| Date of start
|
Experiment
|
Attribution
|
Type
|
About
|
| 1586
|
Delft tower experiment
|
Simon Stevin and Jan Cornets de Groot
|
Demonstration
|
Same mass objects fall at the same speed on Earth
|
| 1643
|
Torricelli's experiment
|
Evangelista Torricelli
|
Demonstration
|
Vacuum relation to atmospheric pressure
|
| 1654
|
Magdeburg hemispheres
|
Otto von Guericke
|
Demonstration
|
Atmospheric pressure
|
| 1675
|
Rømer's determination of the speed of light
|
Ole Rømer
|
Measurement
|
Speed of light
|
| 1752
|
Kite experiment
|
Thomas-François Dalibard/Benjamin Franklin
|
Investigation
|
Lightning
|
| 1790
|
Pictet's experiment
|
Marc-Auguste Pictet
|
Demonstration
|
Thermal radiation
|
| 1797
|
Cavendish experiment
|
Henry Cavendish
|
Measurement
|
Gravitational constant
|
| 1799
|
Voltaic pile
|
Alessandro Volta
|
Demonstration
|
First electric battery
|
| 1803
|
Young's interference experiment
|
Thomas Young
|
Confirmation
|
Wave theory of light
|
| 1819
|
Arago spot experiment
|
François Arago
|
Confirmation
|
Fresnel diffraction due to circular object
|
| 1838
|
Bedford Level experiment
|
Samuel Rowbotham
|
Measurement
|
Curvature of the Earth
|
| 1843
|
Faraday's ice pail experiment
|
Michael Faraday
|
Demonstration
|
Electromagnetic induction
|
| 1850
|
Foucault's measurements of the speed of light
|
Léon Foucault
|
Measurement
|
Speed of light
|
| 1851
|
Fizeau experiment
|
Hippolyte Fizeau
|
Measurement
|
Speed of light
|
| 1851
|
Foucault pendulum
|
Léon Foucault
|
Demonstration
|
Earth's rotation
|
| 1852
|
Foucault's gyroscope
|
Léon Foucault
|
Demonstration
|
Earth's rotation
|
| 1867
|
Kelvin water dropper
|
Lord Kelvin (William Thomson)
|
Demonstration
|
Electrostatic generator
|
| 1867
|
Tyndall's bar breaker
|
John Tyndall
|
Demonstration
|
Thermal expansion forces
|
| 1885
|
Eötvös experiment
|
Loránd Eötvös
|
Measurement
|
Ratio between inertial and gravitational mass
|
| 1887
|
Michelson–Morley experiment
|
Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley
|
Negative result
|
Luminiferous aether
|
| 1897
|
Thomson experiment
|
J. J. Thomson
|
Discovery
|
Electron
|
| 1901
|
Trouton–Noble experiment
|
Frederick Thomas Trouton and H. R. Noble.
|
Negative result
|
Luminiferous aether
|
| 1905
|
Rubens tube
|
Heinrich Rubens
|
Demonstration
|
Standing wave
|
| 1908
|
Geiger–Marsden experiments
|
Hans Geiger, Ernest Marsden, Ernest Rutherford
|
Discovery
|
Atomic nucleus
|
| 1909
|
Oil drop experiment
|
Robert A. Millikan and Harvey Fletcher
|
Measurement
|
Elementary charge of the electron
|
| 1913
|
Compton generator
|
Arthur Compton
|
Demonstration
|
Earth's rotation
|
| 1914
|
Franck–Hertz experiment
|
James Franck and Gustav Hertz
|
Confirmation
|
Bohr model
|
| 1914
|
Blondel's experiments
|
André Blondel
|
Investigation
|
Electromagnetic induction
|
| 1915
|
Einstein–de Haas experiment
|
Albert Einstein and Wander Johannes de Haas
|
Investigation
|
Electron magnetic moment
|
| 1919
|
Eddington experiment
|
Arthur Eddington
|
Confirmation
|
General relativity
|
| 1922
|
Stern–Gerlach experiment
|
Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach
|
Confirmation
|
Angular momentum quantization
|
| 1923
|
Davisson–Germer experiment
|
Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer
|
Confirmation
|
De Broglie hypothesis
|
| 1924
|
Bothe–Geiger coincidence experiment
|
Walther Bothe and Hans Geiger
|
Confirmation
|
Compton effect / conservation of energy
|
| 1925
|
Michelson–Gale–Pearson experiment
|
Albert A. Michelson and Henry G. Gale
|
Measurement
|
Earth's rotation
|
| 1929
|
Rüchardt experiment
|
Eduard Rüchardt
|
Measurement
|
Heat capacity ratio
|
| 1932
|
Kennedy–Thorndike experiment
|
Roy J. Kennedy and Edward M. Thorndike
|
Confirmation
|
Inertial frame invariance of speed of light
|
| 1938
|
Ives–Stilwell experiment
|
Herbert E. Ives and G. R. Stilwell
|
Confirmation
|
Relativistic Doppler shift
|
| 1942
|
Chicago Pile-1
|
Enrico Fermi
|
Demonstration
|
First self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
|
| 1945
|
Trinity
|
Manhattan Project
|
Demonstration
|
First nuclear weapon detonation
|
| 1947
|
Lamb–Retherford experiment
|
Willis Lamb and Robert Retherford
|
Discovery
|
Lamb shift/Vacuum energy
|
| 1956
|
Wu experiment
|
Chien-Shiung Wu
|
Confirmation
|
Parity violation
|
| 1956
|
Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment
|
Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines
|
Confirmation
|
Existence of neutrino
|
| 1958
|
Hughes–Drever experiment
|
Giuseppe Cocconi and Edwin Ernest Salpeter
|
Confirmation
|
Lorentz covariance
|
| 1959
|
Pound–Rebka experiment
|
Robert Pound and Glen A. Rebka Jr.
|
Confirmation
|
Gravitational redshift
|
| 1964
|
Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation
|
Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson
|
Discovery
|
Cosmic microwave background
|
| 1965
|
Homestake experiment
|
Raymond Davis Jr. and John N. Bahcall
|
Measurement
|
Count solar neutrinos/solar neutrino problem
|
| 1970
|
Gargamelle
|
CERN
|
Discovery
|
Neutral currents
|
| 1976
|
Gravity Probe A
|
NASA
|
Measurement
|
Gravitational time dilation
|
| 1977
|
De Sitter double star experiment
|
Kenneth Brecher
|
Negative result
|
de Sitter effect
|
| 1980
|
Aspect's experiment
|
Alain Aspect
|
Confirmation
|
Violation of Bell's inequalities
|
| 1981
|
UA1 and UA2 experiments
|
CERN
|
Discovery
|
W and Z bosons
|
| 1992
|
DØ experiment
|
CERN
|
Multiple
|
Top quark
|
| 1998
|
Delayed-choice quantum eraser
|
Marlan Scully
|
Demonstration
|
Delayed-choice (quantum mechanics)
|
| 2004
|
Gravity Probe B
|
NASA/Stanford University
|
Confirmation
|
Frame-dragging
|
| 2012
|
Search for the Higgs boson
|
CERN
|
Confirmation
|
Higgs boson
|
| 2015
|
First observation of gravitational waves
|
LIGO
|
Confirmation
|
Gravitational waves
|
From Wikipedia - Reading time: 6 min
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