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BIOGRAPHY Born at Paris , he was originally intended for the profession of a painter, but preferred writing Tragedies , until attracted to science by the influence of Nicolas De Lacaille . He calculated an orbit for Halley's Comet when it appeared in 1759 , reduced Lacaille's observations of 515 Zodiac al stars, and was, in 1763 , elected a member of the French Academy Of Sciences . His ''Essai sur la theorie des Satellite s de Jupiter '' (''Essay on the theory of the satellites of Jupiter'', 1766 ), an expansion of a memoir presented to the Academy in 1763, showed much original power; and it was followed up in 1771 by a noteworthy dissertation ''Sur les inegalites de la lumiere des satellites de Jupiter'' (''On the inequalities of light of the satellites of Jupiter''). Meantime, he had gained a high literary reputation by his ''Éloges'' of King ); ''Histoire de l'astronomie moderne'' (''A history of modern astronomy'', 3 vols., 1779 - 1782 ); ''Lettres sur l'origine des sciences'' (''Letters on the origin of the sciences'', 1777 ); ''Lettres sur'' ''l'' The French Revolution interrupted his studies. Elected deputy from Paris to the Estates-General , he was elected president of the Third Estate ( May 5 , 1789 ), led the famous Proceedings In The Tennis Court ( June 20 ), and - immediately after the Storming Of The Bastille - became the first Mayor Of Paris under the newly adopted system of the '' Commune '' ( July 15 , 1789 to November 16 , 1791 ). The dispersal by the National Guard , under his orders, of the riotous assembly in the '' Champ De Mars '' ( July 17 , 1791 ) made him unpopular, and he retired to Nantes , where he composed his ''Mémoires d'un témoin'' (published in 3 vols. by MM. Berville and Barrière, 1821 - 1822 ), an incomplete narrative of the extraordinary events of his public life. Late in 1793 , Bailly left Nantes to join his friend Pierre Simon Laplace at Melun , but was there recognized, arrested and brought ( November 10 ) before the Revolutionary Tribunal at Paris. On November 12 he was guillotined amid the insults of a howling mob. In the words of the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "He met his death with patient dignity; having, indeed, disastrously shared the enthusiasms of his age, but taken no share in its crimes." The Lunar Crater Bailly was named in his honour. REFERENCES The 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', in turn, gives the following references:
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