Editing 1881 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1881|science}}
{{Science year nav|1881}}

The year '''1881 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* 22 May – [[John Tebbutt]] discover the long-period comet, [[C/1881 K1]] (also known as the Great Comet of 1881, Comet Tebbutt, 1881 III, 1881b).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30816656|title=THE GREAT COMET OF 1881|newspaper=The South Australian Advertiser ( [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]])|date=8 June 1881}} letter from [[Charles Todd (meteorologist)|C. Todd]]</ref>

==Biology==
* October – [[Charles Darwin]] publishes his last scientific book ''[[The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms]]''.
* L. S. Poliakov describes the [[wild horse]] discovered by [[Nikolai Przhevalsky]] in [[Mongolia]] in 1879 as a new [[species]], [[Przewalski's horse]] (''Equus przewalski poliakov'').<ref>{{cite web|title=Przewalski's horse|url=http://www.takh.org/Przewalski_horse.html|publisher=TAKH|year=2009|access-date=2011-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302021718/http://www.takh.org/Przewalski_horse.html|archive-date=2012-03-02|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{The Timetables of Science|page=304}}</ref>
* The first systematic study in [[forensic entomology]] is conducted by [[physician]] and [[entomologist]] [[Hermann Reinhard]] in Germany.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = with | author-link2 = Friedrich Moritz Brauer | last2 = Moritz Brauer | first2 = Friedrich | year = 1882 | title = Beiträge zur Gräberfauna" ["Contributions on the fauna of graves"]. | journal = Verh. k. & k. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien | volume = 31 | pages = 207–210 }}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* [[Friedrich Konrad Beilstein|Friedrich Beilstein]] publishes the first edition of his ''[[Beilstein database|Handbuch der organischen Chemie]]''.

==History of science and technology==
* The [[Birch bark manuscript|birch bark]] [[Bakhshali manuscript]], incorporating perhaps the earliest known use of mathematical [[0 (number)|zero]], is unearthed near [[Bakhshali]] in [[British India]].
* Publication in England of a pioneering study in [[industrial archaeology]], H. A. Fletcher's "The archaeology of the west Cumberland iron trade".<ref>''Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Archaeological Society'' '''5''':5–21.</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Simon Newcomb]] makes the first statement of [[Benford's law]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Simon|last=Newcomb|title=Note on the frequency of use of the different digits in natural numbers|journal=[[American Journal of Mathematics]]|volume=4|year=1881|pages=39–40|doi=10.2307/2369148|jstor=2369148}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* July 13 – Dr. [[George E. Goodfellow|George Goodfellow]] performs the first [[laparotomy]] to remove a bullet.
* September 25 – The first modern [[Caesarean section]] is performed successfully by German [[gynecologist]] [[Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer]] in [[Meckesheim]] using the transverse incision technique.
* December – [[Eduard von Hofmann]] carries out [[autopsy]] studies of the nearly 400 victims of the [[Vienna]] [[Ringtheater]] fire, [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning being held an underlying cause of death.
* [[Louis Pasteur]] discovers a vaccine for [[anthrax]].
* [[Carlos Finlay]], a [[Cuba]]n doctor, first proposes that [[yellow fever]] is transmitted by [[mosquito]]es rather than direct human contact.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chaves|first=Carballo E.|title=Carlos Finlay and yellow fever: triumph over adversity|journal=Military Medicine|year=2005|pages=881–5|volume=170|pmid=16435764|doi=10.7205/milmed.170.10.881|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* French [[obstetrician]] [[Étienne Stéphane Tarnier]] introduces a form of [[Incubator (neonatal)|neonatal incubator]] (''couveuse'') for routine care of premature infants at the Paris Maternité.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=11882561|pmc=1721389|year=2002|last=Dunn|first=P. M.|title=Stéphane Tarnier (1828–1897), the architect of perinatology in France|volume=86|issue=2|pages=F137–9|journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition|doi=10.1136/fn.86.2.f137}}</ref>
* English [[ophthalmologist]] [[Waren Tay]] publishes the first description of the [[genetic disorder]] which will become known as [[Tay–Sachs disease]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Waren|last=Tay|year=1881|volume=1|journal=Transactions of the Ophthalmological Society|title=Symmetrical changes in the region of the yellow spot in each eye of an infant|pages=55–57}}</ref>
* ''approx. date'' – The non-invasive [[sphygmomanometer]], for the measurement of [[blood pressure]], is invented by [[Samuel Siegfried Karl von Basch]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=A short history of blood pressure measurement|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine|year=1977|first=Jeremy|last=Booth|volume=70|issue=11|pages=793–9|pmid=341169|pmc=1543468|doi=10.1177/003591577707001112}}</ref>

==Metrology==
* The [[International Exposition of Electricity#International Congress of Electricians|International Congress of Electricians]], meeting in Paris, makes significant progress in definition of the [[International System of Units]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Gérard|last=Borvon|title=Dans les coulisses du Congrès international des électriciens de 1881|url=http://www.ampere.cnrs.fr/histoire/parcours-historique/unites-electriques/congres1881|work=Histoire de l'électricité et du magnetisme|date=March 2008|access-date=2024-08-30}}</ref>

==Technology==
* March 1 – The [[Cunard Line]]'s {{SS|Servia}}, the first [[steel]] [[transatlantic liner]], is launched at [[John Brown & Company|J. & G. Thomson]]'s yard at [[Clydebank]] in Scotland.<ref name=CCWH>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/434|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/434 434–435]}}</ref>
* May 16 – The [[Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway]], the world's first [[History of trams#Horses to electric power|electric tramway]], is opened in Berlin by [[Siemens & Halske]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siemens.pl/upload/images/TS-Siemens_lekkie%20pojazdy_historia.pdf|title=The Siemens tram from past to present|publisher=[[Siemens]]|access-date=2011-06-16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725013704/http://www.siemens.pl/upload/images/TS-Siemens_lekkie%20pojazdy_historia.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-25}}</ref>
* June – The positive-buoyancy powered [[submarine]] "''[[Fenian Ram]]''" (''Holland Boat No. II''), designed by [[John Philip Holland]], is first submersion-tested in New York City.
* August 30 – French inventor [[Clément Ader]] demonstrates his [[théâtrophone]] system which delivers the first example of transmitted binaural 2-channel [[stereophonic sound]], delivered over telephone wires from the operatic stage of the [[Palais Garnier]] to the [[International Exposition of Electricity]] in Paris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terramedia.co.uk/Chronomedia/years/1880-1884.htm#Ader|title=Chronomedia: 1880-1884|publisher=Terra Media|date=2005-11-20|accessdate=2024-08-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=A.|last=Lange|url=http://histv2.free.fr/theatrophone/theatrophone.htm|title=Le Premier Medium Electrique De Diffusion Culturelle: Le Theatrophone De Clement Ader (1881)|work=Histoire de la télévision|date=2002-03-31|accessdate=2007-11-21|archive-date=2015-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220001913/http://histv2.free.fr/theatrophone/theatrophone.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015024538491;view=1up;seq=428|title=The Telephone at the Paris Opera|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225174255/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015024538491;view=1up;seq=428|archive-date=2021-02-25|journal=[[Scientific American]]|date=1881-12-31|pages=422–23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|pages=15–16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AxqhT2f1lYC&pg=PA15|title=Radio drama: Theory and practice|isbn=978-0-415-21603-6|last=Crook|first=Tim|year=1999|publisher=Psychology Press}}</ref>
* September 26 – [[Godalming]] becomes the first town in England to have its streets illuminated by [[electric light]] ([[hydroelectricity|hydroelectrically]] generated).<ref>{{cite web|title=Godalming Power Station|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=744|work=Engineering Timelines|access-date=2010-07-06|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716111833/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=744|archive-date=2011-07-16}}</ref>
* October 10 – [[Richard D'Oyly Carte]]'s [[Savoy Theatre]] opens in London, the world's first public building to be fully lit by electricity, using [[Joseph Swan]]'s [[incandescent light bulb]]s.<ref name=CCWH/><ref>{{cite news|title=The Savoy Theatre|newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=1881-10-03|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Burgess|first=Michael|title=Richard D'Oyly Carte|journal=The Savoyard|pages=7–11|date=January 1975}}</ref> The stage is first lit electrically on December 28.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gsarchive.net/carte/savoy/electric.html|title=Savoy Theatre|newspaper=The Times|date=1881-12-29|page=4|access-date=2012-01-30}}</ref>
* December 21 – {{SS|Aberdeen|1881|6}}, the first oceangoing ship successfully powered by a [[triple expansion]] steam engine, designed by [[Alexander Carnegie Kirk]], is launched at [[Robert Napier and Sons]]' yard at [[Govan]] in Scotland.
* [[Nikolay Benardos]] introduces [[carbon arc welding]], the first practical [[arc welding]] method.<ref>{{cite web|title=Beginnings of submerged arc welding|url=http://bulletin.is.gliwice.pl/PDF/2014/03/02_Turyk_Grobosz_Beginnings_of_submerged_arc_welding.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070057/http://bulletin.is.gliwice.pl/PDF/2014/03/02_Turyk_Grobosz_Beginnings_of_submerged_arc_welding.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref>
* [[Peter Herdic]] [[patent]]s the [[Herdic]] horse-drawn cab in the United States.

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Charles-Adolphe Wurtz|Karl Adolph Wurtz]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=23 July 2020 }}</ref>
* [[Wollaston Medal]] for Geology: [[Peter Martin Duncan]]

==Births==
* January 29 – [[Alice Catherine Evans]] (died [[1975 in science|1975]]), [[Americans|American]] [[microbiologist]].
* January 31 – [[Irving Langmuir]] (died [[1957 in science|1957]]), American [[chemist]].
* March 17 – [[Walter Rudolf Hess]] (died [[1973 in science|1973]]), [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[physiologist]], recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]].
* April 28 – [[Edith A. Roberts]] (died [[1977 in science|1977]]), American [[plant ecologist]].
* May 1 – [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]] (died [[1955 in science|1955]]), French [[paleontologist]] and [[philosopher]].
* August 6 – [[Alexander Fleming]] (died 1955), [[British people|British]] [[bacteriologist]].
* September 18 – [[Vera Lebedeva]] (died [[1968 in science|1968]]), Soviet Russian [[pediatrician]].
* October 4 – [[George Constantinescu]] (died [[1965 in science|1965]]), [[Romanians|Romanian]] engineer.
* October 11 – [[Lewis Fry Richardson]] (died [[1953 in science|1953]]), British mathematical physicist.
* October 22 – [[Clinton Davisson]] (died [[1958 in science|1958]]), American [[physicist]].
* November 9 – [[Margaret Reed Lewis]] (died [[1970 in science|1970]]), American [[cell biologist]].
* November 13 – [[Ludwig Karl Koch|Ludwig Koch]] (died [[1974 in science|1974]]), [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jewish]] animal [[Sound recording and reproduction|sound recordist]].

==Deaths==
* February 3 – [[John Gould]] (born [[1804 in science|1804]]), English [[zoologist]].
* March 26 – [[Lovisa Åhrberg]] (born [[1801 in science|1801]]), Swedish [[surgeon]].
* May 14 – [[Mary Seacole]] (born [[1805 in science|1805]]), [[Jamaica]]n-born nurse.
* May 19 – [[Joseph Barnard Davis]] (born 1801), English [[craniologist]], physician and anthropologist.
* May 26 – [[Jakob Bernays]] (born [[1824 in science|1824]]), German [[philologist]].
* June 16 – [[George Rolleston]] (born [[1829 in science|1829]]), English [[physician]] and zoologist.
* June 23 – [[Matthias Jakob Schleiden]] (born 1804), German [[biologist]].
* June 29 – [[Maurice Raynaud]] (born [[1834 in science|1834]]), French physician.
* July 27 – [[Hewett Watson]] (born 1804), English biologist.
* October 31 – [[George W. DeLong]] (born [[1844 in science|1844]]), American [[Arctic]] explorer.
* November 30 – [[Jean-Alfred Gautier]] (born [[1793 in science|1793]]), Swiss [[astronomer]]<ref>{{HDS|028831|Alfred Gautier|author=Marcel Golay}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1881 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1880s in science]]