Overview of the events of 1876 in science
The year 1876 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
December 7 – First recorded observation of the Great White Spot on Saturn , made by American astronomer Asaph Hall , who uses it to calculate the planet's rotation period. Édouard Lucas demonstrates that 127 is a Mersenne prime , the largest that will be recorded for seventy-five years.[ 5] He also shows that the Mersenne number 267 − 1, or M67 , must have factors . February 14 – Scottish American inventor Alexander Graham Bell and American electrical engineer Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone , initiating the Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell telephone controversy . March 7 – Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for the telephone.[ 6] March 10 – Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful bi-directional telephone call, saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you". April – Joseph Zentmayer makes his Centennial microscope in the United States. April 15 – Russian-born electrical engineer Pavel Yablochkov first publicly demonstrates the 'Yablochkov candle ', a form of arc lamp , in London.[ 7] May 17 – Nicolaus Otto files his patent for the four-stroke engine using the Otto cycle .[ 8] August 8 – Thomas Edison is granted a United States patent for his mimeograph . Emile Berliner invents an improved form of microphone (the carbon-button type) which will be adopted for Alexander Graham Bell 's telephone.[ 9] [ 10] Francis Edgar Stanley of Newton, Massachusetts , patents an atomizing paint distributor, a form of airbrush .[ 11] The Seth Thomas Clock Company is awarded a United States patent for an adjustable wind-up alarm clock. Thomas Hawksley first uses pressure grouting to control water leakage under an embankment dam at Tunstall Reservoir in Weardale , County Durham, England.[ 12] [ 13] [ 14] [ 15] Melville Reuben Bissell files a United States patent for an improved carpet sweeper .[ 16] ^ Koch, R. (1876). "Die Ätiologie der Milzbrand-Krankheit, begründet auf die Entwicklungsgeschichte des Bacillus anthracis" (PDF) . Cohns Beiträge zur Biologie der Pflanzen . 2 (2): 277–310. Retrieved 2011-05-31 . ^ Galton, Francis (1883). Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development . pp. 26–27. ^ O'Connor, J. J.; Robertson, E.F. (1997). "Josiah Willard Gibbs" . MacTutor . School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 2007-03-24 . ^ Rice, A. L. (1999). "The Challenger Expedition" . Understanding the Oceans: Marine Science in the Wake of HMS Challenger . London: Routledge. pp. 27–48. ISBN 978-1-85728-705-9 . ^ Caldwell, Chris. "The Largest Known Prime by Year: A Brief History" . Retrieved 2011-12-30 . ^ United States patent #174,466. ^ Brewer, Nathan (2012-03-01). "Engineering Hall of Fame: Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov" . IEEE USA InSight . Retrieved 2024-07-27 . ^ van Dulken, Stephen (2001). Inventing the 19th Century . London: British Library . pp. 104–5. ISBN 0-7123-0881-4 . ^ "Birth of the Microphone: How Sound Became Signal" . Wired . ISSN 1059-1028 . Retrieved 2023-09-19 . ^ "Early History of the Microphone" . UGA Special Collections Library Online Exhibitions . Retrieved 2023-09-19 . ^ United States patent #182,389. ^ "Hawksley, Thomas" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/12691 . Retrieved 2011-08-27 . (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) ^ Rennison, R. W. (1996). Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England . p. 81. ISBN 9780727725189 . ^ Houlsby, A. Clive (1990). Construction and Design of Cement Grouting; A Guide to Grouting in Rock Foundations . Wiley. ISBN 0-471-51629-5 . ^ Glossop, Rudolph (1961). "The Invention and Development of Injection processes Part II: 1850-1960". Géotechnique . 11 (4). British Geotechnical Association: 255–279. doi :10.1680/geot.1961.11.4.255 . ^ Baxter, Albert (1891). History of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan . Munsell. ^ Dethloff, Henry C . "Texas A&M University" . The Handbook of Texas Online . Texas State Historical Association . Retrieved 2011-11-18 . ^ "WEP Milestones" . Berkeley Engineering . University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2011-11-24 . ^ "Copley Medal | British scientific award" . Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved 23 July 2020 .