Society timeline

Key milestones in The Society’s 140 year history.

  • 1836

    William Sharpey appointed Professor

    1836
  • 1875

    Royal Commission on the practice of subjecting live animals to experiments for scientific purposes

  • 1876

    The Physiological Society founded

    1876
  • 1878

    The Journal of Physiology founded

  • 1879

    George Lewes Studentship established

    1879
  • 1881

    David Ferrier prosecuted

  • 1887

    American Physiological Society founded

    1887
  • 1889

    First International Congress of Physiological Sciences

  • 1896

    Ernest Starling appointed Society Secretary

    1896
  • 1903

    The ‘Brown Dog affair’ (1903-10)

  • 1906

    ‘The Integrative Action of the Nervous System’ published

    1906
  • 1908

    Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology founded

  • 1911

    Pike’s Peak expedition

    1911
  • 1913

    Rowett Institute opens in Aberdeen

  • 1914

    Physiologists in World War One

    1914
  • 1915

    Society elects first women

  • 1922

    Nobel Prize awarded to Archibald Hill

    1922
  • 1925

    Society holds first meeting outside Great Britain

  • 1927

    History of The Society published

    1927
  • 1932

    Adrian and Sherrington win Nobel Prize

  • 1934

    A V Hill elected first Foreign Secretary

    1934
  • 1936

    Henry Dale and Otto Loewi win Nobel Prize

  • 1939

    Physiologists in World War Two

    1939
  • 1942

    Society acquires mascot

  • 1944

    Goodenough Report published

    1944
  • 1950

    National Institute for Medical Research moves to Mill Hill

  • 1950

    J Z Young delivers BBC Reith Lectures

    1950
  • 1952

    British North Greenland Expedition (1952-4)

  • 1952

    Society sponsors first monograph

    1952
  • 1954

    Sliding filament theory published

  • 1959

    First Hubel and Wiesel paper in The Journal of Physiology

    1959
  • 1963

    First Bayliss-Starling prize lecture

  • 1963

    Hodgkin, Huxley and Eccles win Nobel Prize

    1963
  • 1970

    Katz wins Nobel Prize, with von Euler and Axelrod

  • 1972

    Mabel FitzGerald, centenarian, receives honorary Oxford MA

    1972
  • 1975

    First G L Brown lecture

  • 1976

    Centenary celebrations

    1976
  • 1977

    Society appoints first Honorary Archivist

  • 1982

    Physiologist Martin Rosenberg appointed Society’s photographer

    1982
  • 1983

    Physiology Society Committee Newsletter founded

  • 1986

    Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act

    1986
  • 1994

    First Paton Prize Lecture

  • 1995

    First Joan Mott Prize Lecture

    1995
  • 1997

    International Physiome Project launched

  • 2002

    First Michael de Burgh Daly Prize Lecture

    2002
  • 2005

    First Annual Public Lecture

  • 2010

    First Otto Hutter Teaching Prize awarded

    2010
  • 2012

    Society moves to Hodgkin Huxley House

  • 2013

    EU animal research directive in force

    2013
  • 2013

    Society launches first ‘Physiological Reports’ with APS

  • 2015

    JP elects Kim Barrett as first female EIC

    2015
  • 2016

    R Jean Banister Prize lecture established

  • 2018

    Society elects President Bridget Lumb

    2018
  • 2018

    Society launches its new five year strategy

  • 2018

    Inaugural Europhysiology conference

    2018
  • 2018

    JP starts Editorial Board Fellowship scheme

  • 2019

    Society launches new website

    2019
  • 2019

    Society holds first parliamentary events

  • 2020

    New membership categories launched

    2020
  • 2021

    Award for COVID-19 response

  • 2021

    Blue plaque scheme launched

    2021
  • 2023

    EP Flip

  • 2024

    The Physiological Society launch new journals to advance nutrition and precision medicine

    2024
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