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Jan 1, 1449
Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici
Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici was born January 1, 1449, in Florence, Italy. Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman, and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets. -
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
On the revolutions of the heavenly 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. -
1501
Michelangelo sculpts the David
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo. David is a 17.0 ft marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favored subject in the art of Florence. -
1503
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, when Leonardo was living in Florence, and it now hangs in the Louvre, in Paris, where it remains an object of pilgrimage in the 21st century. -
1516
Thomas More writes Utopia
Sir Thomas More (1477 - 1535) was the first person to write of a 'utopia', a word used to describe a perfect imaginary world. More's book imagines a complex, self-contained community set on an island, in which people share a common culture and way of life. He coined the word 'utopia' from the Greek ou-topos meaning 'no place' or 'nowhere'. It was a pun -
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. -
1564
April 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". April 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom -
King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church
Under King Henry VIII in the 16th century, the Church of England broke with Rome, largely because Pope Clement VII refused to grant Henry an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Upon Henry's death, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer began changes that allied the Church of England with the Reformation. -
Galileo invents a thermometer
Although named after the 16th–17th-century physicist Galileo, the thermometer described in this article was not invented by him. Galileo did invent a thermometer, called Galileo's air thermometer (more accurately termed a thermoscope), in or before 1603.
