Chronology of Telescopes, Observatories, and Observing Technology
| 1608 | Hans Lippershey tries to patent an optical refracting telescope. |
| 1609 | Galileo Galilei builds his first optical refracting telescope. |
| 1641 | William Gascoigne invents telescope cross hairs. |
| 1661 | James Gregory proposes an optical reflecting telescope. |
| 1668 | Isaac Newton constructs the first optical reflecting telescope. |
| 1733 | Chester Moor Hall invents the achromatic lens refracting telescope. |
| 1758 | John Dolland reinvents the achromatic lens. |
| 1789 | William Herschel finishes a 49-inch optical reflecting telescope, located in Slough, England. |
| 1840 | J.W. Draper invents astronomical photography and photographs the Moon. |
| 1845 | Lord Rosse finishes the Birr Castle 72-inch optical reflecting telescope, located in Parsonstown, Ireland. |
| 1872 | Henry Draper invents astronomical spectral photography and photographs the spectrum of Vega. |
| 1890 | Albert Michelson proposes the stellar interferometer. |
| 1892 | George Hale finishes a spectroheliograph, allows the Sun to be photographed in the light of one element only. |
| 1897 | Alvan Clark finishes the Yerkes 40-inch optical refracting telescope, located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. |
| 1917 | Mount Wilson 100-inch optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located in Mount Wilson, California. |
| 1930 | Bernard-Ferdinand Lyot invents the coronagraph. |
| 1930 | Karl Jansky builds a 30-meter long rotating aerial radio telescope. |
| 1933 | Bernard-Ferdinand Lyot invents the Lyot filter. |
| 1934 | Bernhard Schmidt finishes the first 14-inch Schmidt optical reflecting telescope. |
| 1936 | Palomar 18-inch Schmidt optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located in Palomar, California. |
| 1937 | Grote Reber builds a 31-foot radio telescope. |
| 1947 | Bernard Lovell and his group complete the Jodrell Bank 218-foot non-steerable radio telescope. |
| 1949 | Palomar 48-inch Schmidt optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located in Palomar, California. |
| 1949 | Palomar 200-inch optical reflecting telescope begins regular operation, located in Palomar, California. |
| 1957 | Bernard Lovell and his group complete the Jodrell Bank 250-foot steerable radio telescope. |
| 1957 | Peter Scheuer publishes his P(D) method for obtaining source counts of spatially unresolved sources. |
| 1960 | Martin Ryle tests Earth rotation aperature synthesis. |
| 1960 | Owens Valley 27-meter radio telescopes begin operation, located in Big Pine, California. |
| 1963 | Arecibo 300-meter radio telescope begins operation, located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. |
| 1964 | Ryle 1-mile radio interferometer begins operation, located in Cambridge, England. |
| 1965 | Owens Valley 40-meter radio telescope begins operation, located in Big Pine, California. |
| 1967 | First VLBI images-183 km baseline. |
| 1969 | Observations start at Big Bear Solar Observatory, located in Big Bear, California. |
| 1970 | Cerro Tololo 158-inch optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located in Cerro Tololo, Chile. |
| 1970 | Kitt Peak National Observatory 158-inch optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located near Tucson, Arizona. |
| 1974 | Anglo-Australian 153-inch optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located in Siding Springs, Australia. |
| 1975 | Gerald Smith, Frederick Landauer, and James Janesick use a CCD to observe Uranus, first astronomical CCD observation. |
| 1978 | Multiple Mirror 176-inch equivalent optical/infrared reflecting telescope begins operation, located in Amado, Arizona. |
| 1979 | UKIRT 150-inch infrared reflecting telescope begins operation, located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. |
| 1979 | Canada-France-Hawaii 140-inch optical reflecting telescope begins operation, located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. |
| 1980 | Completion of construction of the VLA, located in Socorro, New Mexico. |
| 1993 | Keck 10-meter optical/infrared reflecting telescope begins operation, located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. |