#OTD in 1850.
Vega was the first star other than the Sun to have its image and spectrum photographed.
The first telescope "The Great Refractor" at HCO was installed in 1847. That telescope was the largest in the United States from its installation until 1867. With it, the first daguerreotype ever made of a star, the bright Vega, was taken by John A. Whipple working under W.C. Bond, following several years of experiments using smaller telescopes.