The Timeline of theoretical physics lists
key events by century.
== 17th century ==
1687 - Newton: Laws of Motion and Law of Gravity
== 18th century ==
1782 - Lavoisier: Conservation of matter
1785 - Coulomb: Inverse-square law for electric
charges confirmed
== 19th century ==
1801 - Young: Wave theory of light
1803 - Dalton: Atomic theory of matter
1806 - Young: Kinetic energy
1814 - Fresnel: Wave theory of light, interference
1820 - Ampère, Biot, & Savart: Evidence for
electromagnetic interactions
1824 - Sadi Carnot: Ideal gas cycle analysis,
internal combustion engine
1827 - Ohm: Electrical resistance, etc.
1838 - Michael Faraday: Lines of force, Fields
1838 - Weber: Earth's magnetic field
1842-43 - Kelvin & Mayer: Conservation of
energy
1842 - Kelvin: Doppler effect
1845 - Faraday: Faraday Rotation (light and
electromagnetic)
1847 - Helmholtz & Joule: Conservation of
Energy 2
1850-51 - Kelvin & Clausius: Second law of
thermodynamics
1857-59 - Clausius & Maxwell: Kinetic theory
1861 - Kirchhoff: Black body
1863 - Clausius: Entropy
1864 - Maxwell: Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic
Field
1867 - Maxwell: Dynamic theory of gases
1871-89 - Boltzmann & Gibbs: Statistical mechanics
1884 - Boltzmann derives Stefan radiation
law
1887 - Hertz: Electromagnetic waves
1893 - Wien: Radiation law
1895 - Röntgen: X-rays
1896 - Becquerel: Radioactivity
1897 - Thomson: Electron
== 20th century ==
1900 - Planck: Formula for black-body radiation
1905 - Einstein: Special relativity, Photoelectric
effect & Brownian motion
1911 - Rutherford: Discovery of the atomic
nucleus, Kamerlingh Onnes: Superconductivity
& equivalence principle
1913 - Bohr: Bohr model of the atom
1916 - Einstein: General relativity
1919 - Light Bending confirmed
1922 - Friedmann proposes expanding universe
1923 - Stern–Gerlach experiment, Matter
waves, galaxies & particle nature of photons
confirmed
1925-27 - Quantum mechanics
1925 - Stellar structure understood
1927 - Lemaître: Big Bang
1928 - Dirac: Antimatter predicted
1929 - Hubble: Expansion of universe confirmed
1932 - Anderson: Antimatter discovered & Chadwick:
Neutron discovered
1933 - Invention of the electron microscope
by Ernst Ruska
1937 - Muon discovered by Anderson & Neddermeyer
1938 - Superfluidity discovered & Energy production
in stars understood
1939 - Uranium fission discoveredo
1944 - Theory of magnetism in 2D: Ising model
1947 - Pion discovered
1948 - Quantum electrodynamics
1948 - Invention of the maser and laser by
Charles Townes
1956 - Electron neutrino discovered
1956-57 - Parity found violated
1957 - Superconductivity explained
1959-60 - Role of topology in quantum physics
predicted and Confirmed
1962 - SU(3) theory of strong interactions
& muon neutrino found
1963 - Murray Gell-Mann & George Zweig: Quarks
predicted
1967 - Unification of weak and electromagnetic
interactions, Solar neutrino Problem found
& Pulsars (neutron stars) discovered
1968 - Experimental evidence for quarks found
1968 - Vera Rubin: Dark matter theories
1970-73 - Standard Model of elementary particles
invented
1971 - Helium 3 Superfluidity
1974 - Black hole radiation predicted, renormalization
group & charmed quark found
1975 - Tau lepton found
1977 - Bottom quark found
1980 - Quantum Hall effect
1981 - Theory of Cosmic Inflation proposed
1982 - Fractional quantum Hall effect
1995 - Wolfgang Ketterle: Bose–Einstein
condensate found
1995 - Top quark found
1998 - Accelerating expansion of Universe
found
1999 - Lene Vestergaard Hau: Slow light experimentally
demonstrated
== 21st century ==
2000 - Tau neutrino found
2003 - WMAP Observations of cosmic microwave
background
2012 - Higgs boson found
2014 - Gravitational waves detected from Cosmic
microwave background
== 
See also ==
Physics
Timeline of developments in theoretical physics
