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Named in honor of the state of Belgium. This is the first minor planet to be discovered in Uccle {see planet  (1276)}, Belgium. (H 100)

Brian G. Marsden (private communication) discovered a remarkable piece of history involving minor planet names and World War I. He detected a correspondence between Prof. W. W. Campbell, director of the Lick Observatory, and Rev. J. Metcalf which proves that Metcalf submitted the name “Belgica”, evidently during 1915–1917 (after the Belgian relief effort but before the United States entered the war), and had it turned down by Prof. F. Cohn, director of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut in Berlin.

In a letter from October 1, 1919 Prof. Campbell wrote to Metcalf: “Professor Russell of Princeton told a group of astronomers in Washington last June about a most remarkable incident of which he said you were the hero. The circumstances were reported to be as follows: Before the United States entered...