However, this story cannot be verified.
It is known that the first telescopes were shown in the Netherlands. Records show that in October 1608, the national government of the Netherlands examined the patent application of Lipperhey and a separate application by Jacob Metius of Alkmaar. Their devices consisted of a convex and concave lens mounted in a tube. The combination of the two lenses magnified objects by 3 or 4 times. However, the government of the Netherlands considered the devices too easy to copy to justify awarding a patent. The government did vote a small award to Metius and employed Lipperhey to devise binocular versions of his telescope. Another citizen of Middelburg, Zacharias Janssen, had also made a telescope at about the same time but was out of town when Lipperhey and Matius made their applications.
News of the invention of the telescope spread rapidly throughout Europe. Within a few months, simple telescopes, called "spyglasses," could be purchased at spectacle-maker's shops in Paris. By early 1609, four or five telescopes had made it to Italy. By August of 1609, Thomas Harriot had observed and mapped the Moon with a six-power telescope.
What Galileo Discovered
Despite Harriot's honor as the first telescopic astronomer, it was Galileo who made the telescope famous.
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