Date Event

Date Event
1665 Cell first observed
Robert Hooke, an English scientist, discovered a honeycomb-like structure in a cork slice using a primitive
compound microscope. He only saw cell walls as this was dead tissue. He coined the term "cell" for these
individual compartments he saw.
1670 First living cells seen
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch biologist, looks at pond water with a microscope he made lenses for.
1683 Miniature animals
Anton van Leeuwenhoek made several more discoveries on a microscopic level, eventually publishing a
letter to the Royal Society in which he included detailed drawings of what he saw. Among these was the
first protozoa and bacteria discovered.
1833 The center of the cell seen
Robert Brown, an English botanist, discovered the nucleus in plant cells.
1838 Basic building blocks
Matthias Jakob Schleiden, a German botanist, proposes that all plant tissues are composed of cells, and
that cells are the basic building blocks of all plants. This statement was the first generalized statement
about cells.
1839 Cell theory
Theodor Schwann, a German botanist reached the conclusion that not only plants, but animal tissue as
well is composed of cells. This ended debates that plants and animals were fundamentally different in
structure. He also pulled together and organized previous statement on cells into one theory, which
states: 1 - Cells are organisms and all organisms consist of one or more cells 2 - The cell is the basic unit
of structure for all organisms
1840 Where does life come from
Albrecht von Roelliker discoveres that sperm and eggs are also cells.
1845 Basic unit of life
Carl Heinrich Braun reworks the cell theory, calling cells the basic unit of life.
1855 3rd part to the cell theory added

Rudolf Virchow, a German physiologist/physician/pathologist added the 3rd part to the cell theory. The
original is Greek, and states Omnis cellula e cellula. This translates as all cells develop only from existing
cells. Virchow was also the first to propose that diseased cells come from healthy cells.
Sep 4, 1590
Hans and Zacharias Janssen
Hans and Zacharias Janssen were the inventors of the first compound microscope.
Sep 4, 1665
Robert Hooke
English physicist Robert Hooke looked at a sliver of cork through a microscope lens and noticed some
"pores" or "cells" in it. Robert Hooke believed the cells had served as containers for the "noble juices" or
"fibrous threads" of the once-living cork tree. Hooke was the first person to use the word "cell" to
identify microscopic structures when he was describing cork.
Sep 4, 1668
Francesco Redi
Francesco Redi, an Italian physician, did an experiment to determine if rotting meat turned into flies. He
found that meat cannot turn into flies and only flies could make more flies. This was an important
experiment because it helped to disprove the theory of spontaneous generation. It did this by showing
that the rotten meat did not turn into flies and only flies could make more flies.
Sep 4, 1674
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek was the first to see and describe bacteria.
Sep 4, 1745
John Needham
From 1745 to 1748 John Needham, a Scottish clergyman and naturalist, showed that soup that had been
exposed to the air contained many micro organisms. He claimed that there was a "life force" present in
the molecules of all inorganic matter, including air and the oxygen in it, that could cause spontaneous
generation to occur.
Sep 4, 1765
Lazzaro Spallanzani
From 1765 to 1767 Lazzaro Spallanzani, an Italian abbot and biologist, tried variations on John
Needham’s soup experiments. He determined that soup in a sealed container was sterile and that micro
organisms that caused the soup to spoil had entered from the air.
Sep 5, 1831
Robert Brown
Robert Brown discovered the cell nucleus.
Sep 5, 1839
Matthias Schleiden
Theodor Schwann and Matthias Jakob Schleiden created what is called the cell theory. The cell theory
states that all living things are made up of one or more cells.
Sep 5, 1839
Theodor Schwann
Schwann proposed that all organisms are composed of cells. Together with Matthias Schleiden he
formulated the cell theory of life. Schwann also discovered the cells, now known as Schwann cells, that
form a sheath surrounding nerve axons and conducted experiments that helped disprove the theory of
spontaneous generation.
Sep 5, 1855
Rudolf Virchow
Rudolf Virchow published his now-famous aphorism omnis cellula e cellula ("every cell stems from
another cell"). He also stated that all diseases involve changes in normal cells.
Sep 4, 1864
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur did an experiment that determined that soup exposed to air only spoiled if the air was not
filtered or if the flask containing the soup had an opening that allowed micro organisms to get to the
soup. If he used flasks with long S-shaped necks the micro organisms that spoiled the soup settled in the
neck and did not spoil the soup.
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/development-of-cell-theory
http://www.softschools.com/timelines/cell_theory_timeline/96/

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Date Event

1665 Cell first observed

1670 First living cells seen

1683 Miniature animals

1833 The center of the cell seen

Robert Brown, an English botanist, discovered the nucleus in plant cells.

1838 Basic building blocks

1839 Cell theory

1840 Where does life come from

1845 Basic unit of life

1855 3rd part to the cell theory added

Hans and Zacharias Janssen

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

Robert Brown discovered the cell nucleus.

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