Four hundred years ago on this day, Italian astronomer and philosopher Galilei Galileo unveiled a device that would become a timeless symbol of scientific discovery – the telescope.

New historical evidence suggests the telescope may have been invented in Spain, not the Netherlands or Italy as scientists once thought.

By WILLIAM MULLEN Chicago Tribune Only eight to 10 of the early telescopes were believed to have survived, until two historians had an idea.

Like cell phones or the Internet in recent history, the telescope's introduction in the early 17th Century had a swift and lasting impact on the world.

Then two Chicago historians on a visit to a museum in Berlin this fall had an "aha!" moment. One of the oldest-known surviving telescopes at the German museum gave them an idea of places to look for other undiscovered examples.