Astronomer. Born in London. He became Astronomer Royal in 1811, and during his tenure, he substantially modernised the Greenwich Observatory. In 1833 he oversaw the installation of the time ball on the roof (probably, the first public time signal in the UK). The ball dropped daily at 1:00 p.m., and was intended to aid mariners on the Thames to synchronise their marine chronometers.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
John Pond
Born Stenbrohult, Småland in southern Sweden. Inventor of a system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms. One of the great collectors of the 18th century. At his death Joseph Banks tried b...
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