Legacy Archives Timeline

1950s

1951
Edwin M. McMillan and Glenn T. Seaborg awarded Nobel Prize for their discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements

The American Chemical Society celebrated its 75th anniversary at the national meeting in New York City in September. The speaker at the ceremonial session was organic chemist James B. Conant, president of Harvard University.

1952
Selman A. Waksman awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or medicine for discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis.

1953
The first issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is published.

Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey produce amino acids from a mixture of gases that mimicked the prebiotic atmosphere of Earth.

1954
Linus Carl Pauling awarded Nobel Prize for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances.

1955
Melvin Calvin [1176kb PDF] announces that the complete cycle of photosynthesis has been determined.

1956
The first issue of the Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data is published (originally I&EC, Chem. & Eng. Data Series, 1956 - 1958).

1958
Frederick Sanger awarded Nobel Prize for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin.

1959
The first issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry is published (originally J. of Med. and Pharmaceutical Chem., 1959 - 1963).

1960s

1960
Willard F. Libby awarded Nobel Prize for his method for using carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science.

1961
Melvin Calvin awarded Nobel Prize for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants.

The first issue of the Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences is published (originally J. of Chem. Documentation, 1961 - 1974).

1962
The first issue of Inorganic Chemistry is published.

The first issue of Biochemistry is published.

The first issue of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research is published (originally I&EC, 1909 -1970; I&EC Fundamentals, I&EC Process Design and Development, and I&EC Product Research and Development, 1926 - 1986).

1967
The first issue of Environmental Science & Technology is published.

ACS president Charles G. Overberger invited the presidents of a number of chemical societies in other countries to meet with him in Washington, D.C., to discuss topics of mutual interest. Those attending agreed to try to hold such meetings every other year. The most recent one came in late November 2000 in Washington, where ACS hosted officials from chemical societies of France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K

Monroe H. Wall and Mansukh Wani discovered Taxol® and camptothecin, two new chemotherapy drugs.

1968
Lars Onsager awarded Nobel Prize for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name, which are fundamental for the thermodynamics of irreversible processes.

The first issue of Accounts of Chemical Research is published.

The first issue of Macromolecules is published.