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Feb 15, 1564
Birth/Early Life
On February 15, 1564, Galileo Galilei is born in the city of Pisa, Italy. He was the first born of six children to his parents, Giulia degli Ammannati and Vincenzo Galilei, a struggling musician.
In 1570, they moved to Florence. (The Galileo Project)
At 12, his father sent Galileo to the monastery school at Vallombrosa, where he studied under Benedictine monks. 5 years later, he wanted to become a monk himself. His father did not approve of this and brought Galileo home. (Thomas 37) -
Jan 1, 1581
University of Pisa
In 1581, Galileo's father sent him to the University of Pisa. Galileo studied medicine, and, despite his father's wishes, mathematics (Thomas 37).
Also, while at the University, Galileo began to make his first scientific observations and inventions. He desgined the pulsilogia, which was a tool used by doctors to measure a person's pulse. Galileo was then forced to leave the University in 1585 (Hightower 15-17). -
First Scientific Observation: The Pendulum
Galileo's first noteable scientific observation was when he was at the cathedrale of Pisa. He watched a suspended oil lamp swing back and forth. This led to him futher studying pendulums and discovering the rhythmic principle of nature (Thomas 36).
Later, in 1602, he made his most noteable discovery about the pendulum, that the period does not depend on the arc of the swing (The Galileo Project) -
English Navy Defeats Spanish Armada
King Philip II of Spain attempted to invade England with a magnificent armada, for political and religious reasons. However, he was unsucsessful. The aramda was led by Alonso Peréz Guzmán. The English navy was led by Lord Charles Howard. When the two met, it seemed like the Spanish would win. Then, Lord Charles ordered ships to be set on fire and then sailed towards the Spanish. This, along with bad weather, was enough to damage the armada and make them return to spain. (Defeat) -
Aristotle's Theory of Motion
When he was at the University of Pisa, Galileo began to question Aristotle's theory of motion (heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.) Galileo tested and disproved this going to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropping balls of different weights off of it. They all reached the ground at the same time. No one believed him, even when they saw it with their own eyes. He wrote an essay called "On Motion" about his discoveries, but never published it. (Hightower 26-28) -
The Black Death
The bubonic plague, otherwise known as The Black Death, ravaged England for hundreds of years. It killed off over 60% id Europe's population. One of the most notable outbreaks was in 1603. Over 38,000 Londoners alone died that year from the disease. (Hays 122-124) -
The Gunpowder Plot
In the United Kingdom, in 1605, a group of 13 men decided to blow up the House of Lords, in an attempt to stop the persecution of Catholics. The most infamous, but perhaps not the principal traitor, of the group was Guy Fawkes. They planted 36 barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of the House. The day before, however, one of the members anonymously warned a friend in Parliament of the plot. The warning reached the King and the conspirators were caught, tortured, and executed. (www,paganpages.org) -
Jamestown Colony
Jamestown was the first sucsessful settlement in the New World (North America) They faced many difficulties like famine, disease, and conflict with the local Natives. After they made it through the first few years of hardship, they thrived. John Rolfe married Pochahontas, which ended the feuding between the colonists and the Natives, and they began to sell tobacco, which brought in a very good profit. -
Improves the telescope
A Dutchman named Hans Lipperhey invented the telescope in 1608, but it was Galileo who made many improvements to it. The original telescope could only magnify objects up to 3 times its size, while Galielo's telescope could magnify an object up to 20 time. (The Galileo Project)
Galileo was also used the telescope for a few different reasons, like looking at the night sky. He made many observations about space, which he wrote about in his book, Starry Messanger. (wwwncbi.nlm.nih.gov) -
Jupiter's Moons
Galileo was using his improved telescope to scan the night sky when he saw three unusally bright stars next to Jupiter. He contunued to study these stars and then figured out that they weren't stars, but 4 satellites orbiting Jupiter. This added to the theory of Copernicanism, the theory that Earth is not the center of the solar system, but the Sun is. (http://galileo.rice.edu) -
Mayflower Lands In North America
In November, 1620, the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock in North America. They had been headed for Jamestown in Virginia but they were blown off-course and landed far north, in Massachusetts. They would then start the Plymouth colony and essentially create one of the first successful colonies in North America. They formed alliances with the natives who lived there and created a tradition that is still celebrated today, Thanksgiving. (The Mayflower.) -
Compound Microscope
In 1624, Galileo invented a compound microscope. He wanted a telescope that would make microscopic things appear to be very large. He presented his prototype to to members of the Lincean Academy. (The Galileo Project) -
Mount Vesuvius Erupts
On December 16, 1631, Mount Vesuvius, in Naples, Italy, erupted. The lava, ash, and debris from the volcano, along with many earthquakes and a tsunami, devastated the area. About 6000 people died, although this was not the most terrible of Vesuvius' erruptions. Rescue teams saved thousands of survivors in the next few days. (1631 Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius) -
Sentenced to house arrest for life
Galileo's belief of Copernicanism (the modern theory Earth and other planets orbit around the sun) got him trouble with the Church. Although Pope Urban VIII had allowed Galileo to write about the theory as long as it was purely mathematical, he was called to Rome in 1633 and placed under house arrest for commiting heresey by publishing his book on Copernicanism, "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems." (National Center for Biotechnology Information) -
Galileo's last few years
In Galileo's last few years, he was very old and sick. He went blind and had to live under house arrest, but that did not hold him back from making some very important discoveries. He publishes Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences, abook about the principles of mechanics, and discovered that the moon makes monthly "wobbles" on its axis calelld liberations. (www.galileo.rice.edu) -
Death
Galileo died at age 77 on January 8, 1642 in his home in Arcetri. Although no specific cause of death is known, we do know that he was suffering from a long illness, with fever and heart palapatations. (Galileo Galilei)
