The new space shuttle launch-date for the last HST repair
mission is puished back into late September or
early October of this year.

A remarkable coincidence occurs.

Late September-early October/2008 is 400 years
almost to the day after Hans Lippershey tried to obtain a patent on
the first verifiable and succesful telescope and failed.

There's an archived document in Netherlands, dated October, 02, 1608,
in which the Dutch patent authorities of that era stated that they could not
give a patent to Hans Lippershey for his telescope.

Interesting.

Before some of you say that he wasn't the first to invent the
telescope, I agree as a matter of opinion... It's not impossible to claim that an Arab,
1000 years ago, or even an Assyrian, 3000 years ago, may have stumbled upon the device while
studying or playing with curved glass or lenses.
But there are no verifiable documents or records to confirm such
a discovery back then.
And even if it were invented back then, intolerance of new things
or fear and superstition may have kept it from being publicized.