executed. England declared a commonwealth
| 1649
|
|
| top |
| Milton
| 1650
| Blaise Pascal (geometry, probability, theory of numbers, Pascal's triangle)
John Wallis (algebra, series, history of mathematics
Frans van Schooten edited Descartes and Viete
Nicolaus Mercator (trigonometry, logarithms)
|
| Louis XIV crowned in France
| 1654
|
|
|
| 1655
| Robert Boyle (chemistry, mechanics)
Robert Hooke (geometry, mechanics, chemistry)
John Wilkins (astronomy)
|
|
| 1658
| Kamalakara (astronomy, measurement, trigonometry)
|
|
| 1660
| Rene Francois Walter de Sluze (calculus, geometry)
|
| Lucasian professorship (Cambridge) founded
| 1663
| Muramatsu Kudayu Mosei (geometry)
|
| John Locke (1632-1704)
| 1665
| Nozawa Teicho, Sato Seiko, and Sawaguchi Kazuyuki integrate geometry and the native Japanese
|
| Spinoza (1632-1677)
| 1670
| Christiaan Huygens (geometry, physics, astronomy)
Isaac Barrow (geometry)
James Gregory (series)
William Leybourn (surveying)
|
|
| 1675
| Takakazu Seki Kowa (calculus)
Royal Observatory at Greenwich founded
|
|
| 1680
| Sir Isaac Newton (fluxional calculus, physics, astronomy, entire field of mathematics)
|
| Pennsylvania granted to William Penn
| 1681
|
|
|
| 1682
| Wilhelm Leibniz (calculus)
|
|
| 1690
| Guillaume François Antoine Marquis de L'Hôpital (applied calculus)
Jacques (Jacob) Bernoulli (applied calculus, geometry, probability)
Edmond Halley (astronomy, physics, life insurance)
|
|
| 1696
| Nakane Genkei (Japanese calculus)
|
| top |
| Peter the Great (died 1725)
| 1700
| Jean (Johann) Bernoulli (applied calculus)
Michel Rolle (equations)
|
| Anne becomes queen of England
| 1702
|
|
|
| 1704
| Charles Hayes (calculus in English)
|
|
| 1710
| Roger Cotes (geometry, analysis, calculus)
Parent (solid analytic geometry)
De Lagny (analysis)
|
|
| 1720
| Brook Taylor (series)
Abraham De Moivre (complex numbers, probability)
Giulio Fagnano (curves, elliptic functions)
|
|
| 1722
| Takebe (geometry, pi to 41 figures)
|
|
| 1727
| Charles Etienne Louis Camus (architecture, mechanics, astronomy)
Georges Leclerc Comte de Buffon (probability, pi, binomial theorem)
|
|
| 1730
| Nicolas (I) Bernoulli (differential equations, probability)
Matsunaga (geometry, pi to 50 figures)
Joseph Privat de Molières (calculus)
|
| Frederick the Great (Frederick II) becomes king of Prussia
| 1740
| Colin Maclaurin (algebra, series, conics)
Gabriel Cramer (determinants, equations, curves)
George Berkeley attacks fluxional calculus
|
|
| 1745
| Voltair writes on Newton
Émilie de Breteuil Marquise du Châtelet, translates Newton into French
|
| top |
|
| 1750
| Leonard Euler (analysis, physics, astronomy)
Montucla (history of mathematics)
Thomas Simpson (algebra, geometry, calculus)
Johann König (calculus, physics)
|
| Seven Years' War (1756-1763)
| 1760
| D'Alembert (differential equations, astronomy, physics)
John Landen (elliptic intervals)
Alexis Claude Clairaut (geometry, geodesy)
|
|
| 1770
| Johann Lambert (hyperbolic trigonometry)
Maria Gaëtana Agnesi (geometry) Although extremely religious, known as the "Witch of Agnesi" for solving a difficult problem known as "The Devil's problem"
|
| United States declares independence from Great Britain
| 1776
|
|
| Rousseau and Voltair die
| 1778
|
|
|
| 1780
| Lagrange (theory of numbers, analysis, elliptic functions, astronomy)
Pierre François-André Méchain (metric system)
|
|
| 1781
| Caroline Herschel (astronomy) helped her brother, William, discover the planet Uranus.
|
| Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey become the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd states.
| 1787
|
|
| Georgia, Conneticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York join the U.S. as states.
| 1788
|
|
North Carolina becomes the 12th state in the U.S.
Bastille falls - French Revolution and Reign of Terror
| 1789
|
|
| Rhode Island becomes the 13th U.S. state
| 1790
|
|
| Vermont becomes the 14th U.S. state
| 1790
|
|
| Kentucky becomes the 15th U.S. state
| 1790
|
|
|
| 1795
| Ecole normale superieure and Ecole polytechnique founded about this time
|
Napoleonic Wars (1796 - 1815)
Tennessee becomes the 16th U.S. state
| 1796
|
|
|
| 1800
|
Laplace (astronomy, physics, least squares)
Legendre (elliptic functions, theory of numbers, geometry)
Carnot (modern geometry)
Gaspard Monge (descriptive geometry)
Jean Baptiste Delambre (astronomy, geodesy)
Sylvestre Lacroix (analysis)
Lorenzo Mascheroni (geometry of the compasses)
Johann Pfaff (astronomy, analysis)
|
| top |
| Ohio becomes the 17th U.S. state
| 1803
|
|
| Napoleon made emperor
| 1804
|
|
|
| 1809
| Carl Gauss (theory of numbers, gemoetry, analysis, physics, astronomy, general field of mathematics) establishes mathematical geometry.
|
|
| 1810
| Jean Robert Argand (complex numbers)
|
| War of Independence in Latin America (1811 - 1826) Led by San Martin and Bolivar, the colonies were able to effect the separation from Spain.
| 1811
| Joseph Fourier (series, physics)
|
U.S. declares war on Britain over control of Canada. British-American War (1812 - 1814)
Louisana becomes the 18th U.S. state
| 1812
| William Wallace (hyperbolic functions)
|
| British forces burn Washington, D.C.
| 1814
| Robert Woodhouse (differential calculus)
|
| Battle of Waterloo
| 1815
| Robert Adrain (least squares)
|
| Indiana becomes the 19th. U.S. state
| 1816
|
|
| Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state
| 1817
|
|
| Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state
| 1818
|
|
| Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state
| 1819
|
|
| Missouri Compromise. Maine enters the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state
| 1820
| Peter Barlow (tables)
Sophie Germain (1776-1831) (elastic surfaces, mathematical physics)
Siméon Poisson (definite integrals, series, physics)
|
|
| 1825
| The Bolyais (Farkas and János) and Nikolai Lobachevsky (non-Euclidean geometry)
Nathanial Bowditch (celestial mechanics)
|
|
| 1826
| Mary Fairfax Somerville (algebra, Laplace transfers) publishes her first paper
Nikolai Lobachevsky develops his system of non-Euclidean geometry.
|
| Slavery abolished in Mexico
| 1829
|
|
| top |
|
| 1830's
| George Peacock (differential calculus, algebra)
August Möbius (geometry)
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi (elliptic functions)
Jean-Victor Poncelet (projective geometry)
Evariste Galois (groups)
Augustin-Louis Cauchy (functions, determinants, series
Pierre Dupin (geometry)
|
|
| 1833
| János Bolyai publishes his system of non-Euclidean geometry
|
|
| 1834
| Charles Babbage (calculating machine) invents the principle of the "analytical machine," the precursor to the modern computer
Ada Byron Lovelace (1815-1852) (computer programming) writes the programs fro Babbage's machines, even though they are never built
|
Texas wins independence from Mexico and becomes a republic with Sam Houston as President.
Arkansas becomes the 25th U.S. state
| 1836
|
|
Victoria becomes Queen of Great Britain, start of the Victorian era
Michigan becomes the 26th U.S. State
| 1837
|
|
| Upper and Lower Canada united by an act of Parliament
| 1840
| Gabriel Lamé (elasticity, surfaces)
J. F. W. Herschel (astronomy, analysis) nephew of Caroline Herschel
|
| Florida becomes 27th state, Texas is annexed as the 28th state.
| 1845
|
|
U.S.-Mexican War (1846 - 1848) U.S. declares war on Mexico, moves into Santa Fe and annexes New Mexico
Iowa becomes 29th U.S. state
Ireland potato famine
| 1846
| Johann Galle discovers the planet Neptune
|
| U.S. forces capture Mexico City. Mexico abandons claims to Texas and cedes New Mexico and California
| 1847
|
|
First U.S. Women's Rights convention meets in Seneca Falls, NY
Wisconsin becomes 30th U.S. state
| 1848
|
|
| California becomes 31st U.S. state
| 1850
| Arthur Cayley (invariants)
|
| Crimean War (1853 - 1856) brings British and French troops in to support Turkey against Russia
| 1853
|
|
|
| 1854
| George Boole (logic, differential equations) Investigation of Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities
|
|
| 1855
| Florence Nightengale (nursing) uses mathematics to prove how hospitals can reduce the mortality rate due to unsanitary conditions.
|
| Minnesota becomes 32nd U.S. state
| 1858
|
|
| Oregon becomes 33rd U.S. state
| 1859
|
|
| top |
|
| 1860
|
|
Civil War begins in the U.S. between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South) (1861 - 1865) over slavery
Kansas becomes 34th U.S. state
| 1861
|
|
| West Virginia becomes 35th U.S. state
| 1863
|
|
| Nevada becomes 36th U.S. state
| 1864
|
|
13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishes slavery
President Lincoln is assassinated
Nebraska becomes 37th U.S. state
| 1865
|
|
| U.S. buys Alaska from the Russians for 7.2 million dollars. Becomes known as "Seward's Folly"
| 1867
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| Canada purchases the NorthWest Territories from Hudson Bay Company
| 1869
| Sofia Kovalevskaya (differential equations, physics) learned math from the papers used as wallpaper in her bedroom. She married in order to leave her hometown and study abroad, where she contributed to differential equations and physics.
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| Franco-Prussian War (1870 - 1871) Prussia and France quarrel over succession to the Spanish throne
| 1870
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| Iceland becomes independent from Denmark
| 1874
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| Korean-Japanese treaty secures Korean independence from China
| 1875
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Russo-Turkish War (1876 - 1878)
Colorado becomes 38th U.S. state
| 1876
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| Samurai revolt suppressed in Japan
| 1877
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| Cologne Cathedral completed (began in 1248)
| 1880
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| War of the Pacific (1881 - 1884) Chile defeats Bolivia and Peru in fight over the saltpeter mines of Antofagasta and Arica
| 1881
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| Germans occupy Southwest Africa
| 1884
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Gustave Eiffel builds the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington become U.S. states
| 1889
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Global influenza epidemic
Idaho and Wyoming become the 43rd and 44th U.S. states
| 1890
| Alfred North Whitehead (algebra) began actively publishing in the 1890's, remained active until the 1930's.
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Sino-Japanese War (1894 - 1895) China loses Formosa and Port Arthur to Japan
Abyssinian-Italian War (1894 - 1896)
| 1894
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Utah becomes the 45th U.S. state
First Olympic games
Beginning of the Klondike gold rush
| 1896
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| Spanish-American War
| 1898
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| 1900
| Max Planck (phyiscs, laws of radiation) introduces quantum theory
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Marconi transmits telegraphic messages
First Nobel prizes awarded (one to Max Planck)
U.S. President McKinley assassinated, succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt
| 1901
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| Voting rights for women in Australia
| 1902
| Dmitry Aleksandrovich Grave (algebra, number theory) Appointed professor at University of Kiev, where he remained the rest of his life.
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First flight by Wright brothers
Anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia
| 1903
| Waclaw Sierpinski (number theory, set theory, topology, fractals, Sierpinski triangle) begins his career. Active until 1967.
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| Ruso-Japanese War (1904 - 1905)
| 1904
| Teiji Takagi (algebraic number theory) received many international honors for his contributions.
Mary Boole (education) daughter of the famous George Boole, she invented curve stitching (string geometry) to help teach children about the geometry of angles and spaces.
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| Norway separates from Sweden
| 1905
| Niels Nielsen (special functions, number theory, Bernoulli numbers) University professor in Copenhagen until a nervous breakdown in 1917.
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| Position of the magnetic north pole established by Roald Amundson.
| 1906
| August Adler (geometric constructions)
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Baden Powell founds the Boy Scouts
Lumiere develops color photography
Japan's protectorate over Korea
Oklahoma becomes 46th U.S. state
| 1907
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Henry Ford produces the first Model T
Congo becomes Colony of Belgium
Union of South Africa established
Austria occupies Herzegovina and Bosnia
| 1908
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Louis Bleriot crosses the English Channel by airplane
Robert Peary reaches the North Pole
| 1909
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| 1910
| Marie Curie's treatise on radiography
Portugal becomes a republic
China abolishes slavery
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Roald Amundsen reaches South Pole
Manchu Dynasty falls; Chinese Republic proclaimed
Mexican Revolution (1911 - 1914)
| 1911
| Rutherford formulates theory of atomic structure
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"Titanic" sinks
Arizona, New Mexico become U.S. states
| 1912
| Detection of protons and electrons
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World War I (WWI) begins (1914 - 1918). The Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey) were opposed by the Allies (England, France, Russia), joined by the U.S., Japan, and Italy.
Woodrow Wilson becomes 28th president of the U.S.
| 1913
| Niels Bohr (physics) formulates his own atomic theory
Srinivasa Aaiyangar Ramanujan (theory) Without formal university education, Ramanujan wrote over 30 papers that significantly influenced 20th century mathematics.
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| Panama Canal opened
| 1914
| Erwin Schrödinger (quantum theory, Schrodinger's cat) first important paper published.
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| Tetanus epidemics on warfronts
| 1915
| Emmy Amalie Noether (theoretical physics) was finally allowed to be a full professor of her own right. Her work was the basis for Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
Georg Cantor presents his Theory of Transfinite Numbers
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| Irish revolt suppressed
| 1916
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German-Russian Armistice signed
Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917 - 1920) Red armies defeat Bolshevik white armies
Trans-Siberian Railroad completed
Finnish Republic proclaimed
| 1917
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World-wide influenza epidemic strikes; 22 million dead
Czechslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Poland independent.
Germany and Austria become republics.
| 1918
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| U.S. Prohibition begins
| 1919
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| League of Nations established in Geneva
| 1920
| Helmut Hasse (quadratic formulas, rationals) Published the Hasse "local-global" principle.
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| Faisil I King of Iraq
| 1921
| Harold Marston Morse (calculus, topology) Morse theory is perhaps the single greatest contribution of American mathematics; in all, he wrote about 180 papers and eight books on a whole range of topics.
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Britain recognizes Kingdom of Egypt
Irish Free State proclaimed
Soviet States form U.S.S.R.
| 1922
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| 1923
| Harald Bohr Although he never quite attained the fame of his older brother Niels (except as a soccer player!), he did produce some mathematics of the very highest importance.
Hubble calculates distance to star nebula
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Hitler's "Mein Kampf"
U.S. Immigration Bill excludes all Japanese
| 1924
| Louis de Broglie (theoretical and experimental physics) He theorized that electron waves have properties of both particles and waves. Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1929.
Solmon Lefschetz (topology) Lost both hands and forearms in a laboratory accident in 1907. "It was my lot to plant the harpoon of algebraic topology into the body of the whale of algebraic geometry."
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| 1925
| Wolfgang Pauli (quantum theory, chemistry) He is best known for the Pauli exclusion principle which states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same four quantum numbers.
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Germany admitted to League of Nations
Hirohito succeeds as Emperor of Japan
| 1926
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| Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic
| 1927
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| Amelia Earhardt is the first woman to fly across the Atlantic
| 1928
| Wolfgang Krull (commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, topology) was greatly influenced by Emmy Noether. His most productive period was from 1928 to 1938.
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"Black Friday" world economic crisis begins
"Talkies" kill silent films
| 1929
| Albert Einstein presents his Theory of Relativity (E=mc²)
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| The planet Pluto is discovered
| 1930
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| Empire State Building completed
| 1931
| Kurt Friedrich Gödel (calculus) He is best known for his proof of "Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems".
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| 1932
| C. Anderson discovers the positron
J. Chadwick discovers the neutron
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First U.S. aircraft carrier launched
President Roosevelt introduces "New Deal"
Adolf Hitler appointed German Chancellor, first concentration camps in Germany
Japan withdraws from the League of Nations
| 1933
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"Long March" (1934 - 1938) Japanese invade China and seize Peking, Nanking, and Shanghai
U.S.S.R. admitted to the League of Nations
| 1934
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President Roosevelt signs Social Security Act
Persia changes its name to Iran
| 1935
| Max Zorn (field theory, set theory) best known for "Zorn's Lemma"
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Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1938) Facist forces, helped by Germany and Italy, defeat Republican government
General strike in France
Mussolini and Hitler form Rome-Berlin Axis
Germany and Japan sign Anti-Comitern Pact
German troops march into Rhineland
| 1936
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"Hindenburg" airship disaster
Italy joins Anti-Comitern Pact
| 1937
| Maurits Cornelius (M. C.) Escher (plane symmetry) never felt that he was good at math or art, yet his artwork and fascination with symmetry and tiling is widely published and fundamental to geometers and artists everywhere.
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| Hitler annexes Austria
| 1938
| Otto Hahn finds evidence of nucleur fission
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World War II (WWII) begins. (1939 - 1945) Germany invades Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, and France. France and Britain declare war.
Battle of Britain
German U-boat war
| 1939
| Radar used in Britain
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| Churchill becomes British Prime Minister
| 1940
| First electron microscope
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Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, the Day of Infamy)
Germany invades Russia, lands in North Africa
| 1941
| McMillan and Seaborg discover Plutonium
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| Mass murder of Jews in gas chambers begins
| 1942
| Jacob Wolfowitz (statistics, sequential analysis, information theory)
Alan Turing (logic, cryptology) Developed "Turing machines" in the 1930's, which followed a specific set of rules depending on the instruction it was given. Decoded the German "Enigma" coding machines during WWII. Turing was arrested for violation of British homosexuality statutes in 1952 when he reported to the police details of a homosexual affair. He had gone to the police because he had been threatened with blackmail. He was tried as a homosexual on 31 March 1952, offering no defence other than that he saw no wrong in his actions. Found guilty he was given the alternatives of prison or oestrogen injections for a year. He accepted the latter and returned to a wide range of academic pursuits.
Enrico Fermi splits the atom
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Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt hold Teharan conference
Mussolini dismissed, Italy declares war on Germany
| 1943
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Vietnam declares itself independent of France
Warsaw uprising
| 1944
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D-Day landings in Normandy
Bombing of Germany. Russians and Allies meet at Torgau. Germany surrenders.
Americans invade Okinawa and drop atomic bomb. Japan surrenders.
| 1945
| First atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico
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Greek Civil War (1946 - 1949)
Chinese Revolution (1946 - 1949)
First Indochina War (1946 - 1954)
| 1946
| Mauchly and Eckert build ENIAC, the first fully electronic computer
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India becomes independent and is partitioned into India and Pakistan
Burma becomes an independent republic
| 1947
| Chuck Yeager flies first supersonic flight
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Israel becomes a Jewish state, war between Israel and Arab states for Palestine
Gandhi assassinated in India
| 1948
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N.A.T.O. treaty signed
Aparthied established in South Africa
| 1949
| Grace Murray Hopper (computer programming) was key in developing first computer programs. Discovered first computer "bug" (a real moth). Convinced the Navy to let her join in 1943, she retired in 1986 as a Rear Admiral and the oldest active duty officer in the United States.
U.S.S.R. tests atomic bomb
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Korean Conflict (1950 - 1953)
Chinese forces occupy Tibet
Senator McCarthy begins his anti-communist charges
| 1950
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| French War in Indochina (1951 - 1954)
| 1951
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| Elizabeth II becomes Queen of England
| 1952
| Hsien Chung Wang (algebraic topology) discovered the "Wang sequence"
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Discovery of pre-historic cave paintings in France
Stalin succeeded by Malenkov and Khrushchev
Royal coup d'etat in Iran (Persia)
| 1953
| Watson and Crick decipher structure of DNA
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Race segregation in U.S. schools declared unconstitutional
Laos and Cambodia gain independence
French war in Algeria (1954 - 1962)
| 1954
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Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott
Revolt in Argentina, Peron resigns
France, West Germany, and Italy establish the European Union
| 1955
| Ultra-high frequency (UHF) waves produced at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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| Cuban Revolution (1956 - 1959)
| 1956
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| Ghana independent
| 1957
| U.S.S.R. launches Sputnik (first earth satellite)
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Egypt and Syria form United Arab Republic
Revolution in Iraq ends monarchy
| 1958
| U.S. launches Explorer I earth satellite
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Charles de Gaulle proclaimed President of Fifth Republic in France
Alaka and Hawaii named 49th and 50th U.S. states
| 1959
| U.S.S.R. Lunik reaches the moon
Robert Noyce makes first microchip
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Second Indochina War (Vietnam Conflict) (1960 - 1975)
16 African nations become independent
| 1960
| Laser developed
First weather satellite, Tiros I, launched by U.S.
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President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
Bay of Pigs invasion
Berlin Wall constructed
| 1961
| Yuri Gagarin first man in space
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| 1962
| John Glenn orbits the earth
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| President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
| 1963
| Valentina Tereshkova first woman in space
Matthews and Sandage discover quasars
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Kruschev replaced by Kosygin and Brezhnev
King Saud of Saudi Arabia deposed
| 1964
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Race riots in Watts, L.A., Malcom X shot in N.Y.
Rhodesia, Singapore gain independence
| 1965
| Leonov first astronaut to walk in space
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| Cultural revolution in China
| 1966
| Luna 9 (U.S.S.R.) makes soft landing on the moon
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| Six-day war between Israel and Arab nations
| 1967
| China explodes its first hydrogen bomb
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| Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
| 1968
| Pulsating radio waves (pulsars) discovered
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| 1969
| Neil Armstrong first man on the moon.
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| Salvador Allende, a Marxist, elected President of Chile
| 1970
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| Church of England and Vatican end a 400 year dispute
| 1971
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President Nixon visits China
Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka
Bangladesh (East Pakistan) established as an independent state
| 1972
| Venus 8 space probe photographs Venus
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"Wounded Knee" occupied by Native Americans
SALT I treaty signed to limit nuclear war
| 1973
| Pioneer 10 sends television pictures of Jupiter
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Watergate scandal, President Ford succeeds President Nixon
Coup deposes dictatorship in Portugal
| 1974
| Soviet space probe lands on Mars
American scientists disciver new subatomic particle (psi mesons)
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6,000 life-size pottery figures found in China
Helsinki accord signed
Juan Carlos I becomes King of Spain
Portugal grants independence to its African colonies
Khmer Rouge troops terrorize Cambodia
| 1975
| U.S. Apollo and Soviet Sojus link up in space
Lenore Blum (algebra) founded Association for Women in Mathematics. Committed to increased participation of women and girls in mathematics.
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Hua Kuo-feng succeeds Mao Tse-tung in China
North and South Vietnam united
Soweto riots in South Africa
| 1976
| Report about ozone layer damage from spray can gases
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| Panama Treaties signed
| 1977
| First flight of space shuttle Enterprise
New species of bacteria found in deep sea vents
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| Sandanistas fight guerilla war in Nicaragua
| 1978
| First "test-tube baby" born in England
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Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman Prime Minister of Britain
Shah of Iran ousted by Ayatollah Khomeini
U.S.S.R. invades Afghanistan (1979 - 1988)
| 1979
| Voyager I discovers ring around Jupiter
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Gulf War (1980 - 1988) Iraq invades Iran
Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) gains independence
| 1980
| World Health Organization announces world-wide eradication of smallpox
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| Mitterand becomes President of France
| 1981
| Personal computer launched by IBM
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) identified
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| Falkland War between Britain and Argentina
| 1982
| Benoit Mandelbrot (fractal geometry, Mandelbrot set) publishes The fractal geometry of nature. He is largely responsible for the present interest in fractal geometry.
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U.S. President Reagan announces Star Wars Initiative
Lebanon expels Arafat
| 1983
| First flight of U.S. space shuttle Challenger
Compact Discs (CDs) launched
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British coal miners strike
25,000 Jews secretly airlifted from Sudan to Israel
Indira Ghandi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards
| 1984
| Macintosh computer with mouse launched
U.S. and French teams discover the AIDS virus
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United Kingdom and Ireland sign Anglo-Irish Agreement
Palestinians hijack Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro
| 1985
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Prime Minister Olaf Palme shot dead in Sweden
South Africa raids A.N.C. bases in Zambia and Zimbabwe
| 1986
| Space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all 7 crew
Chernobyl nuclear disaster
|
| Gorbachev launches "glasnost" and "perestroika"
| 1987
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Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland
Ethiopia and Somalia sign a peace treaty
National strikes in Poland
Nationalist demonstrations in the Baltics and the Caucauses
Ethnic Albanians demonstrate against Serbs in Kosovo
| 1988
| Stephen Hawking (quantum physics, cosmology) publishes A Brief History of Time despite many physical handicaps
Internet virus jams over 6,000 military computers
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Hungary creates multi-party democracy
East and West Germany unite, Berlin Wall falls
Thousands of students killed in Tiananmen Square in China
U.S. troops invade Panama and install new government
| 1989
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Akihito named Emperor of Japan
Iraq invades Kuwait
Gorbachev receives Nobel Prize for Peace
| 1990
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Operation Desert Storm launched to free Kuwait
Gorbachev resigns as last president of the U.S.S.R.
Leningrad changes its name to St. Petersburg
5,000 year old mummified body found in Austrian Alps
| 1991
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South Africa approves reforms giving blacks equal legal rights
27,000 year old cave paintings found in France
| 1992
| Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Convention on Protection of Species and Habitat signed.
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| "Velvet" Revolution: Slovakia separates from Czechoslovakia
| 1993
| Space telescope Hubble repaired by Endeavor shuttle crew
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Nelson Mandela sworn in as President of South Africa
Genocide in Rwanda's killing fields
U.S. troops seize Haiti
| 1994
| Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashes into Jupiter
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Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia sign peace agreement in Dayton, OH
Jacques Chirac elected president of France
| 1995
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Clinton re-elected U.S. President
Talibans conquer Afghanistan
Indian Hindu Nationalist Party wins national elections
| 1996
| Roger Penrose (relativity, quantum theory, Penrose tiling) publishes The Nature of Space and Time with Stephen Hawking. He also published many other award-winning books about computers and consciousness.
Discovery of a new planet near the fourth closest star to Earth
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| 1997
| Scottish researcher clones lamb (Dolly) from adult sheep DNA
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India and Pakistan conduct first nuclear tests
Peace accord in Northern Ireland
| 1998
| E-mail becomes popular, explosive growth on the Internet
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Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary join NATO
President Yeltsin resigns, succeeded by Vladimir Putin
King Hussein of Jordan and King Hassan II of Morocco die
| 1999
| Lene Hau and Stephen Harris slow light to 17 meters per second.
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Fox elected President of Mexico
Milosevic ousted in Serbia
First meeting ever between the presidents of North and South Korea
| 2000
| DNA sequencing of human genome roughly completed
International Space Station up
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Terrorists crash hijacked airplanes into N.Y. World Trade Center and the Pentagon. President Bush vows to destroy the al Quaeda network in Afghanistan.
Argentinian riots cause change of government
| 2001
| Space probe makes "impossible" landing on asteroid Eros
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U.S. Congress authorizes President Bush to use armed forces in Iraq
Euro becomes legal tender in Europe
Hindu-Moslem violence in India escalates
| 2002
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U.S. captures Saddam Hussein
World-wide protests against war in Iraq
Clashes between opponents and supporters of President Chavez in Venezuela
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) spreads from Asia to Europe and North America
| 2003
| Space shuttle Columbia breaks apart during re-entry over Texas, killing all 7 crew
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