1738 William Herschel born in Hanover Nov 151757 Herschel emigrates to Britain1766 Herschel hired as organist at Octagon Chapel in Bath1772 Herschel joined at Bath by sister Caroline; astronomical work begins in earnest1774 Herschel builds a 1-m reflecting telescope1781 Herschel discovers Uranus, attempts to name it after George III Rewarded with royal patronage (but never Astronomer Royal)1780s Herschel discovers nature of nebulae Pioneering work on structure of Universe1970 Anglo Australian Telescope (AAT) being built; astronomers thinking about N-hemisphere observatory1974 AAT finished; SERC plans a 4-m telescope1979 Price tag now £18M, risk of cancellation. Redesigned for £10M1981 Dutch buy 20% 200th anniversary of discovery of Uranus, SERC names WHT, places contract1983 Construction of building begins1985 Telescope shipped to La Palma1987 First light June 1 with TAURUS-2William Herschel was a German-born musician, who emigrated to Britain at the age of 19 in 1757. His serious astronomical work began in the town of Bath at the age of 35, with the enthusiastic help of his sister Caroline. He never had any formal scientific training. He couldn't afford the refracting telescopes used then by professionals, so taught himself to grind mirrors. He was a skilled and much-admired builder of telescopes, the largest being a 1.2-m reflector completed in the 1770s. He pioneered the kind of fork mounting used for the WHT. He is probably most famous for discovering the planet Uranus, the first new planet to be discovered since ancient times. He attempted to name the planet after George III, and this flattery earned him the title King's Astronomer (although he never became Astronomer Royal). Herschel realised that some of the 'nebulae' were enormous clouds of stars like our own galaxy. He published a number of papers on the evolution of the Universe from a hypothetical uniform initial state to one in which stars were clumped into galaxies. This evolution remains a central problem in cosmology (and one on which much WHT dark time is expended).The WHT's conception dates back to the late 1960s, when the Anglo-Australian Telescope (finished 1974) was being designed. Astronomers wondered what telescopes of comparable power they should build in the Northern hemisphere. They settled on a suite of three: a 1.5-m, the 2.5-m from Herstmonceux (INT) and a 4.5-m. There was particularly strong pressure from the radio astronomy groups in Cambridge and Jodrell Bank for a powerful instrument which they could use to follow up their discoveries of optically very faint galaxies in the Northern hemisphere. SERC started to lay plans for the WHT in 1974. In 1979, with a price tag of £18M, the project was on the verge of being scrapped. SERC set up a team to take another look at the design; they were able to cut the price of the telescope by £1M and the price of the building by £7M, by reducing the focal length of the main mirror and shrinking the dome, making the dome onion shaped (which allows for simpler shutters) and by lowering the telescope closer to ground level (turbulent air currents only rise about 3 m off the ground on La Palma). In 1981, SERC negotiated a 20% stake by the Dutch. That year was also the 200th anniversary of Herschel's disvovery of Uranus, and the name of the new telescope was announced. First light was 1987 June 1, using TAURUS-2.Chris Benn