TIL: The planet Uranus was originally going to be named George.
So I was listening to the audio book of Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and learned this interesting trivia.
Sir William Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus, originally wanted to name the star George after King George III who was his patron. It was decided that no one liked that idea and they changed it.
Bode, however, opted for Uranus, the Latinized version of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos. Bode argued that just as Saturn was the father of Jupiter, the new planet should be named after the father of Saturn.
I wish it was called George. :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus#Naming
edit: I accidentally my link
Posted Sep 15, 2010, 2:24 PM UTC
1710
TIL that after all these years I still giggle every time I read the word "Uranus."
In order to avoid that in the furture we renamed Uranus.
Now its called Urrectum.