Legacy Archives Timeline

1970s

1972
Paul Berg [500kb PDF] carries out first successful recombinant DNA experiment.

1975
Well before the advent of the Internet, the Publications Division started work on in-house production of journals using a database approach.

1977
Ilya Prigogine awarded Nobel Prize for his contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures.

1980s

1980
Paul Berg awarded Nobel Prize for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA. Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger awarded Nobel Prize for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids.

1982
The first issue of Organometallics is published.

1,000 articles from the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry were loaded as a private database at Bibliographic Retrieval Services (BRS) as an experimental prototype electronic journal. In 1981, an experimental file of 16 ACS journals was loaded at BRS.

1985
The first issue of Langmuir is published.

Polymerase chain reaction reported by Kary B. Mullis [610kb PDF] and colleagues.

Ozone hole first observed over Antarctica.

1987
The ACS-sponsored National Chemistry Day first happened on Nov. 6, 1987. It had been proposed by George C. Pimentel in 1986 when he was society president. In 1989, the event evolved into what is today National Chemistry Week.

The first issue of Energy & Fuels is published.

1988
The first issue of Chemical Research in Toxicology is published.

Sir James W. Black awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of important principles for drug treatment.

1989
The first issue of Chemistry of Materials is published.

1990s

Elias James Corey awarded Nobel Prize for development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis.

1993
Kary B. Mullis awarded the Nobel Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Michael Smith awarded the Nobel Prize for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studies.

1995
Paul Crutzen, Mario Molina, and F. Sherwood Rowland [495kb PDF] awarded Nobel Prize for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.