Uranus was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel on March 13, 1781. Herschel initially thought the object he observed through his homemade telescope was a comet, but subsequent observations and calculations confirmed it was a new planet, the seventh in the Solar System

. This discovery was significant as it was the first new planet found since ancient times. The planet was later named Uranus, following a suggestion by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode, who named it after the Greek god of the sky