<P> Newton was made President of the Royal Society in 1703 and an associate of the French Académie des Sciences . In his position at the Royal Society, Newton made an enemy of John Flamsteed, the Astronomer Royal, by prematurely publishing Flamsteed's Historia Coelestis Britannica, which Newton had used in his studies . </P> <P> In April 1705, Queen Anne knighted Newton during a royal visit to Trinity College, Cambridge . The knighthood is likely to have been motivated by political considerations connected with the Parliamentary election in May 1705, rather than any recognition of Newton's scientific work or services as Master of the Mint . Newton was the second scientist to be knighted, after Sir Francis Bacon . </P> <P> Newton was one of many people who lost heavily when the South Sea Company collapsed . Their most significant trade was slaves, and according to his niece, he lost around £ 20,000 . </P> <P> Towards the end of his life, Newton took up residence at Cranbury Park, near Winchester with his niece and her husband, until his death in 1727 . His half - niece, Catherine Barton Conduitt, served as his hostess in social affairs at his house on Jermyn Street in London; he was her "very loving Uncle", according to his letter to her when she was recovering from smallpox . </P>

Who had an apple fall on his head