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The History of Temperature Scales

  • Period: to

    Time span of Temperature

    A timeline of the 3 temperature scales
  • Introduction of Fahrenheit

    Introduction of Fahrenheit
    Fahrenheit is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the Polish-born German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), after whom the scale is named.[1] It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol °F) as the unit.
  • Introduction of Celsius

    Introduction of Celsius
    In 1742, Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744) created a temperature scale which was the reverse of the scale now known by the name "Celsius":
  • Introduction of Kelvin

    Introduction of Kelvin
    In 1848, Lord Kelvin wrote in his paper, On an Absolute Thermometric Scale, of the need for a scale whereby "infinite cold" (absolute zero) was the scale's null point, and which used the degree Celsius for its unit increment.
  • Celsius replacing Farenheit

    Celsius replacing Farenheit
    The Fahrenheit scale was the primary temperature standard for climatic, industrial and medical purposes in English-speaking countries until the 1960s. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the Celsius scale replaced Fahrenheit in almost all of those countries—with the notable exception of the United States—typically during their metrication process.