1773 in science

The year 1773 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

* October 13 - French astronomer Charles Messier discovered the Whirlpool Galaxy "(pictured)", an interacting, grand-design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 23 million light-years in the constellation Canes Venatici.

Chemistry

* Hilaire Rouelle discovers urea.

Exploration

* January 17 - Captain James Cook becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle.

Awards

* Copley Medal: John Walsh

Births

* January 29 - Friedrich Mohs, mineralogist (died 1839)
* May 19 - Arthur Aikin, chemist, mineralogist (died 1854)
* June 13 - Thomas Young, physicist (died 1829)
* July 23 - Thomas Brisbane, astronomer (died 1860)
* December 21 - Robert Brown, botanist (died 1858)
* December 27 - George Cayley, inventor of the airplane (died 1857)

Deaths

* July 23 - George Edwards, naturalist (born 1693)