On what date was Faraday appointed Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution?

Michael Faraday was appointed Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution on 1 March 1813.

The appointment followed Faraday’s 1812 encounter with Humphry Davy’s lectures. Faraday had sent Davy an impressive set of lecture notes, and Davy remembered him when a position became available. The opening arose after laboratory assistant William Payne was dismissed following a violent dispute at the Royal Institution.

Davy informed the Institution’s managers that he had found a suitable replacement, and they approved Faraday’s appointment on the same terms previously given to Payne. Faraday was twenty-one, or approaching twenty-two, and had been working as a bookbinder rather than receiving a university education.

The date marks the beginning of Faraday’s long career at the Royal Institution, but it was not the date of his later promotions. He became assistant superintendent of the house in 1821, director of the laboratory in 1825, and Fullerian Professor of Chemistry in 1833. In October 1813, he also accompanied Davy on a major European tour.