The Renaissance

By elisaboyd
  • Jan 1, 1449

    Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici

    Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici
    The most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy.
  • 1455

    Gutenberg prints the first Bible

    Gutenberg prints the first Bible
    In 1455, Gutenberg produced what is considered to be the first book ever printed: a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany.
  • 1501

    Michelangelo sculpts the David

    Michelangelo sculpts the David
    David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo.
  • 1503

    Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa

    Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
    Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. Although the Louvre states that it was "doubtless painted between 1503 and 1506", the art historian Martin Kemp says there are some difficulties in confirming the actual dates with certainty.
  • 1516

    Thomas More writes Utopia

    Thomas More writes Utopia
    Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More published in 1516 in Latin.
  • 1517

    Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church

    Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church
    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.
  • 1534

    King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church

    King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church
    In 1534 King Henry VIII declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England. This resulted in a schism with the Papacy. As a result of this schism, many non-Anglicans consider that the Church of England only existed from the 16th century Protestant Reformation.
  • 1543

    Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres

    Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
    On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres was 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.
  • 1564

    William Shakespeare is born

    William Shakespeare is born

  • Galileo invents a thermometer

    Galileo invents a thermometer
    Galileo invented a thermometer, called Galileo's air thermometer (more accurately termed a thermoscope), in or before 1603.