Developed in 1805 by Sir Francis Beaufort of England, the Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions (on land it is categorised by the physical effects it has on vegetation and structures). Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.
The scale was created in 1806 by Sir Francis Beaufort, an Irish-born British admiral and hydrographer. The scale that carries Beaufort's name had a long and complex evolution, from the previous work of others, to when Beaufort was a top administrator in the Royal Navy in the 1830s. In the early 19th Century, naval officers made regular weather observations, but there was no standard scale and so they could be very subjective - one man's "stiff breeze" might be another's "soft breeze". Beaufort succeeded in standardizing the scale.