COMET!:  On this day in 1801, French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons sighted his first comet.  By the end of his career he had discovered 37 of them–more than anyone in history using visual methods.

Pons was not your average scientist.  He was born to a poor family and had little in the way of formal education.  He was hired to be the caretaker of the Marseille Observatory.  At first, he was not taken seriously by the credentialed scientists Pons assisted.  But after a while, they had to admit that he had a knack for finding comets.  By the end of his career he had been awarded the Lalande Prize three times.