Important Physics Discoveries in Chronology Order

• 1687 - Laws of motion and law of gravity: Newton
• 1782 - Conservation of matter: Lavoisier 
• 1785 - Inverse square law for electric charges confirmed: Coulomb 
• 1801 - Wave theory of light: Young 
• 1803 - Atomic theory of matter: Dalton 
• 1806 - Kinetic energy: Young 
• 1814 - Wave theory of light, interference: Fresnel 
• 1820 - Evidence for electromagnetic interactions: Ampère, Biot, Savart 
• 1824 - Ideal gas cycle analysis, internal combustion engine: Sadi Carnot 
• 1827 - Electrical resistance, etc.: Ohm 
• 1838 - Lines of force, fields: Michael Faraday 
• 1838 - Earth's magnetic field: Weber 
• 1842–3 - Conservation of energy: Mayer, Kelvin 
• 1842 - Doppler effect: Kelvin 
• 1845 - Faraday rotation (light and electromagnetic): Faraday 
• 1847 - Conservation of energy 2: Joule, Helmholtz 
• 1850–1 - Second law of thermodynamics: Clausius, Kelvin 
• 1857–9 - Kinetic theory: Clausius, Maxwell 
• 1861 - Black body: Kirchhoff 
• 1863 - Entropy: Clausius 
• 1864 - Dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field: Maxwell 
• 1867 - Dynamic theory of gases, Maxwell 
• 1871–89 - Statistical mechanics: Boltzmann, Gibbs 
• 1884 - Boltzmann derives Stefan radiation law
• 1887 - Electromagnetic waves: Hertz 
• 1893 - Radiation law: Wien 
• 1895 - X-rays: Röntgen 
• 1896 - Radioactivity: Becquerel 
• 1897 - Electron: Thomson 
• 1900 - Formula for Black body radiation: Planck 
• 1905 - Special relativity: Einstein
• Photoelectric effect: Einstein
• Brownian motion: Einstein 
• 1911 - Equivalence principle
• Discovery of the Atomic nucleus: Rutherford
• Superconductivity: Kamerlingh Onnes 
• 1913 - Bohr model of the atom: Bohr 
• 1916 - General relativity: Einstein 
• 1919 - Light bending confirmed
• 1922 - Friedmann proposes expanding universe
• 1923 - Stern-Gerlach experiment
• Matter waves
• Galaxies
• Particle nature of photons confirmed
• 1925–7 - Quantum mechanics 
• 1925 - Stellar structure understood
• 1927 - Big Bang: Lemaître 
• 1928 - Antimatter predicted: Dirac 
• 1929 - expansion of universe confirmed: Hubble 
• 1932 - Antimatter discovered: Anderson
• Neutron discovered: Chadwick 
• 1937 - Muon discovered: Anderson & Neddermeyer 
• 1938 - Superfluidity discovered
• Energy production in stars understood
• 1939 - Uranium fission discovered 
• 1944 - Theory of magnetism in 2D: Ising model 
• 1947 - Pion discovered 1948 - Quantum electrodynamics 
• 1956 - Electron neutrino discovered 
• 1956–7 - 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 - Quarks predicted 
• 1967 - Unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions
• Solar neutrino problem found
• Pulsars (neutron stars) discovered 
• 1968 - Experimental evidence for quarks found
• 1970–3 - 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 - Bose–Einstein condensate found 
• 1995 - Top quark found 
• 2000 - Tau neutrino found 
• 2003 - WMAP observations of Cosmic microwave background 
• 2012 - Higgs Boson found