Appointment of John Flamsteed

Date: March 4, 1675 • Location: London, United Kingdom

John Flamsteed (pictured) was appointed the first Astronomer Royal by King Charles II of England.

John Flamsteed was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, Catalogus Britannicus, and a star atlas called Atlas Coelestis, both published posthumously. He also made the first recorded observations of Uranus, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a star, and he laid the foundation stone for the Royal Greenwich Observatory.