Twelve men met in London and founded the Royal Society
On this day · 28 November 1660
After a lecture on astronomy, a dozen thinkers resolved to build a permanent college for experiment — the world's oldest surviving science academy.
On 28 November 1660, twelve men gathered in London following a lecture by Christopher Wren, then professor of astronomy at Gresham College, and resolved to form a permanent society “for the promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning.”
That meeting launched what became the Royal Society, today the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world. Its founding fellowship leaned hard on the new creed of testing ideas by experiment rather than deferring to ancient authority — a stance captured in its motto, roughly “take nobody’s word for it.”
King Charles II lent his backing, granting royal charters in 1662 and 1663 that gave the body a president, council, and formal standing.
In 1665 it began publishing Philosophical Transactions, the first dedicated scientific journal, still in print today.
Its later fellows would include Isaac Newton, and its insistence on published, repeatable evidence helped shape how modern science is done.
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