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Feb 15, 1564
Birth
Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy in 1564, the oldest of 6 children of Vincenzo Galilei, a musician and scholar, and Giulia Ammannati. Vincenzo performed experiments in 1588 with music strings, when Galileo was living at home. This is significant because Galileo received from his home and from his father the tendency to combine practical considerations with theory and to try to answer questions by experiment. He would be one of the brightest minds of his time. (Galileo.rice.edu) -
Jan 1, 1582
Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory the 13th
The Gregorian calendar came after the Julian Calendar. Although the Gregorian calendar is named after Pope Gregory XIII, it is an adaptation of a calendar designed by Italian doctor, astronomer and philosopher Luigi Lilio. He was born around 1510 and died in 1576, six years before his calendar was officially introduced. The Gregorian calendar is very accurate an is only off by one day every 3236 years. It divides the year into 12 months, which either have 28, 30, or 31 days(Gregorian). -
Japan unified under dictator Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hiyedoshi completed the 16th-century unification of Japan begun by Oda Nobunaga. Hiyedoshi's cheerful nature, tactful manner, and intelligence helped him to be promoted to samurai. He fought in many important wars. In September 1573, by overthrowing two powerful daimyo, he became a lord of Nagahama, Omi province. From 1577, he went to supress western Japan, in the course of which he invaded Bitchu province. He fought many such wars like this and conquered the whole of Japan(Toyotomi). -
La Bilancetta and the hydrostatic balance
Galileo was young when he wrote La Bilancetta. This work shows that his mind developed at an early age. Galileo was an admirer of Archimedes and knew the story of him weighing the crown in water. So he developed a hydrostatic balance. It could weigh things in air and water. The part of the arm on which the counter weight was hung was wrapped with metal wire. The amount by which the counterweight had to be moved could then be known accurately by counting the number of turns of the wire(Fermi138). -
Invents thermometer
The Galileo thermometer is a sealed glass tube that's filled with water, and many floating spheres. Attached to each sphere is a metal tag that says a number. Gravity makes it work. . As the temperature of the air outside the thermometer changes, so does the temperature of the water surrounding the bubbles. The water either expands or contracts, changing its density. So some of the bubbles will float and others will sink.The bubble that is about to sink tells you your temperature(headline). -
British East India Company founded
The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies was granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth I limited the liability of the investors as well as her liabilities in granting a royal charter. This made The East India Company the world’s first limited liability corporation. Starting as a trading body, the company became involved in politics and acted as an agent of British imperialism in India from the early 18th century to the mid-19th century(East). -
Law of the Pendulum
Galileo was intrigued by the back and forth motion of a suspended weight. His first interest in the matter was after he watched a hanging lamp swing back and forth in the cathedral of Pisa. Each swing took the same amount of time. This inspired further studies.
The law of the pendulum states that swinging objects follow the same path and have a period between swings that remains constant. The pendulum helped design clocks and and measure time. It also created a steady rhythm.(Galileo.rice.edu) -
Law of Falling Bodies
This law proves that all objects fall at the same rate, regardless of size and weight. If you dropped two different objects ina vacuam, they would hit the ground at the same time. He started the studies into a "mighty field of discovery". His approach and findings together provided the first clear presentation on the science of motion. His method of discovery and proof also started to develop the scientific method(Wudka). -
Jamestown established
The Virginia Company of England established Jamestown on May 14, 1607, the first British settlement in North America. Half of the Jamestown settlers were artisans, craftsmen, soldiers, and laborers, including a tailor, a barber, and two surgeons among them. The other half were wealthy men who did not know how to work. After 8 months, only 60 of the 214 settlers were still alive. Among the survivors was John Smith. He kept the colony going with his leadership as Jamestown grew to 500(Jamestown). -
Telescope Improvement
Galileo allegedly had no idea of how the telescope truly worked, but he realized its potential. He built a version commonly known as a "Galilean telescope." It had a convex lens as a primary objective and a concave lens as the eyepiece. The focal point of the objective lens was behind the eyepiece, and the eyepiece formed the image you wanted to see. The improved telescope helped make important scientific discoveries by helping view far away things and brought Galileo fame.(biographyincontext) -
Dutch Republic breaks away from Holy Roman Empire and Spanish Rule
The Spanish Netherlands revolted against their rulers. The revolt seriously undermined Spain's authority and power and no one wanted to be allies with them anymore. The area was controlled by Charles V and he was a cold and uncaring ruler(factmonster) -
Starry Messenger Published
The Siderius Nuncius, or The Starry Messenger gave an account of his telescopic work: his observations of the moon and particularly the four moons surrounding Jupiter. It disproved Aristotle's theory of the universe being geocentric. It also brought him an increase in salary, helping to finance further experiments and studies.But this also led to Galileo getting house imprisonment for life from the church, for supporting the heliocentric theory; at the time, this was heresy(Siderius). -
Discovered 4 moons around Juiter, further proving heliocentric theory
Among the new things discovered with his telescope, Galileo also noticed 4 moons next to the planet Jupiter. Over the span of a few weeks he observed them and saw that they disappeared and reappeared, always following Jupiter on its path across the sky. It was almost like something was holding them in place. Up until now, Earth was not considered a planet because it had a moon. But Jupiter was a planet, and it had 4. This proved the heliocentric theory and that Earth was a planet.(Meadows40) -
30 years war in Germany
The Thirty Years War began when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II tried to control the religion of his subjects, causing unrest. The war came to involve the major powers of Europe, with Sweden, France, Spain and Austria all waging campaigns mostly on German soil. The war ended with a series of treaties that made up the Peace of Westphalia. The war rearranged the religious and political map of central Europe, setting the stage for the old Roman Catholic empire to give way to modern Europe(Thirty). -
Life Imprisonment by Court
Galileo had already been brought before the church once before. In 116, he got let off on a warning. But in 1633, he was back again. Galileo had written "Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World" arguing the heliocentric theory. This was rash of Galileo. He had to go to Rome to publicly recant his theory. He was also given the sentence of house imprisonment for life. Sick and in despair, Galileo kept growing worse over the years till his death.(Meadows 45). -
Death
Galileo Galilei died January 8, 1642 of natural causes. He died at Arcetri near Florence(Meadows31).He died in his villa, because of the life imprisonment of the church. He did many important things. Galileo was a great man. He left a lasting legacy and his achievements help us today. After his death, the church said they had made a mistake in punishing him(biography).
