Renaissance

  • Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici
    Jan 1, 1449

    Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici

    patron of the arts
  • Michelangelo sculpts the David
    1504

    Michelangelo sculpts the David

    This astonishing Renaissance sculpture was created between 1501 and 1504. It is a 14.0 ft marble statue depicting the Biblical hero David, represented as a standing male nude. Originally commissioned by the Opera del Duomo for the Cathedral of Florence,
  • Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church
    1517

    Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church

    Martin Luther posts his 95 theses. On this day in 1517, 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.
  • Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
    1519

    Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa

    Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most-famous painting. It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519,
  • King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church
    1534

    King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church

    However, in 1534 King Henry VIII declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England.
  • Thomas More writes Utopia
    1535

    Thomas More writes Utopia

    Thomas More is known for his 1516 book Utopia and for his untimely death in 1535, after refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He was canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint in 1935
  • Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
    1543

    Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres

    written by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) 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.
  • William Shakespeare is born
    1564

    William Shakespeare is born

    1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
  • Galileo invents a thermometer

    Galileo invents a thermometer

    Although named after Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, the thermometer described in this article was not invented by him.