The curious history of Stokes' theorem

''The first statement of the Theorem appears as a postscript to a letter, dated July 2, 1850, from Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) to Stokes. It appeared publicly as question 8 on the Smith's Prize Examination for 1854. This competitive examination, which was taken annually by the best mathematics students at Cambridge University, was set from 1849 to 1882 by Professor Stokes; by the time of his death the result was known universally as Stokes' Theorem. At least three proofs were given by his contemporaries: Thomson published one, another appeared in Thomson and Tait's Treatise on Natural Philosophy, and Maxwell provided another in Electricity and Magnetism. Since this time the name of Stokes has been applied to much more general results, which have figured so prominently in the development of certain parts of mathematics that Stokes' Theorem may be considered a case study in the value of generalization.''

In Spivak, Calculus on Manifolds, p. viii.
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