# Jesuits found the Manila Observatory (1865)

URL: https://allhistories.com/philippines/timeline/1865-jesuits-found-the-manila-observatory
Location: Ateneo Municipal, Manila
Themes: Meteorology, Jesuits, Science

In 1865 the Jesuits of the Ateneo Municipal de Manila began recording weather, creating what became the Observatorio Meteorológico and today's Manila Observatory. According to Wikipedia, public interest in a September 1865 typhoon, discussed in a Manila newspaper, prompted the observations, and the Jesuit superior agreed to continue them once a Secchi meteorograph was promised from Rome. Federico Faura came to lead the work. Typhoons regularly crossed the archipelago and endangered shipping and harvests, so a local record held obvious practical value. The observatory started issuing typhoon warnings in 1879 and began earthquake observations in 1880, the year of the damaging Luzon quakes. In 1884 the Spanish government recognised it as the official weather-forecasting body, and it added a time service, seismology and astronomy over the following years. After 1901 the American administration turned it into the Philippine Weather Bureau, and the Jesuit institution survives today as a research centre at Ateneo de Manila University. At this point in the timeline (1865), the Spanish colony of the Philippines was administered by Governor-General Juan de Lara e Irigoyen (25 April 1865 – 13 July 1866).

## Why it matters
It gave the Philippines its first lasting scientific institution for forecasting typhoons and recording earthquakes, hazards that still shape daily life.

Ruler at the Time: [Juan de Lara e Irigoyen](https://allhistories.com/philippines/rulers/juan-de-lara-e-irigoyen)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Manila Observatory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Observatory)
- [Wikipedia — 1880 Luzon earthquakes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1880_Luzon_earthquakes)