Pluto was named by an 11-year-old Oxford schoolgirl.
In 1930 Venetia Burney suggested the name of the god of the underworld to her grandfather, who passed it on to astronomers. She lived to see Pluto lose planet status in 2006.
More amazing facts
- 1928 1928: Fleming came back from holiday to find a mould killing his bacteria, sliced bread went on sale for the first time, and Mickey Mouse made his public debut in Steamboat Willie.
- 1928 · 1943 The US once banned sliced bread.
- 1929 · 1956 To experiment on himself, a surgeon tricked a nurse.
- 1930 Since its discovery, Pluto has not yet made it even halfway around the Sun. Its year lasts almost 248 Earth years, so having been found in 1930, it will complete its first observed orbit only around 2178.
- 1930 The queen of crime spent part of every year on archaeological digs.
- 1931 · 1973 The Empire State Building went up in 13.5 months; the Sydney Opera House opened 16 years after its design contest.