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597
King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church
The formal history of the Church of England is traditionally dated by the Church to the Gregorian mission to England by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in AD 597 -
Jan 1, 1449
Birth of Lorenzo de' Medici
The Birth of Lorenzo de' Medici. -
1455
Gutenberg prints the first Bible
Johann Gutenberg holds the distinction of being the inventor of the movable-type printing press. In 1455, Gutenberg produced what is considered to be the first book ever printed: a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany. -
1473
Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium , written by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and published just before his death, placed the sun at the center of the universe and argued that the Earth moved across the heavens as one of the planets. -
1504
Michelangelo completes the sculpture the David
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo. David is a 5.17-meter (17.0 ft)[a] marble statue of the Biblical hero David, a favored subject in the art of Florence. -
1516
Thomas More publishes Utopia
In 1516 the statesman and scholar Thomas More published a work describing an ideal island state – he called it Utopia. The name derives from the Greek but has a double meaning 'eutopia' (good place) or 'outopia' (no place) -
Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg
On October 31, 1517, legend has it that the priest and scholar Martin Luther approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation. -
1519
Leonardo da Vinci completes his painting the Mona Lisa
This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame. -
1543
Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium written by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and published just before his death, placed the sun at the center of the universe and argued that the Earth moved across the heavens as one of the planets. -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare is born
According to tradition, the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564
