Chinese astronomers made the first recorded observation of Halley’s comet in 240 B.C.
In 1705, English astronomer Edmund Halley was the first to theorize that comets travel in regular orbits around the sun.
Proposing that “the great comet” observed in 1682 made periodic visits about every 76 years, he predicted that it would return in 1758.
The comet was named for him when his prediction came true, 16 years after his death.