Timeline August 1774

Events in August 1774 3

• 1774 Joseph Priestley isolates oxygen English chemist identifies what he called "dephlogisticated air" Joseph Priestley heated mercuric oxide and collected a gas that caused flames to burn brighter, which he termed "dephlogisticated air." He published his findings on the discovery, made independently earlier by Carl Wilhelm Scheele. The work was a landmark in the emerging study of gases and combustion.
• 1774 – 1843 Robert Southey (1774-1843) Died 21 March 1843, aged 68 Robert Southey was an English Romantic poet, one of the Lake Poets, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. He is also remembered for writing the best-known version of the story of the three bears.
• 1774 – 1809 Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) Died 11 October 1809, aged 35 American explorer who co-led the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the western United States to the Pacific coast. He died in Tennessee under disputed circumstances generally believed to be suicide, while serving as governor of Louisiana Territory.