William Smith Publishes Geological Map of England

English canal surveyor William Smith published 'A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, with Part of Scotland,' a large-scale geological map colored by rock type at five miles to the inch. Drawing on years of observations while surveying canals, Smith demonstrated that rock strata could be identified and correlated across vast distances using their embedded fossil assemblages. This principle of faunal succession became foundational to stratigraphy. Smith spent time in debtors' prison before receiving recognition in 1831 with the Wollaston Medal.