Who observed the first transit of Venus?
There have been 52 transits of Venus across the Sun between 2000 B.C and 1882 A.D. You can view this list yourself over at Dr. Fred Espenak’s transit catalog web page History says that Jeremiah Horrocks was the first human to ever witness a transit by Venus in 1631, and he drew the above diagram to note its appearance. Though he predicted that it would occur on the precise date and time, he was only able to watch it for a few hours from his location in England. Only he and his friend, William Crabtree (see tapestry below) living in another town were able to observe this event. Here’s what Jeremiah had to say about the transit: “Anxiously intent therefore on the undertaking through the greater part of the 23rd, and the whole of the 24th, I omitted no available opportunity of observing her ingress. I watched carefully on the 24th from sunrise to nine o’clock, and from a little before ten until noon, and at one in the afternoon, being called away in the intervals by business of the highes
