Discovery of Argon
Collaborates in identifying argon as a previously unknown atmospheric gas, creating a major challenge and opportunity for the periodic classification of elements.
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
William Ramsay Biography and Timeline
Follow William Ramsay through 11 dated historical records for Great Britain.
William Ramsay, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
11Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1894–1913Years on this page
1894
1895
Discovery of Terrestrial Helium
Identifies helium in a terrestrial mineral, demonstrating that the element previously known from the solar spectrum is also present on Earth.
1898
Discovery of Krypton
Discovers krypton while fractionating liquefied air and helps establish a new family of chemically unreactive elements.
Discovery of Neon
Discovers neon in liquefied air and adds another chemically inert element to the emerging noble-gas family of the periodic table.
Discovery of Xenon
Discovers xenon as a heavy constituent of liquefied air and further completes the noble-gas group of the periodic table.
1902
Noble Gas Group Placement
Recognises that the newly discovered inert gases form a coherent chemical family and supports placing them together as a separate group in the periodic system.
1904
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the inert gaseous elements and defining their place in the periodic system.
Nobel Prize
Receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the inert gaseous elements in air and determining their place in the periodic system.
Nobel Recognition of Noble Gases
Receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the inert gaseous elements and determining their place in the periodic system.
1913
Academic Chairmanship
Ends a distinguished academic career researching gases and chemical elements.
University College Retirement
Retires from his professorship at University College London.
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.