1915Reputable sourceWell documented
Einstein's General Relativity
On the timeline · around 1915 ·
What happened
In 1915 Einstein completed his general theory of relativity, a radical new theory of gravity. Mass and energy, he showed, curve the very fabric of spacetime, and what we feel as gravity is objects following those curves. When starlight was seen bending around the Sun during a 1919 eclipse, exactly as predicted, Einstein became world-famous overnight.
Why it matters
General relativity is our modern theory of gravity and the foundation of cosmology, describing black holes, the expanding universe, and the Big Bang. It remains one of the most beautiful and successful theories in all of science.
Sources
Related timelines
- The Universe → — Curved spacetime and the expanding cosmos