Joseph John Thomson was born on 18 December 1856 in Cheetham Hill. A British physicist, Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 through experiments with cathode rays, showing that atoms are not indivisible but contain much smaller negatively charged particles. For this work he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906. He later developed early forms of mass spectrometry and proposed the so-called plum pudding model of the atom. Long associated with the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, he served as its director and as Master of Trinity College, and several of his students and even his own son, George Paget Thomson, also won Nobel Prizes.
Before and after
- 29 July 1856Death of Robert Schumann
- August 1856Discovery of Neanderthal 1
- 23 August 1856Earthquake in Oshima, Japan
- from 19 October 1856 to 12 January 1964Sultanate of Zanzibar
- 18 December 1856Birth of Joseph John Thomson
- 28 December 1856Birth of Woodrow Wilson
- from 1857 to 1947Indian independence movement
- 1857Rise of Symbolism
- 1857Founding of Kuala Lumpur
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This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.