The results of the Michelson-Morley experiment did not fit the theory of the luminiferous ether, so the theory had to be rejected.

This was an experiment to prove universal gravitation!

The theory, at the time of Michelson and Morley, was that light propagated through a hypothetical medium called the "aether". The Michelson-Morley experiment basically disproved some of the ideas about light that were common at that time.

The Michelson-Morley experiment was performed in 1887 by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley at what is now Case Western Reserve University. It is generally considered to be the first strong evidence against the theory of a luminiferous aether. The experiment has also been referred to as "the kicking-off point for the theoretical aspects of the Second Scientific Revolution."[1] Primarily for this work, Albert Michelson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907. == ==

Known as the Michelson and Morley experiment, this was an experiment to measure changes in the speed of light. Supposedly, as Earth travelled through the Ether, light would go faster in one direction than in the other (because of the relative velocities). The experiment didn't produce the expected result - the speed of light was found to be always the same. Today, this is an accepted fact - that the speed of light is the same for all observers - and is one of the bases for the Theory of Relativity.