Timeline of fundamental physics discoveries

Advances in the knowledge of the laws of nature consisting either of experimental discoveries or theoretical proposals that were confirmed experimentally.
250 BCE	Archimedes' principle: Archimedes
1514	Heliocentrism: Nicholas Copernicus
1589	Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment: Galileo Galilei
1613	Inertia: Galileo Galilei
1621	Snell's law: Willebrord Snellius
1660	Pascal's Principle: Blaise Pascal
1660	Hooke's law: Robert Hooke
1687	Laws of Motion and Law of Gravitation: Isaac Newton
1782	Conservation of matter: Lavoisier
1785	Inverse square law for electric charges confirmed: Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
1801	Wave theory of light: Thomas Young
1803	Atomic theory of matter: John Dalton
1806	Kinetic energy: Thomas Young
1814	Wave theory of light, interference: Fresnel
1820	Evidence for electromagnetic interactions: André-Marie Ampère, Jean-Baptiste Biot, Félix Savart
1827	Electrical resistance, etc.: Ohm
1831	Electromagnetic induction: Michael Faraday
1838	Lines of Force, Fields: Michael Faraday
1838	Earth's magnetic field: Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Carl Friedrich Gauss
1843	Conservation of energy: Julius Robert von Mayer, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
1845	Faraday Rotation (light and electromagnetic): Michael Faraday
1847	Conservation of energy 2: James Prescott Joule, Hermann von Helmholtz
1851	Second law of thermodynamics: Rudolf Clausius, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

1859	Kinetic theory: James Clerk Maxwell
1861	Black body: Gustav Kirchhoff
1863	Entropy: Rudolf Clausius
1864	Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field: James Clerk Maxwell
1867	Dynamic Theory of Gases, James Clerk Maxwell
1871–89	Statistical mechanics: Ludwig Boltzmann, Josiah Willard Gibbs
1884	Boltzmann derives Stefan's radiation law
1887	Electromagnetic waves: Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
1893	Radiation law: Wien
1895	X-rays: Wilhelm Röntgen
1896	Radioactivity: Henri Becquerel
1897	Electron: J. J. Thomson
1900	Formula for Black body radiation: Max Planck
1905	Special relativity: Albert Einstein Photoelectric effect: Albert Einstein Brownian motion: Albert Einstein
1911	Equivalence principle Discovery of the atomic nucleus: Ernest Rutherford Superconductivity: Kamerlingh Onnes
1913	Bohr model of the atom: Niels Bohr
1916	General Relativity: Albert Einstein
1923	Stern–Gerlach experiment Matter waves Galaxies
1925	Matrix Mechanics: Werner Heisenberg
1927	Big Bang: Georges Lemaître
1927	Uncertainty Principle: Werner Heisenberg
1928	Antimatter predicted: Paul Dirac
1929	Expansion of universe confirmed: Edwin Hubble
1932	Antimatter discovered: Carl David Anderson Neutron discovered: James Chadwick
1937	Muon discovered: Carl David Anderson & Seth Neddermeyer
1938	Superfluidity discovered Nuclear fission discovered: Otto Hahn
1947	Pion discovered
1948	Theory of Quantum Electrodynamics: Richard Feynman
1956	Electron neutrino discovered
1957	Parity violation discovered
1957	Theory of Superconductivity
1962	Theory of strong interactions Muon neutrino discovered
1967	Theory of Weak interaction Pulsars discovered
1974	Charmed quark discovered
1975	Tau lepton discovered
1977	Bottom quark discovered
1980	Quantum Hall effect discovered
1981	Theory of cosmic inflation Fractional quantum Hall effect discovered
1995	Top quark discovered
1998	Accelerating universe discovered
2000	Tau neutrino discovered
2012	Higgs Boson discovered
2015	Gravitational waves detected

See also