The history of science is an interesting and interrelated series of events.  Many times it is a scientific discovery that causes social and cultural changes but sometimes it is the social condition that allow a discovery to take place or be accepted by the population in general.  When you consider a scientific discovery or discoverer it is therefore important to understand what was happening in the world at that time.  When using this and other resources to write about a historical science event make sure you include not only the science discovery, but the social and cultural events that lead up to and occurred during that time, as well as the effects the discovery had on the world afterwards.  This is only a short list of the different significant events that have happened since the "beginning" of our historical time, be sure to use other resources to expand and improve your writing.

 

Complete Timeline
Early History (1,0000,000BC to 600BC)
1,000,000 BC	Homo erectus uses fire
30,000 BC	early number system used on bones
20,000 BC	early art in caves in France
10,000 BC	dog is domesticated
5,000 BC	Egyptians melt copper from copper ores
3,500 BC	Wheeled vehicles used in Sumeria
3,500 BC	Bronze (alloy of copper and tin) made by Egyptians and Babylonians
2,800 BC	Egyptians use 365-day calender
1,650 BC	early paper (papyrus) used in Egypt
900 BC	symbol for zero used (India)
Greek and Roman (600BC to 400AD)
585 BC	Thales of Miletus (ancient Greek) correctly predicts solar eclipse
530 BC	Pythagorus starts school of math (his theorum was already known by others)
500 BC	steel (alloy of iron and carbon) is made in India
450 BC	Leucippus (ancient Greek) introduces idea of atom
400 BC	Hippocrates (ancient Greek) develops the Hippocratic oath, still used in medicine today
352 BC	first supernova reported, in China
300 BC	early Greeks perform dissections and describe spleen, liver, ovaries and other organs
260 BC	Great Wall of China started (finished about 160 years later)
170 BC	first paved roads, in Rome
0	birth of Jesus Christ
50	Pliny the elder (ancient Roman) publishes work summarizing all known knowledge of nature
60	toys made of steam power used in Roman empire, but not thought to be used for machines
180	Galen publishes work describing all medical knowledge (much of it incorrect), used until Middle Ages
271	first compass used in China
Byzantine and Medieval (400AD to 1452AD)
400	term chemistry first used in Alexandria to describe changing matter
748	first printed newspaper, in China
750	Arab alchemist describes how to make aluminum chloride, nitric acid and acetic acid (with different names)
780	Arabs introduce algebra to Europe
789	Charlemagne (France) introduces royal foot as standard unit of measurement
850	gunpowder described in China
880	Rhazes (Arabia) classifies chemicals as mineral, vegetable, animal and derivative
880	paper money first used in China
977	hospital with 24 doctors created (Babylonia)
1000	Avicenna (Arab) publishes book on Greek and Arab medicine, dominates medicine in Europe until 1600s
1000	Chinese burn fuel for coal
1050	Arabs introduce decimal system to Europe
1150	first rockets developed (China)
1202	zero introduced to Europe
1250	goose feather (quill) used for writing
1288	first gun (China)
1298	Marco Polo publishes his book on his travels in China
1300	properties of sulfuric acid first described
1300	eyeglasses become common
1347	gun arrives in Europe
1360	Guy de Chauliac (France) describes how to treat fractures
1400	coffee first brewed (Ethiopia)
Renaissance and Scientific Revolution (1453 to 1659AD)
1490	"anatomical theater" opens in Italy to demonstrate dissection of corpses
1490	Leonardo da Vinci (Italy) notices capillary action
1492	graphite is used for pencils (England)
1492	Leonardo da Vinci (Italy) draws futuristic design of a flying machine
1500	Chinese scientist ties 47 gunpowder rockets to his chair to build a flying machine; it explodes and kills him
1500	first recorded cesarean operation (C-section) performed on a living woman
1502	first pocket watch
1514	first use of + and - signs in algebra
1517	Fracastoro (Italy) explains fossils as remains of actual organism from distant past
1518	Royal Academy of Physicians established in London
1520	Portugal imports the orange tree from China
1543	Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory (Earth revolves around the sun)
1543	Vesalius publishes the first accurate work on human anatomy
1559	Colombo (Italian) accurately describes how blood flows through heart to lungs and back
1565	first drawing of fossils (Germany)
1588	Tycho Brahe rejects old idea of stars being held into place by giant crystal spheres
1600	Giordano Bruno (Italy) burned at the stake for agreeing with Copernicus' theory (Earth revolves around sun)
1602	Tycho Brahe publishes detailed positions of 777 stars
1604	Gallileo announces that a free-falling body accelerates as it falls
1609	compound microscope invented
1610	Gallileo uses a telescope to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn (which he does not understand)
1628	William Harvey (England) publishes his discovery of the circulation of blood
1633	Roman Catholic Inquisition forces Gallileo to state he does not believe in Copernicus' theory (Earth revolves around sun)
1637	Renee Descartes explains rainbows and the formation of clouds
1641	Ferdinad II (Italy) invents fluid-filled thermometer
1643	Torricelli (Italy) invents mercury-filled barometer
1648	van Helmont publication on experiment showing that a tree's increase in weight is not from the soil
Newton Era (1660 to 1734)
1660	Robet Boyle (Ireland) announces that removing air puts out a flame and kills small animals (combustion and respiration are similar
1662	Boyle's Law (volume and pressure of gas vary inversely under same temp)
1665	Robert Hooke describes cells for the first time (viewed in slices of cork)
1665	Malphigi describes how nervous system is made of bundles of fibers
1665	Great Plague in London kills 75,000; Isaac Newton escapes to countryside and invents calculus, discovers that white light is a mixture of all colors, and develops law of universal gravitation (by seeing an apple fall)
1671	Cassini accurately calculates the distance from the Earth to Mars
1673	van Leeuwanhoek (Dutch) reports his discoveries of microorganisms using a simple microscope
1673	Malphigi describes the development of a chicken egg
1677	van Leeuwanhoek (Dutch) proves that sperm are involved in reproduction (others thought it caused disease)
1683	van Leeuwanhoek (Dutch) observes bacteria for the first time (others will not observe them for 100 years more)
1687	Newton (England) publishes his three laws
1691	John Ray (England) suggests that fossils are remains of animals from the distant past
1698	first practical steam-powered machine (England)
1704	Newton (England) combines math with experiment to prove that light is made of particles (but could also be wave-like)
1716	Halley (England) develops a diving bell with air system from above
1717	Lady Mary Wortley brings to England Turkish practice of vaccinating against smallpox (natural vaccines)
1727	Newton dies
1729	Gray discovers that electricity can be trasmitted from one object to another through conducting material
1733	de Cisternay Du Fay (France) discovers opposite charges in static electricity (and that unlike attracts/likes repel)
Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution (1735 to 1819)
1735	Linnaeus (Sweden) introduces his classification system still used today (kingdom, phylum, etc, and binomial nomenclature)
1736	first successful operation on appendicitis
1738	explains fluid pressure using idea of particles hitting walls of container
1742	Celsius invents the Celsius scale for temperature
1747	Franklin (US) uses kite and key to show that lightening is electricity
1756	Black (England) publishes first detailed view of chemial reaction
1772	Lavoiser (France) shows that when sulfur and phosphorous are burned, their gain in weight is from the air
1772	Priestley shows that air that kills animals (no oxygen) can be replenished by plants (which therefore must produce oxygen)
1772	Priestly shows how to make carbonated water (water and carbon dioxide)
1772	nitrogen discovered
1772	Scheele identifies and discovers oxygen (he calls it "fire air")
1777	Scheele describes experiments that suggest air is made of fire air (oxygen) and foul air (nitrogen)
1777	Wenzel (German) determines that rate of reaction depends on concentration of reactants
1778	Lavoiser (France) announces that 75% of air is oxygen which is responsible for combustion and 25% is nitrogen which does not combust
1779	Lavoiser (France) gives the name oxygen to the part of air that is responsible for combustion
1779	Buffon (France) announces that 75,000 years have passed since creation (not 6,000 as stated in the Bible)
1779	first bridge made of iron (England)
1781	Herschel discovers the planet Uranus
1781	Priestly ignites hydrogen and oxygen to create water
1782	Lavoiser (France) observes law of conservation of matter in chemical reactions
1783	first human beings fly (hot air balloon, France)
1795	Cuvier (France) observes bones of 14m prehistoric reptile (dinosaur)
1795	first sterilization of food (done by bottling, heating, and sealing)
1798	Cavendish (England) determines the mass of the Earth using Newton's ideas
1798	four person submarine is successful (US)
1798	Thompson (US) shows that heat should be considered as a kind of motion of particles
1799	perfectly preserved extinct mammoth found frozen in Siberia
1800	Volta (Italy) builds first battery (made of zinc and silver solutions)
1801	Lamarck classifies animals into vertebrates (backbones) and invertebrates (no backbones) and offers his view of evolution
1803	Biot (France) determines that meteorites came from beyond the Earth
1803	Dalton (England) proposes rirst model of the atom
1804	steam locomotive on iron rails
1805	Gay-Lassac (France) proves that water consists of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, and that other gases form in ratios
1805	Gall shows that different parts of the brain have different functions
1807	Davy (England) discovers potassium and sodium by using electrolysis
1807	first practical and economical steam-powered boat
1808	Davy (England) develops first electric-powered light
1809	Lamarck (France) states that animals evolved from simpler forms and they do so buy acquiring characteristics from repeated use of them
1811	Avogadro (Italy) develops Avogadro's law
1811	Bell distinguishes between sensory and motor nerve cells
1812	Cuvier (France) identifies the first pterodactyl (flying dinosaur)
1815	Smith publishes first map of rock strata (England)
1819	Oersted accidentaly discovers that electric currents move magnetized needle (electricity and magnetism are related)
1819	first steamship to cross the Atlantic
19th Century Science (1820 to 1899)
1820	Buckland (England) proposes that the purpose of geology should be to prove Noah's ark and the flood
1821	Seebeck (Russia-Germany) discovers that heat can be converted to electricity
1821	first motor powered by electricity, Faraday (England)
1822	Egyptian hieroglypics translated for the first time (by Champillon, France)
1822	Beaumont (US) determines how digestion occurs
1822	first photograph (by Niepce, France)
1825	Cuvier (France) announces that animals have gone extinct from great catastrophes in the past
1825	Schultze (Germany) shows that cytoplasm is similar for all forms of life
1826	Dutrochet (France) discovers laws of osmosis
1827	first match invented (made of animony sulfide and potassium chlorate)
1829	first system to arrange elements periodically (by Dobereiner, Germany)
1829	word "technology" used for the first time
1829	disease hemophilia described (by Schonlein, Germany)
1831	nucleus of cell discovered (by Brown, England)
1831	Darwin (England) begins 5 year voyage on the Beagle
1832	law makes it legal to sell bodies for dissection (ends practice of stealing them from graves or sometimes murder)
1834	Thomsen (Denmark) divides human eras into Stone Age, Bronze Age , and Iron Age
1834	amalgam (alloy of mercury) used as filling for teeth
1834	second law of thermodynamics (everything leads to entropy in closed system
1835	Darwin arrives in Galapagos, begins to develop theory of natural selection
1837	use of term Ice Age used to describe idea that all of Europe was covered by glaciers in the past
1837	telegraph invented (by Morse, US)
1839	Schleiden and Swan begin development of cell theory (cells basic unit of all living things)
1839	first practical photograph (by Daguerre, France)
1842	Doppler effect discovered(by Doppler, Austria)
1842	law of conservation of energy developed (by Heilbronn, Germany)
1843	new planet Neptune predicted (by Adams, England)
1851	Foucault (France) uses pendulum to demonstrate Earth's rotation
1851	concept of absolute zero (lowest possible temperature) proposed (by Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, England)
1852	speed of nerve impulse determined (by Helmholtz, Germany)
1853	speed of light shown to be less in water than in air (by Foucault, France)
1857	Mendel (Austria) starts his heredity experiments on pea plants
1858	Virchow proposes that all cells arise from previous cells
1859	Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species stating his theory of evolution with natural selection as the mechanism
1860	fossil Archaeopteryx discovered (first bird; by Meyer, Germany)
1863	Pasteur (France) shows that microorganisms turn wine into vinegar
1863	Lyell (England) argues for the existence of prehistoric humans who used stone tools
1865	Jules Verne (France) writes one of first science fiction stories (about shooting men to the moon in a giant bullet)
1865	Mendel publishes his laws of inheritance (goes unnoticed for 4 decades)
1865	chlorophyll determined to be compound that turns carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen
1868	35, 000 year old skeletons of Cro-Magnon man discovered (first Homo sapiens)
1869	Mendeleev (Russia) publishes first periodic table of the elements
1873	first suggestion that the craters on the moon were formed by impacts of meteorites, not by volcanoes (by Proctor, England)
1876	telephone patented (by Bell, Scotland)
1880	Pasteur (France) develops germ theory of disease (diseases are caused by microorganisms)
1881	Pasteur develops first artificially developed vaccine
1882	discovery of chromosomes and cell division by mitosis (by Flemming, Germany)
1882	first definite proof of a disease caused by a microorganism (bacterium causing tuberculosis, by Koch, Germany)
1885	first automobile (3 wheels; by Benz, Germany)
1889	Eiffel tower in France built, largest building (303m)
1894	first radio equipment (by Marconi, France)
1895	X-rays discovered (by Roentgen, Germany)
1897	malaria shown to be transmitted by mosqitoes
1897	electron discovered (by JJ Thomson)
1898	first identification of a virus
20th Century Science to WWII (1990 to 1945)
1900	Mendel's laws of inheritance rediscovered after 40 years
1900	quantum leap of electrons proposed (by Max Planck, Germany)
1900	first amino acid discovered (by Hopkins, England)
1900	yellow fever virus identified
1901	blood groups (A, B, AB, O) discovered (by Landsteiner, Austria)
1901	first radio transmission across the Atlantic
1903	first successful airplane (by Wright brothers, US)
1903	Hutton argues that hereditary factors (genes) are located on chromosomes
1904	Thomson "plum pudding" model of atom, with electrons outside of nuclues (by Thomson)
1905	discovery that female mammals have XX chromosomes and males have XY
1905	Einstien states special theory of relativity and that mass and energy are equivalent
1908	white blood cells shown to kill bacteria (by Metchnikov, Russia)
1908	first plastic invented (called Bakelite, by Baekland, US)
1909	pH scale invented (by Sorensen, Denmark)
1910	discovery of sickle cell anemia (by Herrick, US)
1911	first chomosome map begun (location of genes on chromosomes; fuit fly chromosomes; by Morgan, USA)
1911	Rutherford model of atom: very small dense nucleus surrounded by electrons occupying mostly empty space
1913	first assembly line production (by Ford, US)
1913	Bohr model of atom: like Rutherford's but electrons are in orbit around the nucleus
1914	proton discovered (by Rutherford)
1914	modern theory of plate tectonics proposed (by Wegener, Germany)
1915	bacteriaphages (viruses that attack bacteria) discovered (by Twort, United Kingdom)
1915	Einstein completes his general theory of relativity
1916	Lewis (Lewis dot structure) explains chemical bonds using outer electrons
1918	influenze epidemic kills 15 million people in Europe
1919	Eddington proves Einstein's prediction of light bending (part of the theory of relativity) is true
1920	Soviet Russia first country to legalize abortion
1922	first use of Tuberculosis vaccine
1926	early television demonstrated (by Baird, United Kingdom)
1926	Schrodinger wave equation to describe electrons around an atom
1927	first airplaine flight across the Atlantic (by Lindbergh, US)
1927	Heisenberg uncertainty principle (cannot know both the velocity and location of an electron at any moment in time)
1928	penicillin (first antibiotic) discovered (by Fleming, United Kingdom)
1929	first rocket with scientific equipment launched (by Goddard, US)
1929	Heisenberg and Pauli propose their quantum field theory of the atom
1929	Hubble shows that the universe is expanding
1930	ocean floor explored by deep-diving submarine (Beebe & Barton, US)
1932	neutron discovered (by Chadwick, United Kingdom)
1933	Scientific research in Germany set back by new anti-Jewish laws
1934	first radar (Germany)
1935	nylon synthesized (by Carother, US)
1936	first artificial heart (US)
1936	a living coelocanth (fish) thought to be extinct for 60 million years was caught (Madagascar)
1937	Krebs cycle of cellular respiration (how sugar is made into ATP and carbon dioxide) determined
1939	first helicopter
1940	first color television
1941	Manhattan Project (top secret US project to develop an atomic bomb) starts
1942	first controlled nuclear reaction (by Fermi, in US)
1944	DNA isolated for the first time (function and structure still not known; US)
1945	first atomic bomb exploded (tested US, dropped on Japan)
20th Century Science after WWII (1946 to present)
1946	first automatic computer (US)
1946	enzymes as biological catalysts proposed (by Pauli, US)
1947	trial of Nazi doctors for atrocities commited during WWII
1948	transistor invented (by Bell Labs, US)
1950	color televisions produced (US)
1951	first commercially available computer (US)
1952	first hydrogen bomb (by US)
1952	first successful sex-change operation (Denmark)
1952	DNA proved to be the carrier of genetic information (by Hershey & Chase, US)
1953	first successful open-heart surgery (by Gibbon, US)
1953	Watson & Crick show the structure of DNA (US and United Kingdom)
1954	first suggestion of link between cigarrette smoking and lung cancer
1954	Salk innoculate schoolchildren agains polio (US)
1954	first successful kidney transplant (US)
1955	full amino acid sequence of a protein determined for first time (by Sanger, United Kingdom)
1956	FORTRAN the first computer programming language developed
1956	first video recorder
1956	tRNA and ribosomes discovered (by Berg & Palade, resp., US)
1957	first living thing (a dog) launched into space (Sputnik II, Soviet Union)
1957	how DNA is replicated is shown (by Michelson & Stahl, US)
1958	ultrasound developed to view unborn fetuses (United Kingdom)
1959	first vehicle to reach the moon (Lunik I, Soviet Union)
1960	first laser (US)
1961	first silicon computer chip (by Texas Instruments, US)
1961	announcement that all cancer is caused by mutations in DNA
1961	"letters" (bases) of the DNA code and relation to amino acids discovered (by Nirenberg, US)
1961	Gell-Mann and Ne'eman classify element particles (quarks, mesons, etc; US)
1962	first astronaut in space (Glenn, US)
1962	Rachel Carson's Silent Spring introduces idea that chemicals harm the environment, and starts environmental movement
1962	first chemical reaction with a noble gas (xenon made to react with platinum and flourine; US)
1964	beginning of the "Green Revolution" (increased food production in devoloping countries, through us of new strains of plants)
1967	first heart transplant (by Barnard, South Africa)
1967	newer version of plate tectonics proposed (by McKenzie, Parker & Morgan; United Kingdom & US)
1969	first human on the moon (Armstrong, with Aldrin, US)
1969	first practical scanning electron microscope
1970	first floppy disk for computers (by IBM, USA)
1973	first use of nuclear magnetic resonator (NMR) to form images of body tissues
1973	first living thing (a calf) produced from a frozen embryo
1973	first gene-splicing (inserting genes from one organism into another)
1973	complex molecules of life (including water) proved in comet
1976	Viking I sends photographs of the surface of Mars (US)
1976	Genentech (first bioengineering company) started
1978	first test tube baby (fertilized outside mother's body; United Kingdom)
1979	Voyager I and II send photographs of the moons of Jupiter (US)
1979	first observation of AIDS
1979	meteorite found to have traces of amino acids
1981	first launch of the space shuttle (US)
1981	first personal computer (by IBM, US)
1981	fish cloned
1983	HIV identified as the cause to AIDS
1984	first use of DNA fingerprinting (bt Jeffries, United Kingdom)
1984	creation of the 108th element
1985	DNA of 2,400 year-old mummy cloned
1987	ozone hole discovered over Antartica
1988	Human Genome Project started
1988	embryos of dairy cattle cloned
1989	Voyager II sends photographs of Neptune (US)