World History Timeline

Timeline

14 events

19th century

  1. October 16, 1846★★★★★

    First public demonstration of ether anaesthesia

    At Massachusetts General Hospital, William Morton anaesthetises a surgical patient with ether in public, opening the era of surgical anaesthesia.

    Science· United States

20th century

  1. 1929★★★★★

    Hubble shows the universe is expanding

    Edwin Hubble publishes the relation between galaxies' distances and recession velocities, evidence that the universe is expanding.

    Science· United States
  2. February 18, 1930★★★★★

    Discovery of Pluto

    Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto at Lowell Observatory; in 2006 it is reclassified as a dwarf planet.

    Science· United States
  3. July 16, 1945★★★★★

    Trinity nuclear test

    The United States detonates the world's first nuclear weapon in the New Mexico desert as part of the Manhattan Project.

    ScienceTechnology· United States
  4. December 1947★★★★★

    Invention of the transistor

    John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley at Bell Labs build the first working transistor, the foundation of modern electronics.

    TechnologyScience· United States
  6. July 20, 1976★★★★★

    Viking 1 lands on Mars

    NASA's Viking 1 lander touches down on Mars and returns the first images from the planet's surface.

    ExplorationScience· United States
  7. September 5, 1977★★★★★

    Launch of Voyager 1

    NASA launches Voyager 1 to study Jupiter and Saturn; it later becomes the first human-made object to reach interstellar space.

    ExplorationScience· United States
  8. April 24, 1990★★★★★

    Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

    Space Shuttle Discovery carries the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, where it transforms our understanding of the universe.

    ScienceTechnology· United States

21st century

  1. April 14, 2003★★★★★

    Human Genome Project completed

    The Human Genome Project announces it has sequenced the vast majority of the human genome.

    Science· United States, United Kingdom
  2. 2012★★★★★

    CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing described

    Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier show how CRISPR-Cas9 can cut DNA at chosen sites, launching a revolution in gene editing.

    Science· United States
  3. September 14, 2015★★★★★

    First detection of gravitational waves

    The LIGO detectors record gravitational waves from two merging black holes, confirming a prediction of general relativity; the result is announced in February 2016.

    Science· United States
  4. December 25, 2021★★★★★

    Launch of the James Webb Space Telescope

    The James Webb Space Telescope, a NASA–ESA–CSA collaboration, is launched from French Guiana to observe the early universe in infrared.

    ScienceTechnology· United States, France
Timeline · World History Timeline