Who predicted a Perseid peak in 1836 after studying historical records?

Adolphe Quetelet predicted a Perseid peak in 1836 after studying historical records.

Quetelet examined records of unusually frequent meteors in August and proposed that the display would peak around August 10. He then contacted other astronomers, who confirmed the prediction during the night of August 10, 1837.

The episode predates the later explanation that connected meteor streams with comets. It shows that careful observations of recurring dates could reveal a meteor shower’s seasonal pattern before its physical source was understood.

Quetelet himself missed the 1837 display because of bad weather. That detail is a useful reminder that a sound astronomical prediction and successful observation are different things. Giovanni Schiaparelli’s comet connection came later, in 1866, after the orbit of the Perseid stream was compared with Comet Swift–Tuttle.