1 January –
civil registry of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland replaces parish church registers.[1]
c. February – establishment of the Industrial Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, a predecessor of the
National Museum of Scotland, with chemist
George Wilson as its director. In August he is also appointed
Regius Professor of Technology in the
University of Edinburgh, the first such post in Britain.[2] This year also he publishes Researches on Colour-Blindness.