Royal Society Timeline of Events

Home / Timelines / Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

Timeline of Events

1660

11.28.1660

At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society.

1683

9.17.1683

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of protozoa.

1684

12.10.1684

Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper ''De motu corporum in gyrum'', is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.