21 February
1938: On 21 February 1938, George Ellery Hale died.
Hale was an American astronomer known for his development of important astronomical instruments. He was born on 29 June 1868.
To expand solar observations and promote astrophysical studies he founded Mount Wilson Observatory in December 1904. He discovered that sunspots were regions of relatively low temperatures and high magnetic fields.
Hale hired Harlow Shapley and Edwin Hubble as soon as they finished their doctorates, and he encouraged research in galactic and extragalactic astronomy as well as solar and stellar astrophysics.
Hale planned and tirelessly raised funds for the 200-inch reflecting telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory completed in 1948, after his death, and named for him - the Hale telescope.
