1866 in science

List of years in science (Table)
	… 1856 • 1857 • 1858 • 1859 • 1860 • 1861 • 1862 • ; 1863 • 1864 • 1865 – 1866 – 1867 • 1868 • 1869 •; 1870 • 1871 • 1872 • 1873 • 1874 • 1875 • 1876 …
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	… 1863 • 1864 • 1865 – 1866 – 1867 • 1868 • 1869 …; … 1830s • 1840s • 1850s – 1860s – 1870s • 1880s • 1890s …; … 18th century – 19th century – 20th century …
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The year 1866 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

[edit] Astronomy

Giovanni Schiaparelli realizes that meteor streams occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet that has left debris along its path.
William Huggins studied the emission spectrum of a nova and discovers that it is surrounded by a cloud of hydrogen.

Gregor Mendel published his laws of inheritance.
Ernst Haeckel challenged the plant/animal division of life, observing that single celled organisms, the protists, do not fit into either category.
Frederick Smith first discovers Formica candida in the Bournemouth, England, describing it as Formica gagates.

Dynamite invented by Alfred Nobel.
Augustus von Hofmann proposes the now standard system of hydrocarbon nomenclature.