Gottfried Kirch discovered the Great Comet – Kirch’s Comet/Newton’s Comet – on this day in 1680.

Did you know that:

• Samuel Pepys reported the first blood transfusion (between dogs) on this day in 1666
• “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson was first published by Cassell & Co on this day in 1883
• Albert Einstein presented his quantum theory of light on this day in 1908