James Bradley

English astronomer; Astronomer Royal
Person human Q312278
James Bradley
After Thomas Hudson · Public Domain · Wikimedia
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Summary

James Bradley was born on March 1693[1] in Sherborne[2]. He died on July 13, 1762[3], in Chalford[4]. He worked as an astronomer[5] and university teacher[6]. He ranks in the top 0.72% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (681 views/month, #7,245 of 1,000,298).[7]

Key Facts

  • Date of death: March 13, 1762[8]
  • Place of burial: Church of the Holy Trinity[9]
  • Country of citizenship: Kingdom of Great Britain[10]
  • Ethnic group: English people[11]
  • Field of work: astronomy[12]
  • Position held: Astronomer Royal[13], Savilian Professor of Astronomy[14]
  • Employer: University of Oxford[15], Church of England[16]
  • Educated at: Balliol College[17], University of Oxford[18]
  • Doctoral advisor: James Pound[19]
  • Student: Nevil Maskelyne[20]
  • Notable work: optical aberration[21], nutation[22]
  • Award received: Copley Medal[23], Fellow of the Royal Society[24]
  • Member of: Royal Society[25], Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences[26], Russian Academy of Sciences[27], Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences[28]
  • Religion or worldview: Anglicanism[29]
  • Sex or gender: male[30]
  • Commons category: James Bradley (astronomer)[31]
  • Family name: Bradley[32]
  • Given name: James[33]
  • Relative: James Pound[34]
  • Depicted by: James Bradley[35], James Bradley (1693–1762)[36], James Bradley (1692–1762)[37], James Bradley (1693–1762), FRS (copy after Thomas Hudson)[38]
  • Described by source: Nordisk familjebok[39], Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900[40], Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[41], BEIC Digital Library[42], The Nuttall Encyclopædia[43], Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1926–1947)[44], Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[45], Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition[46], Astronomers: A Biographical Reference[47], Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary[48]
  • Languages spoken, written or signed: English[49]

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for James Bradley include Mons Bradley[50], a mons[51].

Why It Matters

James Bradley has Wikipedia articles in 24 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[52] He is known by 25 alternative names across languages and contexts.[53]

He is credited with the discovery of optical aberration[54], a scientific theory[55] and nutation[56], a scientific theory[57]. Entities named for him include Mons Bradley[50], a mons[51].

FAQs

Where was James Bradley born?

James Bradley was born in Sherborne[2].

Where did James Bradley die?

James Bradley passed away in Chalford[4].

What did James Bradley do for work?

James Bradley worked as an astronomer[5] and university teacher[6].

Where did James Bradley go to school?

James Bradley was educated at Balliol College[17] and University of Oxford[18].

What awards did James Bradley receive?

Honors received include Copley Medal[23] and Fellow of the Royal Society[24].

What did James Bradley discover?

James Bradley is credited as discoverer of optical aberration[54] and nutation[56].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  3. [30] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  4. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [13] ↑ . A Short History of Astronomy. wikidata.org.
  6. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [17] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
  8. [18] ↑ . Mathematics Genealogy Project. wikidata.org.
  9. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [5] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  11. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [15] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
  13. [16] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
  14. [9] ↑ . Find a Grave. wikidata.org.
  15. [29] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [23] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. Retrieved . docs.google.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  17. [24] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
  18. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [19] ↑ . Mathematics Genealogy Project. wikidata.org.
  20. [31] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [25] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
  22. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [1] ↑ . Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Retrieved . link.springer.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  26. [3] ↑ . SNAC. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  27. [8] ↑ . Find a Grave. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  28. [32] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  29. [33] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  30. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  31. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  32. [20] ↑ . Mathematics Genealogy Project. wikidata.org.
  33. [34] ↑ . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
  34. [35] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  35. [36] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  36. [37] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  37. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  38. [39] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  39. [40] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  40. [41] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  41. [42] ↑ . digitale.beic.it. digitale.beic.it. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  42. [43] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  43. [44] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  44. [45] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  45. [46] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  46. [47] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  47. [48] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  48. [49] ↑ . IdRef. Retrieved . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [54] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [56] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [50] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [55] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [57] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [51] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [7] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [52] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [53] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

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APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). James Bradley. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/james-bradley-q312278
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BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_james-bradley-q312278_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{James Bradley}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/james-bradley-q312278}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-17}}
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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 2d ago · OKA bot bot · 2026-10-17 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Claims rich → —
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  2. 13d ago · Bargioni · 2026-10-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Claims rich → —
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  3. 15d ago · Bargioni · 2026-10-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Depicted by → James Bradley, James Bradley (1693–1762), James Bradley (1692–1762) +2
    Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'be', 'bg', 'ca', 'commons', 'cs', 'cy', 'da', 'de', 'el', 'en', 'eo', 'e
    Sbn author id → TO0V425977
    Claims rich → —
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  4. 12w ago · Beavercount · 2026-07-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Depicted by → James Bradley, James Bradley (1693–1762), James Bradley (1692–1762) +2
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Depicted by: James Bradley (1693–1762)"
  5. 15w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14608 → 117623687
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14608: 117623687, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1783130387391"
  6. 16w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Described by source → Nordisk familjebok, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary +7
    Occupation → astronomer, university teacher
    Field of work → —
    Religion or worldview → Anglicanism
    + 33 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14536: 384828, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782462304762"
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