General relativity is Albert Einstein's theory of gravitation, completed in November 1915 and published in full in 1916. It replaced Newton's idea of a force acting at a distance with the picture of gravity as the curvature of space and time caused by mass and energy, so that planets follow the straightest possible paths through a bent spacetime. The theory explained a small discrepancy in the orbit of Mercury and predicted that light would bend when it passed near the Sun. This was confirmed during the solar eclipse of 1919 by expeditions led by Arthur Eddington, which made Einstein world-famous. Later predictions included gravitational waves, first detected directly in 2015, black holes and the expansion of the universe, and the theory must be taken into account in GPS satellites.
Before and after
- from 22 November 1915 to 25 November 1915Battle of Ctesiphon
- 25 November 1915Birth of Augusto Pinochet
- 12 December 1915Birth of Frank Sinatra
- 19 December 1915Birth of Édith Piaf
- 1916General relativity
- 1916Establishment of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
- from 1916 to 1934Basmachi movement
- 1916Construction of Josep Tarradellas Airport Barcelona-El Prat
- 1916Construction of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
More in Science & technology
- 15 September 1917Launch of Forbes
- 11 January 1922Insulin is first used to treat diabetes
- 1927Hubble–Lemaître law
- 1936Alan Turing defines the universal machine
- from 1939 to 1946Manhattan Project
- from c. 1940s to 1960sGreen Revolution
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.