Eighty years ago today, Clyde William Tombaugh, (1906 – 1997) an American astronomer, discovered Pluto. It was a PLANET until August 24, 2006. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto, labeling it a "dwarf planet" and not a full planet like the other eight in the solar system.
Mr. Tombaugh started out as an amateur. He built his own telescopes. In 1928, at age twenty two year, he was living on a farm with his family, shoveling hay. In January, 1930, while working for an observatory, he spotted an object orbiting the sun out past Neptune, and he and took photographs A month later, on February 18th, 1930, after studying the photos, he discovered "Planet X", which was later named Pluto. Following his discovery of Pluto, Tombaugh earned astronomy degrees and became a learned professional. Tombaugh discovered many asteroids, and called for serious scientific research of UFOs, unidentified flying objects.
For further info on Pluto and on Clyde Tombaugh: (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pluto/).