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The 19th century

Industry, invention and voices for change.

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MOMENTS FROM THIS ERA

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5 illustrated stories · growing daily
Marie Curie examines samples beside measuring apparatus while Pierre Curie and Gustave Bémont confer in a period workshop.Science & discoveries

The announcement of radium on 26 December 1898

Pierre Curie, Marie Curie and Gustave Bémont announced evidence for radium in a paper dated 26 December 1898. Radioactivity measurements and a previously unknown spectral line revealed an element present in minute quantities among chemically similar material.

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King Mongkut and observers stand beside a brass telescope under a coastal pavilion during a total eclipse.Science & discoveries

King Mongkut’s Observation of the 1868 Wa Ko Solar Eclipse

On 18 August 1868, King Mongkut of Siam observed a total solar eclipse at Wa Ko. His advance prediction made the expedition a public demonstration of mathematical astronomy, later commemorated by Thailand’s National Science Day.

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Maria Mitchell observes the night sky through a brass telescope above Nantucket rooftops, with a notebook nearby.Science & discoveries

Maria Mitchell’s comet discovery on 1 October 1847

Maria Mitchell found a faint comet while observing from Nantucket on 1 October 1847. The discovery brought international recognition to a skilled observer whose subsequent teaching helped expand women’s participation in professional astronomy.

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An early nineteenth-century scholar presents paper copies of Egyptian inscriptions to colleagues in a Paris meeting room.Science & discoveries

Champollion presents his hieroglyphic decipherment in 1822

Jean-François Champollion presented his Lettre à Monsieur Dacier on 27 September 1822. It marked a crucial public stage in understanding the relationship between Egyptian signs, sounds and language.

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A potted tropical seedling and hand tools stand before a small garden nursery and forested hills.Science & discoveries

Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden's foundation and acclimatisation mission

Founded on 13 June 1808, Rio de Janeiro's Botanical Garden began with a practical mission: adapting valuable imported plants to Brazilian conditions. Its early experiments connected botany, trade and colonial economic ambitions.

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