Mercury (planet)

first planet from the Solar System and smallest among all, tellurian and with extreme temperatures

12 dated entries naming Mercury (planet), drawn from 12 separate years between 320 BCE and 2020 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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4th century BC

320 BCETimocharis of Alexandria, Greek astronomer responsible for the first recorded observation of Mercury and the first star catalogue (d. 260 BC)source

18th century

1705July 20 – The planet Mercury transits Jupiter, as seen by astronomers from Earth. The event happens again on October 4, 1708, but will not be seen again from Earth until October 27, 2088source
1737May 28 – The planet Venus passes in front of Mercury. The event is witnessed during the evening hours, by the amateur astronomer John Bevis, at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. As of 2006, it is still the only such planet/planet occultation that has been directly observed.source

19th century

1808December 9 – At 20:34 UTC, Mercury occults Saturn (there are no observation records).source
1899December 2 – During the new moon, a near-grand conjunction of the classical planets and several binocular Solar System bodies occur. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn are all within 15° of each other, with Venus 5° ahead of this conjunction and Jupiter 15° behind.source

20th century

1973November 3 – Mariner program: NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury (on March 29, 1974, it becomes the first space probe to reach that planet).source
2000May 5 – A rare conjunction of seven celestial bodies (Sun, Moon, planets Mercury–Saturn) occurs during the new moon.source

21st century

2004August 3 – NASA's MESSENGER space probe is launched, with its primary mission being the study of Mercury.source
2007June 5 – NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its second fly-by of Venus on route to Mercury.source
2008January 14 – At 19:04:39 UTC, the uncrewed MESSENGER space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury.source
2018October 19 – The uncrewed European-Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo is launched on a seven-year journey to Mercury.source
2020April 10 – The ESA/JAXA space probe BepiColombo makes its final gravity assist around Earth and begins to depart for Venus, where it will make several gravity assist maneuvers before finally arriving at Mercury in 2025.source