1748
Mikhail Vasil'evich Lomonosov formulates the laws of conservation of mass and energy, fundamental tenets of natural science.

1829
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky publishes his version of non-Euclidean hyperbolic geometry. The new geometry makes possible the radical notion that the universe may be curved rather than flat.

1844
Karl Karlovich Claus is first to obtain pure Ruthenium (named thus from the Latin Ruthenia, i.e., Russia)

1869
Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev publishes his periodic table of all known chemical elements, organized by their atomic weights. This becomes the foundation of modern Chemistry.

1884
Bacteriologist Ilya Ilich Mechnikov discovers phagocytes, white blood cells that devour organisms invading the human body.

1892
Microbiologist Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky deduces the existence of viruses, organisms too small to be seen in the microscope.

1895
Physicist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky works out the theoretical problems of rocket travel in space and proposes liquid fuel for propulsion.

1898
The Russian-designed Ermak [alt. spelling: Yermak] is the first icebreaker. Named after the conqueror of Siberia.

1901
Biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov introduces the first practical application for artificially inseminating cattle.

1902
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov formulates the law of reinforcement demonstrating that a dog given food when a bell is rung will soon learn to salivate at the sound of the bell alone.

1934
Pavel Alekseevich Cherenkov discovers that a particle traveling close to the speed of light emits light when it passes through a liquid or a transparent solid. This principle has come to be used extensively in high-energy physics to detect charged particles and measure their velocities.

1935
Physicist Lev Davidovich Landau clarifies the understanding of ferromagnetism when he publishes a mathematical explanation of the behavior of atomic magnets.

1937
Physicist Petr Leonidovich Kapitza discovers that Helium II (the stable form of Helium below 2.2 degrees K) is a superfluid. It has almost no viscosity or resistance to flow.

1941
The Maksutov telescope is invented in Moscow. In this telescope, aberration is corrected by a spherical meniscus.

1950
The Tokamak device for nuclear fusion is invented. Although it has not achieved sustained fusion, it is still considered among the most promising designs.

1952
Yuri Valentinovich Knosorov publishes an article that eventually leads to the cracking of Mayan hieroglyphs. This, never having once seen a Mayan ruin or even touched a real Mayan inscription, formulated a methodology that led the way to full decipherment.

1954
The Soviet Union builds the first nuclear reactor for power generation.

1957
The Soviet Union launches the first atomic-powered surface ship, the world's largest icebreaker, the "Lenin."

1957
Sputnik is launched, the first earth orbiter, starting the great space race.

1957
Russia sends the first dog into space on Sputnik II. The dog, Laika, remains alive for 10 days, proving that animals can survive space flights.

1959
The Russian space probe Lunik III provides the first images of the far side of the moon.

1961
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to orbit Earth in his space ship Vostok.

1963
Cosmonauts Andrian Nikolaev and Pavel Romanovich Popovich orbit Earth simultaneously in two spacecrafts.

1964
Russian physicists Nikolay Gennadievich Basov and Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov share the Nobel Prize for Physics with Charles Townes of the U.S. for the development of maser and laser principles in quantum mechanics.

1965
Cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov takes the first space walk, a 20-minute excursion outside his spacecraft, Voskhod 2.

1968
The Tupolev 144 ushers in supersonic passenger travel with its maiden flight two months before the French Concorde.

1975
Space probes Venera 9 and Venera 10 provide the first pictures from the surface of Venus. Also, the first cooperative U.S.-Soviet space mission, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, is launched; a three-man Apollo spacecraft docks with the two-man Soviet Soyuz 19.

1987
Cosmonaut Yuri Viktorovich Romanenko sets a new record when he returns to Earth from the Mir space station after 326 days.

1994
Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev is the first Russian to fly on the American space shuttle, paving the way for future cooperative space ventures.