Historydraft LogoHistorydraft Logo
Historydraft
beta
Historydraft Logo
Historydraft
beta

  • Varel, Duchy of Oldenburg (Present Day Varel, Germany)
    Friday Aug 20, 1830

    Birth

    Varel, Duchy of Oldenburg (Present Day Varel, Germany)
    Friday Aug 20, 1830

    Lothar Meyer was born in Varel, Germany (then part of the Duchy of Oldenburg). He was the son of Friedrich August Meyer, a physician, and Anna Biermann.




  • Zurich, Switzerland
    1851

    Lothar studied medicine at the University of Zurich

    Zurich, Switzerland
    1851

    After attending the Altes Gymnasium in Oldenburg, Lothar studied medicine at the University of Zurich in 1851.




  • Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
    1854

    Lothar went to the University of Heidelberg

    Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
    1854

    After graduating as a Doctor of Medicine from Würzburg in 1854, Lothar went to the University of Heidelberg, where Robert Bunsen held the chair of chemistry.




  • Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
    1858

    Lothar received a Ph.D.

    Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
    1858

    In 1858, Lothar received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Breslau with a thesis on the effects of carbon monoxide on the blood. With this interest in the physiology of respiration, he had recognized that oxygen combines with the hemoglobin in blood.




  • Königsberg, East Prussia (Present Day Kaliningrad, Russia)
    1859

    Lothar took up the study of mathematical physics at the University of Königsberg

    Königsberg, East Prussia (Present Day Kaliningrad, Russia)
    1859

    Influenced by the mathematical teaching of Gustav Kirchhoff, Lothar took up the study of mathematical physics at the University of Königsberg under Franz Ernst Neumann and in 1859, after having received his habilitation (certification for university teaching), became Privatdozent in physics and chemistry at the University of Breslau.




  • Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
    1862

    Die modernen Theorien der Chemie

    Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
    1862

    His book, Die modernen Theorien der Chemie, which he began writing in Breslau in 1862 and which was published two years later, contained an early version of the periodic table containing 28 elements, classified elements into six families by their valence—for the first time, elements had been grouped according to their valence. Works on organizing the elements by atomic weight, until then had been stymied by the widespread use of equivalent weights for the elements, rather than atomic weights.




  • Eberswalde, Germany
    1866

    Meyer accepted a post at the Eberswalde Forestry Academy

    Eberswalde, Germany
    1866

    In 1866, Meyer accepted a post at the Eberswalde Forestry Academy at Neustadt-Eberswalde but two years later was appointed to a professorship at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic.


  • Germany
    1866

    Marriage

    Germany
    1866

    Meyer married Johanna Volkmann in 1866.


  • Russian Empire
    1869

    Dmitri Mendeleev published a periodic table of all elements known at that time

    Russian Empire
    1869

    In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev published a periodic table of all elements known at that time (he later predicted several new elements to complete the table, and corrected some atomic weights).


  • Germany
    1872

    Meyer was the first to suggest that the six carbon atoms in the benzene ring

    Germany
    1872

    In 1872, Meyer was the first to suggest that the six carbon atoms in the benzene ring (that had been proposed a few years earlier by August Kekulé) were interconnected by single bonds only, the fourth valence of each carbon atom being directed toward the interior of the ring.


  • Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
    1876

    Meyer became Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tübingen

    Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
    1876

    During the Franco-Prussian War, the Polytechnic was used as a hospital and Meyer took an active role in the care of the wounded. In 1876, Meyer became Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tübingen.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    1882

    Meyer and Mendeleev received the Davy Medal

    London, England, United Kingdom
    1882

    In 1882, both Meyer and Mendeleev received the Davy Medal from the Royal Society in recognition of their work on the Periodic Law.


  • Tübingen, Kingdom of Württemberg (Present Day Tübingen, Germany)
    Friday Apr 12, 1895

    Death

    Tübingen, Kingdom of Württemberg (Present Day Tübingen, Germany)
    Friday Apr 12, 1895

    Meyer served until his death from a stroke on April 11, 1895 at the age of 64.


  • Worldwide
    Wednesday Aug 19, 2020

    Google celebrated his 190th birthday

    Worldwide
    Wednesday Aug 19, 2020

    On 19 August 2020, Google celebrated his 190th birthday with a Google Doodle.


<