In that year 1771, MDCCLXXI

Maria Theresia (1717-1780) reigned in Vienna:

Maria-Theresien-Taler Vorderseite Maria-Theresien-Taler Rückseite
  • The first German newspaper in the south-east of Europe „Temeswarer Nachrichten“- Temeswarer News appears
  • The first edition of „Encyclopedia Britannica“ is issued
  • James Cook returns to England with „HMS Endeavour“ after his voyage to Tahiti to observe the Venus transit
  • With the data of all Venus transfers Thomas Hornsby calculates a sun paralax of 8,78" (today: 8,79"). Using this data the distance from Earth to Sun was calculated as 150806000 km (current value: 149600000 km)
  • Charles Messier discovers in the constellation Virgo the first galaxy, Messier 49 (also known as M 49 or NGC 4472), see below
  • Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered the oxygen element
  • Richard Arkwright built the world's first water-powered mill at Cromford - first years of the industrial revolution
  • Thomas Wedgwood, an early experimenter in the field of photography, was born
  • In Resita was started the first blast furnace named „Franziskus“ and „Josephus“
  • And the number Pi, π important for the design of a round village like Charlottenburg was calculated for just 127 digits [Blatner].
M49 Galaxie