List of years in science (Table)
… 1864 • 1865 • 1866 • 1867 • 1868 • 1869 • 1870 •    1871 • 1872 • 1873 – 1874 – 1875 • 1876 • 1877 •    1878 • 1879 • 1880 • 1881 • 1882 • 1883 • 1884 …
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… 1871 • 1872 • 1873 – 1874 – 1875 • 1876 • 1877 … … 1840s • 1850s • 1860s – 1870s – 1880s • 1890s • 1900s … … 18th century – 19th century – 20th century …
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The year 1874 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

Astronomy

• On December 9, a transit of Venus across the Sun was observed in Muddapur, India. This astronomy expedition was led by Pietro Tacchini.

Chemistry

• Per Teodor Cleve discovers that didymium is in fact two elements, now known as neodymium and praseodymium

Neuroscience

• Vladimir Alekseyevich Betz describes giant pyramidal cells in the motor cortex, later called Betz cells.

Technology

• Invention of barbed wire by Joseph Glidden

Awards

• Copley Medal: Louis Pasteur
• Wollaston Medal: Oswald Heer

Births

• February 2 - Ernest Shackleton (d. 1922), explorer.
• April 25 - Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937), inventor.
• November 27 - Chaim Weizmann (d. 1952), chemist, first President of Israel.

Deaths

• January 24 – Johann Philipp Reis (b. 1834), physicist, inventor.
• February 17 - Adolphe Quetelet (b. 1796), mathematician and astronomer
• March 28 - Peter Andreas Hansen (b. 1795), astronomer.