1 January โ civil registry of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland replaces parish church registers.[1]
c. February โ 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.