Timeline Description: Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant British mathematician and scientist. He is best known for his discovery of the three laws of motion and for the law of universal gravitation. Newton wrote several articles and books and is named as one of the inventors of calculus
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1642 | Isaac Newton is born. Isaac Newton is born on Christmas Day in 1642 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, about 100 miles north of London. He is very weak at birth and isn't expected to live. |
| 1653 | Newton attends King's School in Grantham (About 1653). At the age of 5, Newton goes to the village school. About six years later he is sent to Grantham, a town seven miles away, to attend King's School. At first he does poorly, but after beating up a bully, he pushes himself to the head of the class. |
| 1653 | Newton's creativity begins to show (About 1653 to about 1657). While in Grantham, Newton stays in the home of Mr. Clark, the town druggist. He builds wooden models, carves sundials, draws, and builds a water clock. After seeing a windmill, he builds a working model of his own. |
| 1661 | Newton enrolls at Cambridge University. When Newton is 16, his mother brings him home from King's School to learn to be a farmer. Newton wants to study instead, and he is eventually sent back to prepare for college. He enrolls at Trinity College at Cambridge in 1661. |
| 1665 | Newton receives a bachelor's of arts degree. While at Cambridge, Newton divides a notebook into 45 sections so he can make notes of things he wants to know about. He is so involved in studying that he sometimes forgets to eat. In 1665 he receives his bachelor's of arts degree. |
| 1666 | Newton returns to Woolsthorpe (1665-1666). Cambridge closes down because of the plague in London. Newton heads home. He experiments with the origin of colors and the nature of gravity, and creates what we know as calculus today. |
| 1667 | Newton returns to Cambridge. Cambridge reopens in 1667, and Newton returns to study for his master of arts degree. He is given a fellowship, a special award where he is paid to study. In 1669 he is made a professor of mathematics. |
| 1671 | Newton joins the Royal Society of London. Newton builds an improved version of the reflecting telescope. His friend, Dr. Barrow, takes it to the Royal Society of London, the country's most famous scientific society. The members are so impressed they invite Newton to join. |
| 1687 | Newton publishes his major work, Principia. In 1684 a scientist urges Newton to write about how a planet moves in a certain orbit. His work turns into a 3-volume book known as Principia. Published in 1687, this work details the 3 laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. |
| 1689 | Newton is elected to Parliament. In 1689 Newton runs for Parliament and wins a seat. He serves for one year. |
| 1693 | Newton gets sick. Around 1693 Newton's health begins to fail and his mind seems to wander. Some think he is having a breakdown. Some think now that he may have been experiencing mercury poisoning from some of his experiments. He is completely well by 1696. |
| 1696 | Newton is appointed Warden of the Mint. Newton is given the job of Warden of the Mint in 1696. He helps recall all of the old British coins so they can be replaced with new ones. In 1700 he is appointed Master of the Mint. |
| 1703 | Newton becomes president of the Royal Society. In 1703 Newton is elected the president of the Royal Society of London. He publishes his writings on his early experiments with light in a book called Opticks. |
| 1705 | Newton is knighted. In 1705 Newton receives the highest honor in the land. He becomes the first British scientist to be knighted. He is now known as "Sir Isaac Newton." |
| March 20, 1727 | Newton dies. On March 20, 1727, Sir Isaac Newton dies at the age of 84. He is buried at the famous Westminster Abbey. Sir Isaac Newton will be remembered as a brilliant man whose work in math and science continues to influence the world today. |