Frederick William Herschel noticed a disc-shaped object through his telescope on March 13, 1781.
After a series of observations, the object was determined not to be a comet or stellar disc, but a new planet beyond the orbit of Saturn.
He named the new planet the Georgian star to win the favour of King George III, but the name did not stick, especially outside of Britain.
Eventually the international scientific community settled on a name they deemed much more appropriate – Uranus.