Timeline
Dates extend to 1988; those marked "c." are approximate.
For an annotated timeline including for comparison other dates in the history of society and of technology, click here.
For a timeline of the exploration of the magnetic environment of the Earth, Sun and Planets, see here.
For an extensive list of links on the history of physics and astronomy, see the AIP Center for the History of Physics
- c. 500 BC
- 432 BC
- Meton introduces his calendar in Athens.
- c. 270 BC
- Aristarchus of Samos proposes Earth goes around the Sun.
- c. 250 BC
- Erathosthenes (276-192 BC) estimates size of the Earth.
- c. 135 BC
- Hipparchus discovers precession of the equinoxes, estimates distance of the Moon.
- 46 BC
- Julius Caesar reforms the Roman Calendar
- c. 140
- Claudius Ptolmaeus (Ptolemy) writes "He Mathematike Syntaxis" (known 1000 years later as "Almagest"), proposing his world system.
- c. 820
- Caliph Al Ma'mun establishes "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad
- c. 780-850
- Al Khorezmi. (c. 780-850)
- 1543
- Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) publishes his theory of the solar system.
- 1572
- Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) observes a "new star."
- 1582
- Pope Gregory the 13th reforms the calendar.
- 1609
- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) builds the first astronomical telescope and observes for the first time craters on the Moon, satellites around Jupiter, and the way Venus goes through phases like the Moon (crescent, etc.) .
- 1609
- Johann Kepler (1571-1630), using Tycho's observations, formulates his first two laws of planetary motion (3rd law in 1619).
- 1686
- Isaac Newton (1647-1727) publishes "Philosophie Naturalis Principia Mathematica," outlining laws of mechanics and law of gravity.
- 1769
- James Watt (1736-1819) devises the modern steam engine.
- 1798
- Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) first measures the force of gravity between two objects in his laboratory.
- 1806
- William Congreve devises military rockets; used 13 September 1814 in British attack on Baltimore.
- 1835
- Gaspard Coriolis (1792-1843) publishes laws of mechanics in a rotating frame, including an extra force on moving objects.
- 1838
- Friedrich Bessel first measures distance to the star 61 Cygni, using the diameter of the Earth's orbit as baseline.
- 1840
- Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) publishes "Etudes sur les glaciers", proposes that giant glaciers once covered central Europe.
- 1843
- James Prescott Joule (1818-89) measures "the exchange rate" between mechanical energy and heat.
- 1852
- Radanath Sikhdar (1813-70) identifies the highest peak
on Earth, later named for Sir George Everest (1790-1866).
- 1857
- Christoph Hendrik Buys Ballot (1817-90) proposes the rule for the swirl direction of large storms and hurricanes.
- 1883
- Ernest Mach (1838-1916) publishes a critical study of Newtonian mechanics.
- 1899
- (19 October) Robert Goddard (1882-1945) climbs cherry tree, resolves to pursue his dream of spaceflight.
- 1903
- 17 December--First successful flight by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- 1911
- Andre Bing in Belgium patents multistage rocket.
- 1916
- Goddard tests rockets with De-Laval nozzles.
- 1926
- 16 March--Goddard launches his first liquid-fuel rocket.
- 1927
- 5 July--German "Society for Space Travel" founded.
- 1932
- 1 November--Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977) starts conducting rocket research for the German army.
- 1936
- Theodore von Karman starts the Guggenheim Aeronautical Lab at the California Institute of Technology, later leading to JPL.
- 1944
- (8 September) V2 rockets begin falling on Britain
- 1947
- 14 October--X-1 rocket plane piloted by Chuck Yaeger breaks sound barrier.
- 1949
- 24 February--"Bumper" 2-stage rocket reaches altitude of 393 km.
- 1957-8
- The International Geophysical Year (extended to 18 months).
- 1957
- 4 October--Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1
- 3 November--Launch of Sputnik 2, carrying a dog named Laika.
- 5 December--Vanguard disaster.
- 1958
- 31 January--Launch of Explorer 1.
- 26 March--Launch of Explorer 3.
- 1 May--US National Academy receives from James Van Allen his report on the discovery of the radiation belt.
- 1958-9
- "Project Orion" to design nuclear-powered spaceships.
- 1959
- 2 January--Luna 1 launched by Soviet Union, comes within 6000 km of Moon; Luna 2 (September) observes first signs of "solar wind"; Luna 3 (October) takes picture of Moon's far side.
- 1961
- 12 April--Yuri Gagarin becomes first human to orbit Earth.
- 5 May--Allan Shepard becomes first American in space, completes 15-minute suborbital hop.
- 25 May--US president J.F. Kennedy announces project to land human on Moon within decade.
- 1962
- 20 February--John Glenn becames first American in orbit.
- 14 December--Mariner 2 (launched August 27) passes by planet Venus.
- 1965
- HARP cannon operated on Barbados.
- 23 March--first Gemini flight, 2 US astronauts together.
- 14 July--Mariner 4 passes above Mars, returns first pictures.
- 1968
- 21-7 December, Apollo 8 with three astronauts loops around the Moon, returns to Earth.
- 1969
- 20 July--Apollo 11 astronauts land on the Moon.
- 1970
- 11 February--First launch of a Japanese spacecraft, by Lambda 4S rocket.
- 11-17 April--Apollo 13 astronauts narrowly escape failed spacecraft.
- 24 April--First launch of a Chinese satellite, by a Long March 1 rocket.
- 17 November--Soviet Russia lands remotely controlled vehicle. (Lunokhod) on the surface of the Moon.
- 1971
- 2 December--Soviet Mars 3 entered orbit around Mars, landed capsule which transmitted for 20 seconds.
- 1973
- 2 March (5 April)--Pioneer 10 (11) launched towards Jupiter, arrive 4 December 1973 (5 December 1974; Saturn, 1 September 1979) .
- 1973
- 14 May--Skylab space station launched (astronauts follow later).
- 1974
- 29 March--Mariner 10 (launched 3 November 1973) flies past the planet Mercury.
- 1975
- 8 June--Soviet Venera 9 lands on Venus, returns pictures
- 11 June, Venera 11 also lands, takes pictures.
- 1976
- 20 July--Viking 1 soft-lands on Mars, takes pictures, searches for life.
- 1977
- 5 September (August 20) --Voyager 1 (2) launched towards Jupiter. arriving 5 March (9 July) 1979, continuing to encounter Saturn 12 November 1980 (26 August 1981) . Voyager 2 continued to Uranus (25 January 1985) and Neptune (25 August 1989).
- 1977
- 1979
- 24 December--First flight of Europe's Ariane rocket.
- 1981
- 12 April--First flight of the Space Shuttle.
- 1986
- 6 March--Russia's Vega 1 flies past Comet Halley, after dropping French balloon experiment on Venus.
- 14 March--Europe's Giotto flies past Comet Halley.
- 1988
- 15 November--Soviet space shuttle "Buran" conducts its first (unmanned) flight.
Glossary
Author and curator: David P. Stern, u5dps@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov
Last updated 24 August 1998