. On this day in 1625 – June 8th – Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico (Jean-Dominique) Cassini was born in Perinaldo, Italy.
Cassini was one of the most important astronomers of the 17-18th centuries, and was the first of four Cassinis to direct the Paris Observatory. The NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn bore his name because of his study of Saturn, which included the discovery of four of Saturn's moons. .
. On this day in 1812 – June 9th – German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle was born in Radis, Kingdom of Saxony.
Galle is best known for his being the first person to see the planet Neptune, knowing what he was seeing. This followed his search for the planet using the calculations Urbain Le Verrier had sent him. (Who discovered Neptune?) .
. On this day in 1922 – June 12th – Italian astrophysicist and populariser of science Margherita Hack was born in Florence.
She became a full professor of astronomy at the University of Trieste and the administrator of the Trieste Astronomical Observatory, the first woman in Italy to hold either of such positions. Hack received national and international recognition for her innovations at the observatory and her promotion of astronomy to the public. .
. On this day in 1831 – June 13th – Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh.
Maxwell showed that electricity, magnetism, and light are all aspects of the same phenomenon, electromagnetism. His discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics, laying the foundation for such fields as special relativity and quantum mechanics. .
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