#OTD in 1781. The planet Uranus was discovered.
English astronomer William Herschel observed the seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus—first described by him as “a curious either nebulous star or perhaps a comet” and named for the father of the god Saturn. With a homemade 6.2-inch reflecting telescope, Herschel "engaged in a series of observations on the parallax of the fixed stars."
Books about Herschel at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=William+Herschel&submit_search=Go%21
Edited 190d ago