Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
James Lick
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Read Next
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California.
San Francisco: 9 Claims to Fame
Museum of contemporary art in Los Angeles Moca - CALIFORNIA
From Gainsborough to Tansey: 7 Paintings in California
Discover
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?

James Lick

American philanthropist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Lick
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Quick Facts
Born:
Aug. 25, 1796, Stumpstown [now Fredericksburg], Pa., U.S.
Died:
Oct. 1, 1876, San Francisco
See all related content

James Lick (born Aug. 25, 1796, Stumpstown [now Fredericksburg], Pa., U.S.—died Oct. 1, 1876, San Francisco) was a U.S. philanthropist who endowed the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, Calif.

After an incomplete elementary education and an apprenticeship as a carpenter, Lick worked for a year as a piano maker in Baltimore, a trade he resumed after spending 17 years in South America. In 1848 he arrived in San Francisco and at once commenced purchasing real estate, acquiring holdings not only in Santa Clara Valley but also at Lake Tahoe, on Santa Catalina Island, and in Nevada.

Lick never married and at his death disposed of the bulk of his fortune in philanthropic endowments. He provided $700,000 for a telescope more powerful than any other in the world. The ultimate result was the Lick Observatory, equipped with a 91-cm (36-inch) Clark refractor. Upon completion in 1888, the facility was turned over to the University of California.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.