Short answers, pulled from the story.
Thomas Harriot first observed the Moon through a telescope on the 5th of August 1609. He stood on the roof of Syon House in west London to create the first human map of the Moon using a six-power Dutch telescope. This event occurred four months before Galileo Galilei turned his own instrument toward the heavens.
Thomas Harriot learned the Carolina Algonquian language during the 1585 expedition to Roanoke Island. He created a phonetic alphabet to transcribe the speech of two Native Americans named Wanchese and Manteo. This linguistic mastery allowed him to document the geography and social structures of the New World.
Thomas Harriot spent the majority of his adult life under the patronage of Henry Percy, the 9th Earl of Northumberland. He resided at Syon House where he became a central figure in a circle of scholars known as the School of Night. This group included astronomers, mathematicians, and philosophers who gathered to discuss radical ideas about the universe.
Thomas Harriot died from an apparent cancer of the left nostril that was gradually eating away the septum. He suffered from a cancerous ulcer on his lip and died on the 2nd of July 1621. It was suspected that his cancer was due to excessive tobacco consumption.
The first biography of Thomas Harriot was written in 1876 by Henry Stevens of Vermont but not published until 1900. The publication was limited to 167 copies and was not widely known until 1972 when a reprint edition appeared. A symposium at the University of Delaware in April 1971 helped revive interest in his life and work.