Died 1985-09-30.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
Figure timeline
Charles Francis Richter
Charles Francis Richter was an American seismologist and physicist. He is one of the creators of the Richter scale, which, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 1979, was widely used to quantify the size of earthquakes. Inspired by Kiyoo Wadati's 1928 paper on shallow and deep earthquakes, Richter first used the scale in 1935 after developing it in collaboration with Beno Gutenber…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · Seismologist and physicist (1900–1985) · seismologist · geologist · mathematician · geophysicist · also Charles Francis Richter, Charles Richter, Charles F Richter, C. F. Richter, C.F. Richter, C F Richter
Born 26 April 1900 · Died 30 September 1985 · Q184014
18 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
3 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Award
1985· 2 entries
Richter died of congestive heart failure on September 30, 1985, in Pasadena, California.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #life
- #personal-life
1979· 1 entry
Was widely used to quantify the size of earthquakes
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1962· 1 entry
Awarded Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi (1962).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1958· 1 entry
Published Elementary Seismology based on his undergraduate teaching notes
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1954· 1 entry
Is considered a standard reference in the field
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1937· 1 entry
Returned to the California Institute of Technology, where he spent the rest of his career, eventually becoming professor of seismology in 1952
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1935· 3 entries
After developing it in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg; both worked at the California Institute of Technology
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And immediately became the standard measure of earthquake intensity
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Seismologists quickly adopted it for use in measuring the intensity of earthquakes
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1932· 1 entry
Richter and Gutenberg developed a standard scale to measure the relative sizes of earthquake sources, called the Richter scale
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1928· 1 entry
Began work on his PhD in theoretical physics from California Institute of Technology, but before he finished it, he was offered a position at the Carnegie Institute of Washington
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1927· 2 entries
The Seismological Laboratory was established in the California Institute by the Carnegie Foundation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
After Robert Andrews Millikan offered him a position as a research assistant there, where he began a collaboration with Beno Gutenberg
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1923· 1 entry
Robert Millikan gave a series of lectures regarding physics
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1902· 1 entry
By the Italian priest and geologist Giuseppe Mercalli
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1900· 1 entry
Born 1900-04-26.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth
1848· 1 entry
In the wake of the German revolutions of 1848–1849
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event