1709 in science explained

The year 1709 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Meteorology

• January – Great Frost in Western Europe.^{[1] [2]}

Physics

• Francis Hauksbee publishes Physico-Mechanical Experiments on Various Subjects, summarizing the results of his many experiments with electricity and other topics.

Technology

• January 10 – Industrial Revolution: Abraham Darby I successfully produces cast iron using coke fuel at his Coalbrookdale blast furnace in Shropshire, England.^{[3] [4] [5]}
• February 5 – Dramatist John Dennis devises the thundersheet as a new method of producing theatrical thunder for his tragedy Appius and Virginia at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.^[6]
• March 28 – Johann Friedrich Böttger reports the first production of hard-paste porcelain in Europe, at Dresden.
• July 13 – Johann Maria Farina founds the first Eau de Cologne and perfume factory in Cologne, Germany.
• August 8 – Hot air balloon of Bartholome de Gusmão flies in Portugal.
• A collapsible umbrella is introduced in Paris.^[7]

Awards

• April 9 – Sir Godfrey Copley, 2nd Baronet dies and in his will provides funding to the Royal Society for the annual Copley Medal honoring achievement in science (first awarded in 1731).

Births

• February 24 – Jacques de Vaucanson, French engineer and inventor (died 1782)
• March 3 – Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, German chemist (died 1782)
• March 10 – Georg Steller, German naturalist (died 1746)
• April 17 – Giovanni Domenico Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer (died 1788)
• July 11 – Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (died 1785)
• August 8 – Johann Georg Gmelin, German botanist (died 1755)
• November 23 – Julien Offray de La Mettrie, French physician and philosopher (died 1751)

Deaths

• early – Eleanor Glanville, English entomologist (born c. 1654)
• June 29 – Antoine Thomas, Belgian Jesuit astronomer in China (born 1644)
• June 30 – Edward Lhuyd, Welsh naturalist (born 1660)
• October 17 – François Mauriceau, French obstetrician (born 1637)

Notes and References

1. 1709: the year that Europe froze. Pain. Stephanie. New Scientist. 7 February 2009.
2. Luterbacher. Jürg. Dietrich. Daniel. Xoplaki. Elena. Grosjean. Martin. Wanner. Heinz. 2004. European Seasonal and Annual Temperature Variability, Trends, and Extremes Since 1500. Science. 303. 5663. 1499–1503. 10.1126/science.1093877. 15001774. 2004Sci...303.1499L.
3. Mott. R. A.. The earliest use of coke for ironmaking. The Gas World, coking section supplement. 145. 7–18. 5 January 1957.
4. Book: Raistrick, Arthur. Dynasty of Ironfounders: the Darbys and Coalbrookdale. London. Longmans, Green. 1953. 34.
5. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 292.
6. Book: Rees, Nigel. Nigel Rees

   . Nigel Rees. Why Do We Say ...?. 1987. 0-7137-1944-3.

7. Web site: The History of Umbrellas. Oakthrift Corporation. 2011-12-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20130902053708/http://www.oakthriftumbrellas.com/pages/umbrellas4.htm. 2013-09-02. dead.