uranus88Snificant Events. March 13, 1781: British astronomer William Herschel discovers Uranus – the first new planet discovered since ancient times – while searching for faint stars. 1787-1851: Four Uranian moons are discoveredPhoto of Uranus taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986. Image credit: NASAJPL-Caltech. Uranus is the 7th planet from the Sun with an average distance of 19.19 AU or 2.871