360Science
Discoveries, from Newton's laws to DNA, and the natural world.
News · 1
History · 23
- 12 December 2015
Nearly every nation agrees the Paris climate agreement
On 12 December 2015, at the COP21 climate conference near Paris, 196 parties agreed to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to try to keep it to 1.5°C. Each country sets its own plan to cut emissions and updates it every five years. The agreement came into force in November 2016.
- 4 July 2012
CERN announces the discovery of the Higgs boson
On 4 July 2012, scientists at CERN, near Geneva, announced that two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider had found a new particle matching the Higgs boson. Predicted in 1964, the particle helps explain why other basic particles have mass. Peter Higgs and François Englert shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 14 April 2003
Scientists complete the Human Genome Project
On 14 April 2003, scientists announced the completion of the Human Genome Project, a 13-year international effort to read the roughly 3 billion letters of human DNA. It found that people have only about 20,000 genes. The map has transformed medicine, and reading a genome now costs a tiny fraction of the original price.
- 16 September 1987
The world agrees to protect the ozone layer
On 16 September 1987, countries signed the Montreal Protocol, agreeing to phase out chemicals that were destroying the ozone layer, which shields life from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. It became the first UN treaty signed by every country in the world. The ozone layer is now slowly healing and is expected to recover by about 2066.
- 25 April 1953
The structure of DNA is revealed
On 25 April 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published the double-helix structure of DNA in the journal Nature, using X-ray images made by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. The discovery explained how living things store and copy genetic information, and it opened the way to modern genetics and medicine.
- 29 May 1953
Hillary and Tenzing reach the summit of Everest
At about 11:30 on 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa mountaineer from Nepal, became the first people known to stand on the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. They were part of a British expedition led by John Hunt. The news reached London on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.
- 1950–1959
The 1950s: DNA, Everest and the space age
In 1953, scientists revealed the double-helix structure of DNA, and climbers first reached the summit of Everest. King Saud succeeded King Abdulaziz that year. A polio vaccine was approved in 1955, and in 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, starting the space age.
- 14 December 1911
Amundsen's team becomes the first to reach the South Pole
On 14 December 1911, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and four companions became the first people to reach the South Pole. They travelled on skis with dog sledges and planted the Norwegian flag. A British team led by Robert Falcon Scott arrived five weeks later and found the tent Amundsen had left. Scott's party died on the return.
- 1905
Einstein's 'miracle year' transforms physics
In 1905, Albert Einstein, a 26-year-old clerk at the patent office in Bern, Switzerland, published four papers that changed physics. They explained light as particles, proved atoms exist, set out special relativity and introduced E = mc², showing that mass and energy are equivalent. 1905 became known as his 'miracle year'.
- 10 December 1901
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded
On 10 December 1901, five years after the death of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded, as his will had asked. Wilhelm Röntgen won physics for discovering X-rays. Prizes also went to chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. They are still presented every year on 10 December.
- December 1898
Marie and Pierre Curie discover polonium and radium
In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered two new radioactive elements in Paris: polonium in July, named after Marie's homeland Poland, and radium in December. Marie Curie coined the word 'radioactivity'. She became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, in 1903, and the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two sciences.
- 1890–1899
The 1890s: X-rays, cinema and the Olympic Games reborn
In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays and the Lumière brothers screened the first films to a paying audience. Guglielmo Marconi pioneered radio, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, and the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.
- 1 March 1872
Yellowstone becomes the world's first national park
On 1 March 1872, US President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law making Yellowstone, in the Rocky Mountains, the world's first national park, protected 'for the benefit and enjoyment of the people'. Home to geysers, hot springs, canyons and wildlife such as bison and wolves, it inspired a worldwide movement. There are now thousands of national parks.
- 6 March 1869
Mendeleev presents the periodic table of the elements
On 6 March 1869, the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table was presented to the Russian Chemical Society. He arranged the 63 known elements by atomic weight and grouped them by their properties, leaving gaps for elements not yet discovered. When gallium, scandium and germanium were found, they matched his predictions.
- 24 November 1859
Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
On 24 November 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, explaining how living things change over many generations through natural selection. Based on decades of observation, including on the voyage of HMS Beagle, it became one of the most influential books in the history of science.
- 1850–1859
The 1850s: the Great Exhibition and the origin of species
London's Great Exhibition of 1851 showcased industry from around the world. John Snow traced cholera to a water pump, founding modern epidemiology. Henry Bessemer found a cheap way to make steel, the first commercial oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania, and Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859.
- 1740–1749
The 1740s: electricity in a jar and the Celsius scale
In the 1740s, Anders Celsius proposed the temperature scale now used across most of the world. Scientists learned to store electricity in the Leyden jar, and Benjamin Franklin began his famous experiments. Montesquieu's ideas on separating government powers shaped future constitutions.
- 1735
Linnaeus publishes his system for naming living things
In 1735, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus published Systema Naturae, a system for grouping and naming plants, animals and minerals. Later he gave every species a two-part Latin name, such as Homo sapiens for humans. Scientists around the world still use his naming system, which made it possible to describe and compare life on Earth.
- 1730–1739
The 1730s: naming nature and keeping time at sea
Carl Linnaeus published his system for classifying living things in 1735, the basis of scientific names still used today. John Harrison completed his first marine clock to solve the longitude problem. John Kay's flying shuttle sped up weaving, and Leonhard Euler founded a new branch of mathematics.
- 1666–1699
1666–1699: The age of science begins
Our 360 years begin in the middle of the Scientific Revolution. Isaac Newton explained gravity and motion, microscopes revealed tiny living things, and scientists measured the speed of light. New institutions such as the Royal Society and the Bank of England laid foundations for modern science and finance.
- 5 July 1687
Newton publishes the Principia
In July 1687, Isaac Newton published the Principia, setting out his three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. He showed that the same force pulls an apple to the ground and holds the planets in their orbits. The book became the foundation of physics for more than two centuries.
- 1680–1689
The 1680s: Newton's Principia and Halley's comet
In 1687, Isaac Newton published the Principia, explaining the laws of motion and universal gravitation. Edmond Halley, who paid to print it, studied the comet that now bears his name. The French court moved to Versailles, and in England, Parliament gained new powers in 1689.
- 1670–1679
The 1670s: microscopes, starlight and a new observatory
In the 1670s, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek became the first person to describe bacteria, seen through microscopes he made himself. Ole Rømer showed that light takes time to travel. England founded the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and better clocks began to change how people measured time.
On this day · 41
- 4 July 2012
Scientists announce the discovery of the Higgs boson
On 4 July 2012, scientists at CERN near Geneva announced that the Large Hadron Collider had found a new particle matching the Higgs boson, predicted in 1964. It helps explain why basic particles have mass. Peter Higgs and François Englert won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 10 September 2008
The Large Hadron Collider starts up
On 10 September 2008, scientists at CERN, near Geneva, sent the first beam of protons around the Large Hadron Collider, a 27 km ring and the world's largest particle accelerator. Four years later, it found the Higgs boson.
- 14 April 2003
The Human Genome Project is completed
On 14 April 2003, scientists announced the completion of the Human Genome Project, which read the roughly 3 billion letters of human DNA. It found that people have only about 20,000 genes. The work transformed medicine and is freely available to scientists everywhere.
- 16 September 1987
The Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer is signed
On 16 September 1987, countries signed the Montreal Protocol, agreeing to phase out chemicals that were thinning the ozone layer, which shields life from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Every country later joined. The ozone layer is now slowly healing.
- 21 July 1983
The coldest temperature on Earth is recorded
On 21 July 1983, scientists at the Soviet research station Vostok, on the ice sheet of Antarctica, recorded an air temperature of minus 89.2°C. It remains the lowest directly measured air temperature on Earth. Satellites have since detected even colder spots on the ice surface.
- 18 May 1980
Mount St Helens erupts
On 18 May 1980, the volcano Mount St Helens in Washington state, USA, erupted after an earthquake caused its north side to collapse in the largest landslide ever recorded. Ash spread across 11 states. The eruption taught scientists much about predicting volcanic eruptions.
- 5 June 1972
The first UN conference on the environment opens
On 5 June 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment opened in Stockholm, Sweden, the first global meeting about protecting nature. It created the UN Environment Programme. The opening day is now marked every year as World Environment Day.
- 2 February 1971
Countries sign a treaty to protect wetlands
On 2 February 1971, countries meeting in the city of Ramsar signed the Convention on Wetlands, one of the first global agreements to protect nature. Wetlands such as marshes, mangroves and lakes shelter wildlife and clean water. The date is now marked every year as World Wetlands Day.
- 22 April 1970
The first Earth Day
On 22 April 1970, about 20 million Americans took part in the first Earth Day, with rallies and clean-ups calling for protection of the environment. New laws on clean air and water followed. Earth Day is now marked in more than 190 countries.
- 23 January 1960
Two explorers dive to the deepest point of the ocean
On 23 January 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh took the bathyscaphe Trieste to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Pacific's Mariana Trench, about 10,900 m down. The descent took almost five hours. They saw a flat-looking fish, proof that life survives at enormous pressure.
- 17 February 1959
The first weather satellite is launched
On 17 February 1959, the United States launched Vanguard 2, the first satellite designed to measure weather, by observing cloud cover. It wobbled in orbit, so its data was hard to use. But it opened the way for weather satellites, which now help forecast storms and save lives.
- 29 December 1959
Richard Feynman imagines nanotechnology
On 29 December 1959, the physicist Richard Feynman gave a talk called 'There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom' in California. He imagined writing an entire encyclopedia on the head of a pin and building machines from individual atoms. The talk is often seen as the starting point of nanotechnology.
- 3 August 1958
A submarine reaches the North Pole under the ice
On 3 August 1958, the American nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to reach the North Pole, travelling under the Arctic ice. Its crew of 116 crossed from the Pacific to the Atlantic beneath the ice cap, proving there was no land under the Pole.
- 29 September 1954
CERN is founded
On 29 September 1954, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, came into being near Geneva, set up by 12 European countries to study the basic building blocks of matter. CERN discovered the Higgs boson in 2012, and the World Wide Web was invented there.
- 28 February 1953
Watson and Crick work out the structure of DNA
On 28 February 1953, in Cambridge, James Watson and Francis Crick worked out the double helix structure of DNA, using X-ray images made by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. The twisted ladder showed how living things copy and pass on genetic information. Their paper appeared in April.
- 29 May 1953
Hillary and Tenzing reach the top of Everest
At about 11:30 on 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa mountaineer from Nepal, became the first people known to stand on the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, 8,849 m above sea level.
- 5 December 1952
The Great Smog of London begins
On 5 December 1952, cold, still weather trapped smoke from coal fires over London, creating a thick, poisonous smog that lasted five days. Thousands of people died from its effects. The disaster led to Britain's Clean Air Act of 1956, an important early law against air pollution.
- 28 April 1947
The Kon-Tiki raft sets sail across the Pacific
On 28 April 1947, the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmates set sail from Peru on Kon-Tiki, a raft of balsa logs. After 101 days and about 7,000 km, they reached Polynesia, showing that ancient peoples could have made such voyages. The raft is in a museum in Oslo.
- 27 February 1932
James Chadwick reports the neutron
On 27 February 1932, the journal Nature published a letter from the British physicist James Chadwick reporting the 'possible existence of a neutron', a particle with no electric charge inside the atom's nucleus. The discovery transformed nuclear physics, and Chadwick won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935.
- 11 June 1910
Jacques Cousteau is born
On 11 June 1910, the French ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau was born. He co-invented the Aqua-Lung, which let divers breathe underwater for long periods, and his films and television series showed millions of people the life of the oceans for the first time.
- 16 January 1909
Explorers reach the South Magnetic Pole
On 16 January 1909, Edgeworth David, Douglas Mawson and Alistair Mackay, members of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, reached the South Magnetic Pole after hauling their sledges for more than 2,000 km. The magnetic pole, where compass needles point straight down, slowly moves over time.
- 18 April 1906
An earthquake strikes San Francisco
On 18 April 1906, a powerful earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by fires that burned for days. About 3,000 people are thought to have died, and much of the city was destroyed. Studies of the San Andreas Fault afterwards helped scientists understand how earthquakes happen.
- 20 April 1902
Marie and Pierre Curie isolate radium
On 20 April 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie succeeded in isolating radium chloride in their laboratory in Paris, after processing tonnes of ore. Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the only person to win in two sciences, physics and chemistry.
- 10 December 1901
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded
On 10 December 1901, five years after Alfred Nobel's death, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded. Wilhelm Röntgen won the physics prize for discovering X-rays. The prizes are still presented every year on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
- 26 December 1898
Marie and Pierre Curie announce radium
On 26 December 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie, with Gustave Bémont, announced to the French Academy of Sciences the discovery of a new radioactive element, which they named radium. Their work founded the study of radioactivity and later led to new treatments for cancer.
- 12 January 1895
Britain's National Trust is founded
On 12 January 1895, the National Trust was founded in Britain by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to protect places of natural beauty and historic interest for everyone. Today it cares for hundreds of historic houses, gardens and nature reserves, and long stretches of coastline.
- 27 November 1895
Alfred Nobel signs the will that creates the Nobel Prizes
On 27 November 1895, in Paris, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel signed his last will. He left most of his fortune to fund annual prizes for those who 'conferred the greatest benefit to humankind' in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. The first prizes were awarded in 1901.
- 22 September 1888
National Geographic magazine is first published
On 22 September 1888, the National Geographic Society published the first issue of its magazine in Washington, a plain scholarly journal. It later became famous for its photographs of wildlife, places and peoples, and for its yellow-bordered covers.
- 27 August 1883
Krakatoa erupts
On 27 August 1883, the volcano Krakatoa in Indonesia exploded in one of the most violent eruptions in recorded history. The sound was heard about 4,800 km away. Huge waves killed more than 36,000 people, and ash in the sky caused vivid red sunsets around the world.
- 14 March 1879
Albert Einstein is born
On 14 March 1879, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany. His theories of relativity changed our understanding of space, time and gravity, and his work on light helped found quantum physics. He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. The date is also celebrated as Pi Day, from 3.14.
- 1 March 1872
Yellowstone becomes the world's first national park
On 1 March 1872, US President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law making Yellowstone, in the Rocky Mountains, the world's first national park. It protects geysers, hot springs, forests and wildlife such as bison and wolves. Today there are thousands of national parks around the world.
- 6 March 1869
Mendeleev's periodic table is presented
On 6 March 1869, the periodic table of the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev was presented to the Russian Chemical Society. He arranged the elements by weight and properties, leaving gaps for ones not yet found. When gallium, scandium and germanium were discovered, they matched his predictions.
- 18 August 1868
Helium is discovered in the Sun
On 18 August 1868, the French astronomer Jules Janssen, watching a solar eclipse in India, saw a bright yellow line in the Sun's light that matched no known element. The element was named helium, after the Greek word for Sun. It was found on Earth only in 1895.
- 7 November 1867
Marie Curie is born
Marie Skłodowska Curie was born in Warsaw on 7 November 1867. She moved to Paris to study science and, with her husband Pierre, discovered polonium and radium. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.
- 24 November 1859
Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
On 24 November 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, explaining how living things change over many generations through natural selection. The first printing sold out quickly. It became one of the most influential books in the history of science.
- 28 August 1845
Scientific American is first published
On 28 August 1845, the first issue of Scientific American appeared in New York, a four-page weekly newspaper about inventions. It is the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States, and has carried articles by more than 200 Nobel Prize winners.
- 27 December 1831
Darwin sets sail on HMS Beagle
On 27 December 1831, HMS Beagle left Plymouth, England, with the 22-year-old naturalist Charles Darwin aboard. The voyage around the world lasted almost five years. Darwin's observations, including in the Galápagos Islands, later shaped his theory of evolution by natural selection.
- 12 February 1809
Charles Darwin is born
On 12 February 1809, Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. His voyage around the world on HMS Beagle led him to the theory of evolution by natural selection, published in 1859 in On the Origin of Species. It became the foundation of modern biology.
- 17 January 1773
Cook's ships are the first to cross the Antarctic Circle
On 17 January 1773, the ships of the British navigator James Cook, HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure, became the first known vessels to cross the Antarctic Circle. Blocked by ice, Cook never sighted Antarctica itself, but his voyage showed that any southern continent lay far to the south.
- 1 November 1755
The great Lisbon earthquake
On 1 November 1755, a powerful earthquake struck Lisbon, followed by a tsunami and fires that destroyed much of the Portuguese capital. The city was rebuilt with wide streets and buildings designed to withstand earthquakes, an early example of modern urban planning and earthquake engineering.
- 5 July 1687
Isaac Newton's Principia is published
On 5 July 1687, Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, known as the Principia, was published in London. It set out his laws of motion and universal gravitation, explaining why apples fall and planets orbit the Sun. It is one of the most important science books ever written.
Future · 4
- 9–20 November 2026 · Confirmed
COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye
From 9 to 20 November 2026, the United Nations climate conference, COP31, meets at the Antalya Expo Center in Türkiye. Governments from nearly every country will negotiate how to cut emissions and adapt to a warming world. World leaders gather on 11 and 12 November. Climate talks often run past their scheduled closing day.
- 29 May 2053 · Anniversary
100 years since the first ascent of Everest
On 29 May 2053, the world marks 100 years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood on the summit of Mount Everest. Thousands of climbers have reached the top since, but the first ascent remains one of the great moments of exploration.
- 2060 · Planned
Saudi Arabia's net zero target
Under the Saudi Green Initiative, announced in 2021, the Kingdom has set a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2060. The initiative also aims to plant 10 billion trees across Saudi Arabia and greatly expand renewable energy such as solar and wind power.
- February 2100 · Predicted
The year 2100 has no 29 February
Under the Gregorian calendar, a year divisible by 100 is a leap year only if it is also divisible by 400. So 2000 had a 29 February, but 2100 will not: 28 February 2100 will be followed directly by 1 March. The rule keeps the calendar in step with the seasons.