Is there life on Mars? Guardian letters, September 1882

Giovanni Schiaparelli was the first to observe a network of canals on the surface of Mars, as revealed in this 1882 letter to the Manchester Guardian

Nasa has found evidence of flowing water on Mars, giving new hope that our nearest planetary neighbour may support life.

Uniform, seemingly networked channels were first observed by astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877; George RR Martin defines Schiaparelli's discovery, and the mistranslation of 'canals' not 'channels', as the start of our cultural obsession with life on Mars.