Henry Darcy and His Law

Henry Darcy Timeline

Henry Darcy Main
(8/10/04)

• June 10, 1803: Henry Philibert Gaspard Darcy born in Dijon, Department of Côte d'Or, France. His father was a civil servant, (Collector of the Registry) while his mother was described as a "woman of rare merit" who ensured he received a good education. Henry had one brother, Hugues.
• 1815: The French monarchy is restored with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.
• 1817: Henry's father dies.
• 1821: Henry entered L'Ecole Polytechnique (Polytechnic School), Paris.
• 1823: Henry admitted to L'Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées (School of Bridges and Roads), Paris. This school was a part of the Imperial Corps des Ponts et Chaussées (Corps of Bridges and Roads). Darcy worked within the Corps for the remainder of his life.
• 1826: Darcy graduates with a degree in Civil Engineering and is assigned by the Corps to a position in the Department of Jura. At the specific request of the Prefect of Côte d'Or he was transferred to Dijon, and assigned to perform a preliminary feasibility study for a public water supply first proposed by Hugues Sambin, 16th century architect of Dijon.
• 1828: Henry married Henriette Carey, an English native whose family was living in Dijon.
• 1834: Darcy published "Rapport A M. le Maire et au Conseil Municipal de Dijon sur les Moyens de Fournir L'Eau Necessaire a Cette Ville" (Report to the Mayor and the Town Council of Dijon on the Means of Providing Necessary Water to the City).
• March 5, 1835: His plan for Dijon's water supply was approved by the Municipal Council.
• March 31, 1837: A royal ordinance declared the Dijon water project a public utility.
• July 1838: Contract awarded for construction of Dijon water project.
• March 21, 1839: Work began on the Dijon water project.
• May, 1840: Darcy was appointed Chief Engineer for the Department of Côte d'Or.
• September 6, 1840: Water was first delivered to Dijon 18 months after construction start. Work on water distribution continued.
• 1842: The first report of Darcy's "nervous disorder". He may have suffered chronic effects of meningitis.
• August 31, 1842: Henry was awarded the Legion of Honor after recommendation by the Prefect of Côte d'Or and the Minister of the Interior.
• 1844: The Dijon water project was substantially completed.
• 1845: Darcy suffered a period of bad health while supervising work at Blaisy.
• 1846: The City of Dijon Municipal Council resolved to provide Darcy free water for life.
• June 1848: Revolution begins in Paris, which results in the creation of the Second Republic on December 20th.
• 1848: Darcy was "unjustly compelled" to leave Dijon during the 1848 revolution. He works briefly in Bourges on the Berry Canal.
• 1849-50: Darcy was appointed Engineer and Chief Director of the Service of Water and Pavements, Paris. He consulted on the City of Brussels municipal water system, for which he received the Order of Leopold.
• April 1850: Henry was sent to London to inspect and report on the paving of streets with macadam, (a crushed rock system). As a result of this work he was appointed Divisional Inspector, Paris.
• 1852: Louis Napoleon, after four years as constitutional President, proclaimed the Second Empire and names himself Emperor Napoleon III.
• 1853: Darcy loses consciousness while attending a conference in Paris.
• 1855: Henry returns to Dijon.
• October 29 and 30, 1855: Darcy carried out the initial sand column experiments.
• December 1855: Darcy requested release from active duty due to poor health, but continues research.
• February 17 and 18, 1856: Second set of column experiments carried out.
• 1856: Darcy published "Les Fontaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon", with the famous Appendix D.
• 1857: Darcy published "Recherches Expérimentales Relatives au Mouvement de l'eau Dans les Tuyaux", (Experimental Research Relating to the Movement of Water in Pipes). This presented his research on pipe flow resistance and was the first work to suggest the existence of the boundary layer in fluid flow. This publication provides the basis for his credit in the "Darcy-Weisbach" equation, even though Wiesbach published before him in 1845.
• January 2, 1858: Darcy died of pneumonia, age 54 in Paris. His body was taken by rail to Dijon where he was given a state funeral. The square Château d'Eau is renamed Place Darcy.
• 1865: Henri Emile Bazin (1829-1917) published "Recherches Hydrauliques", which reported the results of open channel flow experiments originally designed with the aid of Darcy.
• 1865: A. J. Dupuit publishes "Traité Théorique et Pratique de la Conduite et de la Distribution des Eaux", (Theoretical Treatise and Practical Control of the Distribution of Water). In it Dupuit uses Darcy's Law in the solution for the steady-flow, radial head loss around a pumped well. This is the first known application of the Law to a traditional ground water flow problem.
• 1875: Henriette Carey Darcy dies and is buried beside her husband.