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
Watchmaker and inventor. Probably born in Bodmin, Cornwall (his birth year is approximate). After being apprenticed to his clockmaker father, he worked in the Netherlands. He was the first to desig...
Medical Scientist. Born as Sydney Arthur Monckton Copeman in the cathedral close, Norwich. He was a medical inspector in the Local Government Board (forerunner to the Ministry of Health), where Sir...
Born in "The Lodge" in Helensburgh, near Glasgow. Inventor of mechanical television. Â Picture of him demonstrating a prototype at Selfridges, 1925. Died in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. The 6 plaques sp...
Scientist, artist, etc. - a polymath, the first "renaissance man". Born in Vinci, Italy (No? Really?). Died in France.
A member of the Executive Committee for the Great Exhibition 1851.Born Kinglassie, Fifeshire. Soldier, Fellow of the Royal Society (of Science) and Governor of Bermuda, Barbados & Malta.
Person, Armed Forces, Politics & Administration, Science, Caribbean Islands, Malta, Scotland
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