March 13, 1781

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Joel Byers

On This Date in TWISTED-HISTORY.com! in 1781 Sir William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. When his sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel pointed out how people were going to pronounce Uranus and the jokes that were going to be made, William flew into a rage and said “No one of any breeding would EVER pronounce my planet’s name in such an uncouth manner!” After William’s son, John was born and reached his teenage years in the 1800’s, he made sure he pronounced it in that uncouth way every chance he could. Thereafter, William Herschel pointed out that even though his planet was spelled Uranus, it was pronounced ‘Penelope’.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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