Edmond Halley was born on this day in 1656, unless you are looking at a Julian Calender, which would put his birthday as November 8^th. He is widely known for calculating the orbit of what is now known as Halley’s Comet, which will be returning in 2061. He went to school at St. Paul’s School and as an undergraduate was publishing papers about sun spots and the solar system. He was a fellow for the Royal Society, which someday should be its own list, which allowed him to do the research for which he became famous for. Today’s list will look at some of his career highlights and interesting facts:

1. Obviously, mapping out the orbit of the comet is his career highlight. When he predicted accurately when it would return, and it did, the comet was quickly named after him.
2. Mapping 341 Southern Stars – Earned his MA from Oxford for this work
3. Published concerning Trade Winds, Barometric changes and the effect of Solar Heating on Atmospheric Motion – working more as a meteorologist than an astronomer.
4. Built a Diving Bell to underwater studies – Eventually he could stay underwater for 4 hours.
5. Taking John Graunt’s ideas a bit farther, Halley developed age of death tables, paving the way for more actuarial studies
6. Commanded the first English Vessel that set sail on a purely scientific voyage, mapping out variations in the magnetic field of compasses.
7. Improved the calculation of the distance between the sun and earth by using the timing of the movement of the orbital travel of Venus.
8. With others, tried to scientifically date Stonehenge. This is first recorded effort to use science to date an object.
9. He developed a root level algorithm that is named Halley’s Method in numerical analysis, not that I could begin to tell you what this might be used for.
10. A Crater on both the Moon and Mars are named after him as is a research facility in Antarctica.

Of course, he was born 300 years too early to be involved in Bill Haley and the Comets, but he certainly even found his name having an influence in Rock and Roll.

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