← all shorts

Person

Edmond Halley

A portrait of Edmond Halley, an English astronomer with long, curly gray hair, wearing a black coat and a white cravat, set against a dark background.

English astronomer (1656–1742), later Astronomer Royal, best known for predicting the return of the comet that bears his name. He lobbied for a longitude prize from the 1690s onward and personally examined John Harrison's first sea clock in 1730, encouraging the young carpenter to take it to George Graham, the leading London horologist, who lent Harrison money to build it.

Mentioned in 4 articles