Who first discovered Venus?

While there is no specific information of who discovered Venus, knowledge of its existence can be found in multiple ancient civilizations. It wasn't until the formulation of Copernicus' model of the solar system in 1543 A.D. that it was officially labeled a planet.

Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations identified the planet and named it Venus after the goddess of love because it was brightest planet visible to them in the night sky. Ancient Mayans also independently observed Venus and included its movement in calculations for the Mayan calendar. In modern times, NASA was the first organization to send a spacecraft to Venus to better obtain surface calculations for the planet.