Charles MessierCharles Messier was born in Badonviller, France in 1730 into a wealthy family with twelve children. Messier got his first job at age twenty-one in Paris, where he copied a map of China. In 1757 Messier began searching for Halley's comet, another scientist found it before Messier, which caused Messier to dedicate his life to finding comets. Charles Messier died on April 11, 1817. Charles Messier was born on June 26, 1730 in Badonviller to Nicolas Messier and Francoise n. Glandblaise. Nicolas Messier worked in the administration of the princes of Salm. Messier's early life included a wealthy family with twelve children, six of the children died early in life, Messier only knew five of his siblings. Messier's father died when Charles was eleven, making Charles' older brother Hyacinthe the oldest man in the house. When Charles fell from a window and broke his leg, he was unable to attend school, so Hyacinthe taught Charles at home. This upbringing influenced Charles' life as he grew up. As a child Charles was very interested in astronomy, he enjoyed looking at the stars and at the age of fourteen he witnessed a six-tailed comet. He became even more interested in astronomy at the age of eighteen when he saw a solar eclipse, although from Badonviller it appeared as a half eclipse. Charles Messier got his first job when he was twenty-one. A family friend, Abbé Thélson, found two job opportunities for Messier, the first with the curator of the palace, the second with an astronomer. Hyacinthe eventually chose a job for Charles, the second, with an astronomer because Hyacinthe believed it would be better for Charles. On 23 September 1751 Messier left Badonviller for Paris for his first day of work. Messier arrived in Paris on October... in the middle of the paper... with him at his house, and I complied with his command." Delisle finally announced Messier's discovery on April 1, 1759, although other French astronomers La ensuing anger convinced Messier to devote his professional life to comet hunting. The anger only grew when Delisle refused to announce another of Messier's discoveries in 1760. Afterwards, Delisle's attitude towards Messier changed immensely. Messier documented his second nebula, M2, recorded by Jean-Dominique Maraldi and traced it on the chart he had previously made with Halley's Comet Messier examined the transit of Venus on June 6, 1761, the appearance of rings of Saturn. and comet 1762 from May to July in 1762. On September 28, 1763 Messier discovered comet 1763 and on January 3, 1764 Messier discovered comet 1764.