Svante August Arrhenius was born on 19 February 1859 in Wik Castle. A Swedish scientist, Arrhenius was one of the founders of physical chemistry. His doctoral thesis on the electrical conductivity of solutions proposed that salts dissolve into ions, a theory that was at first met with skepticism, but won him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903. He also formulated the Arrhenius equation, which describes how reaction rates depend on temperature, and the Arrhenius definition of acids and bases. In 1896 he calculated how changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide could alter the Earth's surface temperature, an early prediction of the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Before and after
- 1859Construction of Neues Museum
- 1859Publication of A Tale of Two Cities
- 1859John Tyndall measures how gases trap heat
- 27 January 1859Birth of Wilhelm II
- 19 February 1859Birth of Svante August Arrhenius
- 8 April 1859Birth of Edmund Husserl
- from 27 April 1859 to 11 July 1859Second Italian War of Independence
- 6 May 1859Death of Alexander von Humboldt
- 22 May 1859Birth of Arthur Conan Doyle
More in Science & technology
- 1774Discovery of chlorine
- 1789Discovery of uranium
- 1807Discovery of potassium
- 30 June 1808Discovery of boron
- 1810Discovery of fluorine
- 1823Discovery of silicon
The era
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.