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Thomas Henderson (astronomer)

Thomas Henderson, Scottish astronomer and mathematician (died 1844)

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Born
December 28, 1798
Died
November 23, 1844
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
Birth year
1798

About Thomas Henderson (astronomer)

Thomas Henderson FRSE FRS FRAS (28 December 1798 – 23 November 1844) was a Scottish astronomer and mathematician noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, the first to determine the parallax of a fixed star, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Thomas Henderson (astronomer) timeline

  1. Born: December 28, 1798
  2. Died: November 23, 1844

The world when Thomas Henderson (astronomer) was born

Thomas Henderson (astronomer) was born in 1798. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1798

  • Best-selling bookLyrical Ballads by Wordsworth & Coleridge

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineQuasi-War with France begins
  • Technology milestoneLithography invented
  • World population~840M

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJohn Adams
  • U.S. population5.0M

1798 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Thomas Henderson (astronomer)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure17982026
Population5.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.