December 23, 1750 –
Benjamin Franklin was severely shocked while electrocuting a turkey on this date. Franklin believed electrocuting the turkey would make it more tender.
Lost in the annals of history is the crime the fowl committed.
And yet I didn’t tell you about –
December 23, 1690 –
Royal British astronomer John Flamsteed made the first sighting of Uranus by an astronomer on this date. Unfortunately, he didn’t know what he was looking at, and classified it as a star: so yes, he didn’t know Uranus from a star (I couldn’t help myself.)
The 7th planet – Uranus – was ‘officially‘ discovered on March 13, 1781, once again, completely by accident. British astronomer William Herschel was performing a survey of all the stars that were of magnitude 8 (too faint to see with the eye – or brighter.) He noticed an object that moved in front of the star background over time, clearly demonstrating it was closer to us than the distant stars. At first he thought he had found a comet, but later realized this object was a new planet in orbit around the Sun.
And so it goes.
The Haus of Dcaligari 