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Oct 31, 1451
Christopher Columbus was born
Christopher Columbus was born as a Amerigo Vespucci, explorers -
Period: Oct 31, 1451 to
The Scientific Revolution
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Nov 18, 1472
New Theory of the Planets
Georg Peurbach's New Theory of the Planets (1454) sought to reconcile geometric descriptive models for predicting planetary motions by employing homocentric (nested concentric) celestial spheres. -
Nov 18, 1532
Halley's Commet
Peter Apian (1495-1552) and Fracastoro observe that the tail of the comet his year, later known as Halley's Comet, pointed away from the sun, a detail also recognized by Regiomontanus. -
Nov 18, 1540
Georg Joachim Rheticus provides the heliocentric hypothesis
Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514-1574), a friend of Copernicus and the presumed author, provides an account of the heliocentric hypothesis in his Narratio prima (First Account). -
Nov 18, 1553
Michael Servetus' new theory
A man of religious conviction, Michael Servetus (1511-1553) proposed a radical new theory concerning the pulmonary circulation of the blood, a theory motivated in part by esoteric theological concerns involving the trinity. Servetus was found guilty of heresy and burned at the stake in Geneva by the religious reformer, John Calvin. -
Rudolph II beomes patron
The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II, becomes the patron of Johannes Kepler, who thus becomes Imperial Mathematician. -
Galileo
In his Letters on Sunspots Galileo took exception with the views presented by the Jesuit astronomer, Christopher Scheiner (1573-1650). Here Galileo appears clearly in the Copernican camp and also provides an early formulation for the principle of inertia. -
The Assayer
Galileo publishes his strategic essay, The Assayer where he argues against Aristotle and the Scholastics in favor of mathematical and experimental methods, moving deftly across many topics, from statics and dynamics to his theory of matter. -
Isaacc Newton refuses to publish Short Chronology
Newton refuses to grant publication of Short Chronology but publishes it later that year. Newton suffers inflammation of his lungs and moves to Kensington (south London). -
Issac Newton's death
Newton's health fails, he collapses and borders on death; shortly thereafter, Newton dies at Kensington between 1.00 and 2.00am. On 28 March his body lays in state in Westminster Abbey where he is buried on 4 April.
