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Person    | Male  Born 1709  Died 31/3/1776

John Bird

Categories: Craft / Design, Science

John Bird

Mathematical instrument maker, notable for inventing the sextant. He came to London in 1740 where he worked for Jonathan Sisson and George Graham. By 1745, he had his own business in the Strand. Bird was commissioned to make a brass quadrant 8 feet across for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, where it was mounted on 16 February 1750, and where it is still preserved. Soon after, duplicates were ordered for France, Spain and Russia.

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John Bird

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