In 1905, while working as a clerk at the Swiss patent office in Bern at age 26, Albert Einstein published four papers in the journal Annalen der Physik that changed physics. One explained the photoelectric effect by treating light as particles, or quanta, for which he won the 1921 Nobel Prize; the second analysed Brownian motion, offering decisive proof that atoms exist; the third presented the special theory of relativity, which holds that the speed of light is the same for all observers and that time and space are relative; the fourth derived the equivalence of mass and energy, E = mc squared.
Before and after
- 1905Establishment of Kaziranga National Park
- 1905Rise of Swadeshi movement
- 1905Founding of Galatasaray S.K.
- from 1905 to 1917Rise of Black Hundreds
- 1905Einstein's miracle year
- 1905Henry Fairfield Osborn names Tyrannosaurus rex
- 2 January 1905Discovery of Elara
- 9 January 1905Bloody Sunday
- from 22 January 1905 to 16 June 1907Russian Revolution of 1905
More in Science & technology
- 1789Discovery of uranium
- 1807Discovery of potassium
- 30 June 1808Discovery of boron
- 1810Discovery of fluorine
- 1823Discovery of silicon
- 1898Discovery of neon
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 20th century.