TIMELINE OF A TRUE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONARY
June 26, 1824: William Thomson is born in Belfast
1832: His father James is appointed Chair of Mathematics at University of Glasgow prompting his family to move to Glasgow
1834-40: William and brother James matriculate; William passes exams and matriculates at Peterhouse College, Cambridge
1841–1843: Publication of paper on Fourier’s mathematics
1845: Graduates BA, elected Foundation Fellow of St Peter’s College, Cambridge
1846: Elected to Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University
1847: Uses term “dynamical theory of heat”, giving rise to thermodynamics
1850: Brother James’s paper on “the effect of pressure in lowering the freezing point of water” allows William to link the second law to the absolute scale of temperature
1851: Publication of “Dynamical theory of heat” and first paper on steam flow: giving birth to the Joule–thomson effect and modern refrigeration
1852: Publication of “The second law of thermodynamics”
1852: Marries Margaret Crum on September 15
1854: Paper on thermodynamics of the solar system and first on Luminiferous Medium
1854: First patent for improvements to copper conductors with Rankine and Tait
1855: First paper on electric telegraph
1857: Appointment to the board of directors of the Transatlantic Telegraph Company
1858: Builds the mirror galvanometer; Links America with Europe by telegraph cable
1859: Seminal paper on electrical frequency, paving the way for radio
1866: Knighted Sir for his work on telegraphy
1870: Takes up residence at No 11 Professors’ Square, without his wife, who died in June
1874: Marries Francis Anna Blandy
1879–1881: Report to a Government Select Committee on electric light
1882–1883: Papers on refrigeration, gyrocompass as navigation and chirality of molecules
1888: Calculates Antarctic ice sheets and links ice and oceans in climate change
1889-90: Mathematical model of magnetism; Develops dripless tap
1891: Appointment as President of the Royal Society in London
1892: Elevated to a peerage, taking his name from the river near the University
1898: Becomes the first person in the world to send a wireless telegram
1904: Elected Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
1907: Lord Kelvin dies and is buried in Westminster Abbey