The cell was first discovered and named by Robert Hooke in 1665. While observing a thin slice of cork under a microscope, Hooke noticed small, box-like compartments that reminded him of the cells, or small rooms, that monks inhabited. He named these compartments "cells".
It's important to note that Hooke didn't actually discover the living cell. He observed the cell walls of dead plant cells, which are the rigid structures surrounding the cell. The discovery of the living cell, with its internal structures, came later.
