26 June

1730: On 26 June 1730, Charles Messier was born.

Messier was a French astronomer who discovered fifteen comets. He was the first to compile a systematic catalogue of 'M objects.' - the Messier Catalogue (1784) containing 103 star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. (In Messier's time a nebula was a term used to denote any blurry celestial light source.)

He established alphanumeric names for the objects (M1, M2, etc.) - this notation continues to be used in astronomy today.