| 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 |
| 1747 |
's Gravesande's ring |
Willem 's Gravesande |
Demonstration |
Thermal expansion |
| 1752 |
Kite experiment |
Thomas-François Dalibard/Benjamin Franklin |
Investigation |
Lightning |
| 1774 |
Schiehallion experiment |
Nevil Maskelyne |
Measurement |
Vertical deflection, Earth density |
| 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 |
| 1957 |
Goldhaber experiment [fr] |
Maurice Goldhaber |
Confirmation |
Neutrino helicity |
| 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 |