The first transit of Venus since 1882 (it was too cloudy here his week in Bellingen to see it, but I tried a few times).

NASA images of the Transit of Venus, 2004

2004 The first transit of Venus since 1882; the next one occurred on June 6, 2012. See also June 6, 1760 and June 3, 1769.  

"John Philip Sousa (1854 - 1932) was very interested in the 1882 transit of Venus. In 1882 - 3 he wrote his 'Venus Transit March'. He didn't write it specifically to commemorate the transit itself, but wrote it to honor the great American physicist Prof. Joseph Henry who had died on May 13, 1878.

"The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. asked Sousa to write this march for the planned unveiling of the statue of Henry in front of the Smithsonian Institution in 1883. The music was to be played while dignitaries solomly [sic] walked from the museum to a special receiving stand in front of the Smithsonian. Sousa's Transit of Venus March remains a delightful, and rarely-played addition to Sousa's opus of compositions.

"Sousa's Transit of Venus March remains a delightful, and rarely-played addition to Sousa's very famous and much loved opus of compositions. If you would like to view the cover page of the 1889 sheet music, play the march on your piano, or listen to two versions of it, see below:
Transit of Venus cover page
Transit of Venus piano score Page 1
Transit of Venus piano score Page 2
Transit of Venus piano score Page 3"   Source

History of Venus transits   Venus Transit: Cycles of the Heart    Viewing Venus in broad daylight

James Cook and the transit of Venus    transitofvenus.org    More    More