| 1822 | December 27th : Louis Pasteur’s birth in Dole (Jura, France) |
| 1831 | Pasteur studies at the Arbois secondary school |
| 1839 | Departure to the Royal College of Besançon |
| 1840 | Successful candidate for the literature baccalauréat in Besançon. Maître d’études at the College of Besançon |
| 1842 | Successful candidate for the mathematical sciences baccalauréat in Dijon |
| 1843 | Accepted at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris |
| 1845 | Bachelor of Science |
| 1846 | Appointed physics professor at the Tournon high school (Ardèche), but stays on at the Ecole Normale Supérieure as a qualified demonstrator. Study of crystals |
| 1847 | Doctor of Science |
| 1848 | Appointed physics professor at the Dijon high school. Appointed substitute chemistry professor at the science university of Strasbourg. Research on dimorphism. Historic paper on the distinction between sodium ammonium paratartrate and tartrate. |
| 1849 | Pasteur’s wedding with Miss Marie Laurent, daughter of the Strasbourg University rector. Research on the specific properties of the two acids that make up racemic acid. |
| 1851 | Paper by Pasteur on aspartic and malic acids. |
| 1852 | New research on relationships that can exist between crystalline forms, chemical composition and the direction of rotatory polarisation. |
| 1853 | Pasteur is made Knight of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour. He obtains the prize of the Pharmacy Society of Paris for the synthesis of racemic acid. Paper on the discovery of the transformation of tartaric acid into racemic acid, discovery of the optically inactive tartaric acid. |
| 1854 | Pasteur is nominated Dean of the University of Science at Lille. |
| 1855 | Beginning of studies on fermentation, presentation in Lille of a paper on amyl alcohol. |
| 1856 | Beginning of researches on alcoholic fermentation. |
| 1857 | Appointed administrator of the Ecole Normale and director of scientific studies of this school. Paper on lactic fermentation. Paper on alcoholic fermentation. |
| 1858 | Installation of his laboratory in the attic of the Ecole Normale in Paris, rue d’Ulm. Survey by Pasteur on so-called “spontaneous” generations. |
| 1859 | Experimental physiology prize from the Academy of Science for his work on fermentations. |
| 1860 | Air sampling at Arbois to investigate the issue of so-called “spontaneous” generation. Examination of the doctrine of so-called “spontaneous” generation. |
| 1861 | Jecker prize from the Academy of Science for his work on fermentations. Publication in the bulletin of the Chemistry Society of Paris of all his results on vinegar. |
| 1862 | Election at the Academy of Science (mineralogy section). Studies on mycoderma and on the role of these plants in acetic fermentation. Alhumbert prize for his research on spontaneous generation. |
| 1863 | Napoléon III asks Pasteur to study wine diseases Studies on wine – the influence of air oxygen on vinification. Nominated Professor of Applied Geology, Physics and Chemistry at the National College of Fine Arts |
| 1864 | Installation of a laboratory at Arbois for his research on wine |
| 1865 | Practical process for improving wine conservation. Studies on silkworm diseases, work on pasteurisation. |
| 1866 | Publication of the paper “Studies on wine”. Publication of an essay on the scientific work of Claude Bernard. |
| 1867 | Creation of a physiological chemistry laboratory at the Ecole Normale. Appointed Professor of organic chemistry at the Sorbonne. Great Prize from the Universal Exhibition for his studies on wine. Resignation from his administrative duties at the Ecole Normale. |
| 1868 | Degree as a medical doctor at the University of Bonn. Pasteur suffers from a stroke affecting his left side. Commander of the Legion of Honour. Publication of his studies on vinegar. |
| 1870 | Publication of his studies on silkworm diseases. |
| 1871 | Studies on beer. |
| 1873 | Elected Member of the Academy of Medicine |
| 1876 | Publication of his studies on beer. |
| 1877 | Paper on the alteration of urine. Studies on anthrax. Studies on septicaemia. |
| 1878 | Nominated Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Publication of the paper “Germ theory and its applications to medicine and surgery”. Papers on chicken cholera. Research on gangrene, septicaemia and puerperal fever. |
| 1879 | Paper on plague. Discovery of immunisation by attenuated cultures. |
| 1880 | Becomes Member of the Central Society of Veterinary Medicine. Paper on virulent diseases (Pasteur introduces the principle of attenuated-virus vaccines). Beginning of his research on rabies. |
| 1881 | Nominated Grand Cross Holder of the Legion of Honour. Anthrax vaccine. Work on yellow fever near Bordeaux. Election to the French Academy. |
| 1882 | Paper on contagious pleuropneumonia of horned animals. Studies on swine erysipelas. |
| 1883 | Vaccination against swine erysipelas using an attenuated-virus vaccine. |
| 1884 | New communications on rabies. Communication on pathogenic microbes and attenuated-virus vaccines at the Copenhagen Congress. Pasteur presents the general principle of vaccinations against virulent diseases. |
| 1885 | First anti-rabies vaccination on a human being |
| 1887 | Elected Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. Victim of a second stroke. First experiments on the extermination of rabbits in Australia by the microbe of chicken cholera. |
| 1888 | Inauguration of the Pasteur Institute |
| 1895 | September 28th. Pasteur’s death at Marnes la Coquette. |
Source : Pasteur Institute
See also:
- The work of Louis Pasteur
- Louis Pasteur, the father of modern medicine
- The family house of Louis Pasteur (Arbois)
- The Pasteur Museum (Paris)
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