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The Work of Wedgwood and Davy
Thomas Wedgwood reports the work done between himself and Humphry Davy on their experiments with light-sensitive chemicals. They attempted to fix an image on a plate that had been made light sensitive with silver nitrate using an object's shadow or a image formed by using a camera obscura. They were unable to stop the development of the silver nitrate and were thus unsuccessful in creating a permanent image. -
Louisiana Purchase
The United States acquired the territory of Louisiana from France. -
The Kaleidoscope
Sir David Brewster created the kaleidoscope, an instrument that reflects symmetrical patterns of objects for viewing entertainment. -
Niepce and Heliography
Joseph Nicephore Niepce produces a direct positive image using a camera obscura and a peuter plate coated with bitumen of Judea. Niepce creates what is considered to be the world's first permanent photograph, View From the Window at Gras. -
First Pedal Bike
Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the pedal bicycle. -
First Public Introduction of Photography
Photography was publically introduced to the world at the Academy of Science and the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre's process and the Daguerreotype is introduced. -
First Public Introduction of Photography
Photography was publicly introduced to the world at the Academy of Science and the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre's process and the Daguerreotype is introduced. -
Herschel’s Cyanotype
In the 1840’s John Herschel developed a process that he named “cyanotype” to create more colorful photographic prints using iron salts. The process was later used by scientists in the field to make prints of specimen and to make architectural blueprints. -
The Calotype
William Henry Fox Talbot invents the process called the “calotype”. From this process a latent image is created as a negative which could later be used to create positive prints. The calotype is the earliest process most similar to the process used today. -
The First Chemical Fertilizer
Superphosphate is patented by John Bennet Lawes. -
"Cyanotypes of British Algae”
Anna Atkins was a botanical illustrator who used the cyanotype technique to create the books of botanical prints, an extraordinary example of art and science combined. -
The First Electronic Text Message
Samuel Morse sends the first electrical telegram using what is now called “Morse Code”. The telegram stated, “What hath God wrought!”, similar to todays “OMG”. -
Martens’ Rotating Camera
This invention by Frederick Von Martens made it possible to create smooth panoramic photographs. This can be seen in the daguerreotype entitled, “Panorama of Paris”. -
The Collodion Process
This negative-positive, wet-plate process was developed by Frederick Scott Archer. This technique used glass plates instead of paper. These plates were covered in a sticky solution of collodion, ether, guncotton, and alcohol. Then, light-sensitive silver iodide and iodide of iron were added, and the plate was sensitized with distilled water and silver nitrate. -
Tintype
This process created lightweight, inexpensive images on thin sheets of iron. Due to the weight of these it made them easy to send through the post. -
“The Origin of Species”
Charles Darwin’s, “The Origin of Species” is published. This book is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. -
Wavelengths in Light
James Clark Maxwell was the first to show that light is an electromagnetic wave. -
Platinum Print
This process created a long-lasting print with a wide range of grey tones. The prints were made on platinum paper by saturating the paper with light-sensitive potassium chloroplatinate and ferric oxalate and exposing it to a negative. Then, they were developed with potassium oxalate to precipitate out the platinum. -
Pictorialism
Photographers hand manipulated negatives so that when prints of an image were made, they were softly focused and looked as if they had been painted. -
Toilet Paper
Toilet paper is debuted by The British Perforated Paper Company. -
The First U.S. Roller Coaster
The first roller coaster is built in the United States by L.A. Thompson on Coney Island in New York. -
Climate Change Studies and Photography
Photographs of Alpine glaciers were taken by German scientist Sebastian Finsterwalder to record and estimate their rate of recession/melting. -
Kinetoscope
The kinetoscope is an early motion picture device that allowed one-viewer audiences to watch a film through a peephole in the device. -
The X-ray
Wilhelm Conrad Ro ̈ntgen discovers the x-ray projecting an image on a screen using electricity and a cathode ray tube. -
Electron Discovery
Sir Joseph John Thomson discovers the electron. -
The Discovery of Radium
Marie and Pierre Curie discovered Radium. -
Planck’s Constant
Max Planck discovers the quantum nature of energy and derives a formula to express the physical constant relating the energy carried by a photon and its frequency (h = 6.62607015×10−34 J⋅s.) -
The Lumie ́re Autochrome Process
The autochrome process was developed by Auguste and Louis Lumie ́re. It created a colored imaged that could be viewed using a hand-viewer and the images could be projected using a magic lantern. -
Creation of the Vortescope
This invention created a photograph of a kaleidoscope-like image. It allowed for the English art movement called vorticism.
