Thermodynamic Timeline

Page Table of Contents:

Antiquity to 1700

1700 to 1800

1800 to 1850

1850 to 1900

1900 to 2000

2000 to Present

Antiquity

Early ideas of atomism, heat as a mode of motion within bodies and pressure is the result of such motion, are discussed.

ca150BC

Hero of Alexandria writes Pneumatics, an investigation on atmospheric air, summarizing much of what was known at the time about siphons, pumps, the effects of heat on liquids, and engine designs.

1592

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) builds a crude thermometer (thermoscope) using the contraction of air to draw water up a tube.

1612

Santorre Santorio (1561-1636) uses an early thermoscope, and is the first to propose a scale for temperature. Santorre writes to Galileo including sketches of his device, to which Galileo replies that it was his own invention. Priority remains unclear.

1638

Galileo points out that single-stage pumps can only raise water about 32 feet, though this had been common knowledge to pump makers of the time.

1641

Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1610-1670), invents a liquid-glass thermometer with one end sealed, an improvement to Galileo's thermoscope.

1643

Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) invents the mercury barometer, and produces the first partial vacuum.

1648

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) predicts that the height achieved by mercury in a barometer should decrease as one scales a mountain, and this is confirmed experimentally by his brother-in-law, Florin Perrier.

1654

Otto von Guericke (1602-86) demonstrates that two iron hemispheres held together by a strong partial vacuum can’t be separated by a team of horses.

1660

Robert Boyle (1627-91) publishes New Experiments Physio-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and its Effects, based in part on experiments with his lab assistant, Robert Hooke (1635-1703).

Richard Towneley (1628-1707) and Henry Power (1623-1668) perform further experiments establishing the PV law for expansion (the so-called "Boyle's Law" or "Marriotte's Law").

1661

Boyle responds to criticism by adding an appendix to his 1660 work, presenting improved experimental results and giving a version of what is now known as "Boyle's Law" for the case of compression.

1663

Pascal writes On the Equilibrium of Liquids (published posthumously) suggesting that pressure is transmitted equally in all directions in a fluid (later known as "Pascal's law"), probably discovered around 1648.

Power's book Experimental Philosophy is published with early results on the PV law.

1673

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) patents but does not build a one-shot engine using gunpowder fuel. The first internal combustion engine?

1676

Edmé Mariotte (~1620-1684) independently finds the relationship between pressure and volume, in his work On the Nature of Air (known as "Mariotte's law" in France , and "Boyle's law" elsewhere.)

1690

Denis Papin (1647-1712) uses steam pressure to move a piston for the first time. The French credit Papin as the inventor of the steam engine.

1698

Thomas Savery (1650?-1715) patents a steam pump.

1701

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) suggests an oil-filled thermometer with a scale defined by 0^o at the ice point and 12^o at human body temperature.

1702

Guillaume Amontons (1663-1705) examines the idea of absolute zero from the observation that equal drops in temperature produce equal drops in pressure, and since pressure cannot become negative, there must be a lower limit to temperature.

Ole Christensen Rømer (1644-1710) devises a temperature scale based on the two phenomena of the boiling point of water and the temperature at which snow begins to form. He makes the first measurement of the speed of light based on astronomical observations.

1712

Thomas Newcomen's (1663-1729) steam engine, using power generated from atmospheric pressure operating on a piston with condensing steam on the low pressure side, is placed in service to pump water from mines.

1714

Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) devises a mercury-in-glass thermometer and introduces a temperature scale with simple calibration to allow common measurements.

1733

Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782), in a treatise on hydrodynamics worked out in the period from 1728 to 1733, gives a derivation of the gas laws from a billiard ball model, derives the Boyle-Mariotte relation and uses conservation of mechanical energy to show that as temperature changes the pressure will change proportionally to the square of the particle velocities. This text marks the first truly statistical treatment of kinetic theory. A significantly updated edition of the text is published in 1738. The paper is all but forgotten until 1859.

1742

Anders Celsius (1701-1744) publishes "Observations on two persistent degrees on a thermometer," basing his scale on the freezing point (100 degrees) and boiling points (0 degrees) of water. (The system is reoriented in 1745 by Carl Linnaeus, a.k.a. Carl von Linné.

1744

Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (1711-1765) publishes a paper on the causes of heat and cold, stating that heat is a form of motion.

1748

Lomonosov formulates laws of conservation of energy and mass. Through about 1760, he performs a number of theoretical investigations about molecular structures, speculating on the effects of translation, vibration, and rotations of such molecules.

1760-1764

Joseph Black (1728-1799) defines the difference between temperature and heat and finds that melting ice absorbs heat without changing temperature. He uses these results to form the basis of caloric theory.

1765

James Watt (1736-1819) invents his improved steam engine incorporating the external condenser, rotary motion, and double-acting piston. The engine is over six times more effective than Newcomen's.

1769

Nicolas Cugnot (1725-1804) demonstrates the first steam powered vehicle in France. He is arrested for endangering citizens.

1772

Johan Carl Wilcke (1741-1811) calculates the latent heat of ice.

1781

Wilcke proposes the concept of specific heats.

1782

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) establishes an early version of conservation of matter after finding the weights before and after chemical reactions are equal.

1783

Lavoisier publishes Reflections on Phlogiston, pointing out the weaknesses of phlogiston theory with respect to combustion.

1786

Lavoisier and Laplace publish Memoir on Heat.

1787

Jacques-Alexandre Charles (1746-1823) determines that for a given temperature change, different gases expand the same amount (now known as "Charles's law"). In 1783 he had launched the first hydrogen balloon from Paris, witnessed by Benjamin Franklin.

1789

Lavoisier publishes Elementary Treatise on Chemistry, which contains the law of mass conservation.

1794

Lavoisier is guillotined during the French revolution.

1798

Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) (1753-1814) describes cannon-boring experiments that demonstrate the conversion of work into heat in Enquiry Concerning the Source of Heat which is Excited by Friction. He also was not able to detect an increase in weight due to heating. Both of these results are contrary to caloric theory. In 1805 he marries Lavoisier’s widow.

1799

Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) performs ice-rubbing experiments that demonstrate the conversion of work into heat. He suggests that an indefinite amount of heat could be generated from a body (whereas caloric theory severely limits its available amount).

1801

Richard Trevithick (1771-1819) builds a prototype steam powered railroad locomotive.

John Dalton (1766-1844) finds that two gases in the same region produce the same pressure as if they occupied the region alone, known as the law of partial pressures.

1802

Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) finds that, at a given pressure, the change in volume is proportional to the change in temperature.

1803

Dalton formulates his atomic theory of matter, stating that chemicals are formed by integer numbers of atoms, by studying the weights of chemicals and reactants.

William Henry (1775-1836) finds that the mass of gas dissolved in a liquid is proportional to the pressure of the gas (later known as "Henry's law").

1805

Oliver Evans (1755-1918) demonstrates the first steam powered land vehicle and steam boat in the US.

1806

Thomas Young (1773-1829) formulates a precursor to the modern formulation of energy, mathematically associating it with mv² (twice the modern "kinetic energy"). Young's System of Chemistry contains the first published account of Dalton's ideas on atomic theory.

1807

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) completes his On the Propagation of Heat in Solid Bodies, introducing many mathematical novelties, including his series expansion techniques.

1808

Gay-Lussac states that gases chemically combine in exact proportions of volume.

1810

Sir John Leslie (1766-1832) produces ice by absorbing water into sulfuric acid to produce a vacuum.

1811

Siméon-Denis Poisson (1781-1840) develops his mathematical theory of heat, based on the work of Fourier.

Amedev Avogadro (1776-1856) hypothesizes that all gases of a given volume have the same number of molecules, regardless of pressure or temperature ("Avogadro's law").

1812

Davy writes Elements of Chemical Philosophy, including a hypothesis that in addition to the vibrational and undulatory motion of solids, gases also exhibit rotational motion about an axis.

Delaroche and Bérard measure the specific heats of a large number of gases at atmospheric pressure. Their measurements agree with Laplace's predictions and remain a cornerstone for caloric theory.

1814

George Stephenson (1781-1848) builds the first practical steam powered railroad locomotive, the Blutcher, for the Killingworth Colliery.

1816

John Herapath (1790-1868) writes On the Physical Properties of Gases, essentially proposing the same theory as that of Daniel Bernoulli, but developed independently.

Robert Stirling (1790-1878) patents a practical heat engine using air as the working fluid.

1821

Thomas Johann Seebeck (1770-1831) discovers that heat is converted into electricity in the junction of some metals, known as thermoelectricity.

1822

Fourier's essay Theorie Analytique de la Chaleur (Analytic Theory of Heat) is published, furthering his analytical techniques and formally introducing the use of dimensions for physical quantities.

Charles Cagniard de la Tour (1777-1859), in liquefaction experiments, finds that both temperature and pressure must be appropriately controlled, and discovers that substances have a critical point.

1824

Sadi Carnot (1796-1832) publishes "Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire," introducing ideal gas cycle analysis, showing that when heat passes between two bodies, thermodynamic work (which he defines) is done, and proposes an idea for an internal combustion engine. His treatise includes the concept of a thermodynamic cycle and the principle that the efficiency of a reversible cyclic engine operating between two heat reservoirs depends only on the temperatures of the reservoirs and not on the working substance.

Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827) publishes several papers refining an idea of Newton's that gases are formed through repulsive interactions.

1826

John Ericsson (1803-1869) invents the shell-and-tube heat exchanger for use as a condenser in steam ships.

1829

Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis (1792-1843) defines the term "kinetic energy" in his studies published as On the Calculation of Mechanical Action.

Stephenson wins the Rainhill Trials for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with the Rocket, triggering widespread adoption of steam locomotives.

1834

Emile Clapeyron (1799-1864) formulates the first version of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, based on studies of steam engines.

Jacob Perkins (1766-1849) patents and produces first vapor-compression refrigeration machine.

1842

Julius Robert Mayer (1814-1878) clearly formulates the conservation of energy, and proposes that heat is a form of (mechanical) energy.

William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1824-1907) publishes On the Uniform Motion of Heat in Homogeneous Solid Bodies.

1843-1848

Through a careful series of experiments, James Prescott Joule (1818-1889) establishes the exact relationship between heat and mechanical work.

John James Waterston (1811-1883) anonymously publishes Thoughts on the Mental Functions (1843)’ A note at the end contains a full and accurate account of the kinetic theory of gases and the idea of a mean free path. The work goes all but completely unread.

1845

Waterston submits a paper on the kinetic theory of gases with the same title as his 1843 book to the Royal Society, which rejects it. The paper lays out the ideas of energy equipartition and gives the first modern kinetic definition of temperature. A short abstract appears a year later, and again in 1851, but the work is ignored.

1847

Joule publishes "On Matter, Living Force, and Heat" in the Manchester Courier, stating the principle of the conservation of energy and giving the conversion factor from heat to kinetic energy (the “mechanical equivalent of heat”).

Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-94) publishes his On the Conservation of Energy, extending Carnot's principle of the 'impossibility of unlimited moving force' (kinetic energy) to a mathematical formulation of the 'principle of conservation of living force' (vis viva / kinetic energy). His work is independent of Joule's publications.

John William Draper (1811-1882) finds that all substances begin to glow around 525°C, starting in the red and eventually becoming white.

1848

Joule reads a paper using Herapath's kinetic theory. The paper contains the first numerical results from the kinetic theory. The paper is not published until 1851, and not well known until Clausius's reference to it in 1857.

William John Macquorn Rankine (1820-1872) carries out research into mechanics and heat (mainly through 1855).

William Thomson develops a scale of absolute temperature (now known as the "Kelvin" scale) based on the theory of Carnot.

1849

James Thomson (1822-1892), using Carnot's theories, predicts the reduction of the freezing point of water under high pressures.

William Thomson, in speaking of Carnot's theory, coins the terms “mechanical energy” and "thermodynamics."

1850

Rudolf Clausius (1822-88) gives a verbal formulation of the Second Law, stating that there is no mechanism whose only function is the transfer of heat, and is probably the first to see that there were two basic principles: the First and Second laws of thermodynamics. He introduces the concept of U, which we now call the internal energy, and later assigns the symbol S to entropy.

Ericsson demonstrates a large hot air engine based on the heat engine cycle now bearing his name.

1851

William Thomson independently rediscovers the idea of absolute zero (149 years after Amontons), extrapolating from Charles' law that it must be about -273°C, and suggesting that the energy of the molecules would tend to zero. He also derives the second law of thermodynamics using Carnot's ideas.

1852

James Joule and Lord Kelvin demonstrate that a rapidly expanding gas cools. Kelvin gives the first general statement of the principle of the "universal tendency toward dissipation of energy."  

Henri-Victor Regnault (1810-1878) shows that gas behavior doesn't quite follow Boyle's law at low temperatures and extrapolates a value of -273°C for absolute zero.

1853

Rankine defines heat engine efficiency.

1854

Clausius proposes the function dQ/T as a way to compare heat flows with heat conversions.

Rankine introduces the P-v diagram and relates it to work.

1855

Rankine publishes Outlines of the Science of Energetics.

1857

Clausius publishes a paper on a mathematical kinetic theory, explaining evaporation and establishing heat as energy distributed statistically among particles.

1858

Clausius introduces the idea of the mean free path of a particle in working out a kinetic theory of diffusion.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) designs and launches the steam powered Great Eastern, which remains the largest ship built until the Mauritania in 1905.

1859

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-79) reads a paper on kinetic theory, printed in 1860 as "Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases," using random velocity distributions for gases, and showing viscosity to be independent of temperature. The paper is originally intended to show internal inconsistencies in the kinetic theory, but through its rigor it greatly refined the theory and provided new insights.

Bernoulli's paper of 1733 is republished due to renewed interest in kinetic theory. Herapath henceforth goes into obscurity.

Rankine publishes the first text on thermodynamics for engineers.

1860

Michael Faraday(1791-1867) wrote in his paper "Pressure Melting Effect" that the freezing point of water decreases with increasing pressure.

Maxwell shows a discrepancy between the prediction by kinetic theory and experiment of the specific heat of diatomic gases. The discrepancy is not resolved satisfactorily until the early stages of quantum theory. This paper is the first of four works on kinetic theory by Maxwell, bringing a new level of rigor and sophistication to the theory.

1861

Thomas Andrews (1813-1885), in a series of experiments with CO₂ through 1869, finds that at low temperatures Boyle's law breaks down, and there are regions on a PV chart where, for a given isotherm, changes in volume produce no change in pressure. This region is recognized to be the liquid-vapor equilibrium state. He rigorously finds the critical point and triple point.

1862

Jean Lenoir (1822-1900) constructs an automobile using a double-acting, electric spark-ignition internal combustion engine fueled by coal gas. In 1863, Lenoir attached an improved engine (using petroleum and a primitive carburetor) to a three-wheeled wagon and manages to complete an historic fifty-mile road trip.

1863

John Tyndall (1820-1893) publishes Heat as a Mode of Motion, popularizing Maxwell's ideas on heat.

Andrews shows that, contrary to expectations, above a substance's critical point there is a continuous change from gas to liquid and vice versa through variations of temperature and pressure.

1865

Clausius uses Carnot's techniques to derive "entropy", a term coined for the quantity dQ/T defined earlier by him. He shows the two laws of thermodynamics are expressible in the same ways as in the older caloric theory. In a public speech entitled "The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum," he shows how thermodynamics seems to imply an eventual heat death for the universe. Clausius states the first and second laws of thermodynamics in two lines:

1. The energy of the universe is constant.
2. The entropy of the universe tends toward a maximum.

1867

Maxwell publishes his major work on kinetic theory, On the Dynamical Theory of Gases. Maxwell's work spurs serious debates on the statistical interpretation of irreversibility.

Nikolaus Otto (1832-1891) demonstrates the first practical two-stroke internal combustion engine at the Paris World’s Fair.

1868

Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) extends Maxwell's distribution law to include external forces. In the case of gravity, he works through the distribution of densities and pressures and shows that thermal equilibrium is maintained.

1871

Maxwell, helping out P. G. Tait, who was drafting a textbook on thermodynamics, outlines his parable of the daemon to conceptually explain the statistics of energy carried by gas molecules.

Boltzmann suggests that one may derive the probabilistic picture from the kinetic one by heuristically assuming that all microstates must be realized in a system before returning to a specific microstate, and thus measured values should average the effects of such states.

James Thomson suggests that even below the critical point, a substance may smoothly transition between gas and liquid from considerations of experimental data on pressure and volume.

1872

Boltzmann states the Boltzmann equation for the temporal development of distribution functions in phase space, and derives his H -Theorem, showing explicitly that isolated systems must always evolve in such a way that entropy increases. He introduces a number of mathematical innovations, including a technique of discretizing the allowed energy levels for a molecule, and allowing this energy bin to go to zero. The paper meets with wide-spread opposition.  

George Bailey Brayton (1830-1892) receives a patent for his oil-fired engine. The thermodynamic cycle is identical to that of the present gas turbine engine.

1873

Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903) publishes Graphical Methods in the Thermodynamics of Fluids and A Method of Geometrical Representation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Substances by Means of Surfaces, introducing many new graphical techniques. From 1873 to 1878 he publishes a series of important articles in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, widely influencing scientists in the US and in Europe .

Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837-1923), in his doctoral dissertation, gives the first correct approximation for the effects of a non-vanishing ratio of molecule diameter to average distance by assuming long-range attractive and short-range repulsive forces, applying this to the case of gases at high densities. Using his "equation of state," he provides the first successful explanation of a gas-liquid phase transition. The theory accounts for Andrews's critical point phenomena and confirms James Thomson's hypothesis.

1874

William Thomson points out that the irreversibility of Boltzmann's kinetic theory seems to contradict the underlying classical laws of physics remaining time-invariant (the so-called "reversibility paradox," sometimes attributed to Loschmidt). He formally states the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

1876

Gibbs publishes the first part of On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances (the 2nd part in 1878). The works deal with chemical reactions, phase equilibrium and the use of free energy, and includes the important concept of chemical potential.

Karl Paul Gottfried von Linde (1842-1934) builds the first practical refrigerator using liquid ammonia.  

Otto improves his engine to operate on the four-stroke “Otto cycle.”  

1879

Josef Stefan (1835-1893) observes from experiments on cooling rate of bodies that the total radiant flux from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature and states the Stefan-Boltzmann law.

Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) patents the multicylinder engine using a common crank.

1884

Boltzmann derives the Stefan-Boltzmann blackbody radiant flux law from thermodynamic considerations.

Gibbs coins the term "statistical mechanics" for the kinetic theory's treatment of thermodynamic issues.

Daimler produces practical automotive engine.

1888

Henri-Louis Le Chatelier (1850-1936) states that the response of a chemical system perturbed from equilibrium will be to counteract the perturbation.  

1893

Rudolph Diesel (1858-1913) demonstrates an oil-fueled engine that uses the high temperature caused by compression to initiate combustion (compression ignition). He nearly dies from an engine explosion.  

1895

von Linde succeeds in liquefaction of air.

1896

The Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) predicts that the increasing rate at which fossil fuels are being combusted will increase the atmosphere's carbon dioxide concentration and lead to warming, a theory now known as global warming. (Also see 1997 and 2005 Kyoto Protocol entries).

1897

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (1858-1947) states the Second Law of Thermodynamics as: "It is impossible to construct an engine which, working in a complete cycle, will produce no effect other than the raising of a weight and the cooling of a heat reservoir."

Diesel demonstrates a practical engine.

Charles A. Parsons (1854-1913) demonstrates a practical steam turbine in the ship Turbinia.

1899

Emile Hilaire Amagat (1841-1915) publishes The Laws of Gases containing the results from extensive experiments on gases under very high pressures.

1900

Planck, studying blackbody radiation and following Boltzmann's techniques of dividing the energy continuum into cells, proposes fixing cell sizes to be proportional to oscillator frequency, and in so doing derives the correct radiation spectrum for blackbodies. Planck proposes the constant, h (Planck's constant), as a quantum of action in phase space.

Production in the US of internal combustion powered automobiles (936) is still outweighed by steam (1681) and electric (1575) powered vehicles.

1902

Gibbs publishes Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics, his treatise on the subject, giving his full account of ensemble theory and their relationships (including the so-called "Gibbs paradox," though there was nothing paradoxical about it at the time).

1903

Orville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) successfully fly the first powered airplane.

1905

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) publishes a paper on the photoelectric effect, basing his analysis on an analog of the statistical mechanical approach for classical electromagnetic fields modeled as quanta of light. From this time, the major work in thermodynamics shifts from classical to quantum-based approaches.

1906

Walther Nernst (1864-1941) formulates his "heat theorem," stating that in the limit of absolute zero temperature, both the entropy change and the heat capacity go to zero (subsequently recognized as the Third Law of Thermodynamics).

1908

Planck begins formulating derivations of the black-body law starting with an assumption of energy quantization.

Henry Ford (1863-1947) develops the assembly line method of automobile manufacturing

1909

Constantin Carathéodory (1873-1950) publishes a purely mathematical and axiomatic account of thermodynamics.

1911

Planck's first paper explicitly quantizing the allowed radiation of oscillators in a blackbody is published.

Otto Sackur (1880-1914) suggests the need for an absolute definition of entropy, in order that quantum systems be taken into account.

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926) experimentally finds that mercury will become superconductive when cooled very close to absolute zero and also discovers superfluidity.

Nernst's experiments with many substances and shows specific heats going to zero at absolute zero in general. The results provide strong support for the new quantum theories.

1912

Sackur and Hugo Tetrode (1895-1931) independently solve Boltzmann's Law and show a need for quantization in classical gas laws.

1916

Sydney Chapman (1888-1970) and David Enskog (1884-1947) systematically develop a kinetic theory of gases.  

1919

James Jeans (1877-1946) discovers that the dynamical constants of motion determine the distribution function for a system of particles.

1922

Louis Victor Pierre Raymond duc de Broglie (1892-1987) applies Sackur's technique of quantizing phase space to derive the Wien distribution law for energy density.

1923

Gilbert Newton Lewis (1875-1946) publishes Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances, coordinating the understanding of thermodynamics and chemistry.

1925

Einstein, citing works by Bose and de Broglie, suggests that the analogy between quantum gases and molecular gases is complete, and that both photons and molecules have both particle and wave characteristics.

1926

Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) launches the first rocket, which uses liquid fuel and reaches a height of 184 feet and speed of 60 miles per hour.

1929

Frank Whittle (1907-1996) submits a term paper establishing the basis for turbojet engines by reproducing the Brayton cycle as applied to turbines rather than piston engines.

1931

R-12 is introduced as a commercial refrigerant. At the time R-12 is hailed as a significant advancement over other refrigerants because it is non-toxic, non-flammable, stable and has great thermodynamic characteristics. (Note: See 1987 R-12 entry)

1939

First flight of a turbojet-powered aircraft using an engine design by Hans von Ohain (1911-1998).

1941

First flight of turbojet aircraft based on Whittle's engine. Whittle was unaware of von Ohain's work.

1942

V2 rocket covers a distance of 200 km.

1947

First supersonic flight by Maj. Charles Elwood (Chuck) Yeager (1923- ) in the Bell X-1 aircraft.  

1957

Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite is launched into orbit  

1961

Vostok 1, the first manned space mission, makes 2 orbits around the earth with astronaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968).

1969

First manned mission to the Moon in spacecraft Apollo 11, with astronauts Michael Collins (1930 - ) who remained aboard the command module in lunar orbit while Neil Armstrong (1930- ) and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin (1930- ) landed on the Moon.  

1981

First flight of the space shuttle.  

1987

The International Ozone Trends Panel concludes R-12 and other CFC refrigerants destroy the earth's ozone layer. An agreement is reached to phase out production of R-12. The race is on to find a suitable replacement. (Also see 1931 R-12 entry)

1995

The world's first volume production hybrid electric vehicle (Toyota Prius) is introduced to the Japanese market.

1997

The Kyoto Protocol is adopted, which calls for nations to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. The Kyoto Protocol must still be ratified by countries before it goes into effect. (See 1896 Svante Arrhenius and 2005 Kyoto Protocol entries).

1999

Icelandic New Energy formed with a mission "to investigate the potential for eventually
replacing the use of fossil fuels in Iceland with hydrogen based fuels
and create the world´s first hydrogen economy." The company is a joint venture between the Icelandic Government, Shell Hydrogen, Norsk Hydro and DaimlerChrysler.

2002

The Japanese government begins leasing fuel-cell powered vehicles from Honda and Toyota. The cost of the lease is approximately 40 times more than a lease for a conventional car.

2003

A combined-cycle power plant designed to break the 60% efficiency barrier is installed at the Baglan Bay Power Station in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom by General Electric.

2004

June 21: SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan and piloted by Michael Mevill, becomes the first non-government-funded craft to enter space. After landing, Mevill holds up the sign "SpaceShipOne - Government Zero."

Diesel versus Gasoline: 45% of all new cars sold in Europe are diesel, up from 22% in 1998. Less than 0.5% of all new cars sold in the United States are diesel. Diesel cars emit less CO₂ (a gas linked to global warming) and use less fuel while gasoline cars emit less pollution (e.g., NO_X, SO_X, and particulates).

2005

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) offered by the following manufacturers in the United States: Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Lexus, and Toyota. More manufacturers plan to begin production of HEVs in the coming years.

China replaces the world's last long-distance steam-powered train with a diesel locomotive. China intends to build 30 new nuclear reactors by 2020 in response to growing air pollution problems and a surging demand for electricity.

Wind turbines generate approximately 20% of Denmark's and less than 1% of the United States' electricity.

February 16: The Kyoto Protocol comes into force limiting the emission of greenhouse gases believed to cause global warming. The protocol applies to the approximately 140 countries that ratified the treaty, which account for more than 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The United States, which is the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases, did not ratify the treaty because it feels the treaty is flawed. (See 1896 Svante Arrhenius and 2005 Kyoto Protocol entries).

A family in California is the first to lease a fuel cell powered car. The family pays $500/month to lease the $1 million car.

2006

September: The Wärtsilä RTA96-C, a 109,000 hp turbocharged 2-stroke Diesel engine, is first put into service (for comparison, car engines typically produce 100-300 hp). The engine is designed for large container ships, has 14 cylinders, stands 13.5 m tall (~40 ft), is 27 m long (~ 85 ft), weighs over 2300 tons and has a cycle thermal efficiency of 50%.

BMW presents a hydrogen powered internal combustion engine at the Los Angeles Auto Show. BMW sees this as a possible alternative to hydrogen powered fuel cells and gasoline powered internal combustion engines.

Due to concerns over global warming and energy security, venture capitalists in the US are increasingly seeing the potential to make large profits by investing in small companies developing alternative energy technologies. Investments by US venture capitalists in energy technology companies increased from approximately $0.5 million in 2004 to $2 billion in 2006, and now represent approximately 9% of all US venture capital investments. Venture capitalists invest in small companies with big ideas and sound business plans and help them to grow very fast by providing business expertise. For example, the explosive growth of both Google and YouTube were supported by venture capitalists.

California passes a law requiring 25% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2020. Advocates hope this will make California a leader in low-carbon energy technologies that it can sell to other states and countries. Opponents think the law will make energy too expensive in California and cause companies to leave the state.

2008

GM plans to deploy 100 fuel cell powered cars.

2010

Ballard plans to begin producing a commercially viable fuel cell for cars.