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Feb 1, 1445
Gutenberg prints the first Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. -
Jan 1, 1449
Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici
Patron of the arts -
Jan 1, 1502
Michelangelo sculpts the David
The story of David and Goliath is a biblical one, found in Book 1 Samuel. -
Jan 1, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
he Mona Lisa is also one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known insurance valuation in history at $100 million in 1962, which is worth nearly $800 million in 2017. -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas More writes Utopia
He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, about the political system of an imaginary, ideal island nation. -
Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church
His writings changed the course of religious and cultural history in the West. -
Jan 1, 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. This resulted in a schism with the Papacy. -
Jan 1, 1543
Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (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. -
Jan 1, 1564
William Shakespeare is born
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. -
Galileo invents a thermometer
A Galileo thermometer (or Galilean thermometer) is a thermometer made of a sealed glass cylinder containing a clear liquid and several glass vessels of varying mass. As the temperature changes, the individual floats rise or fall in proportion to their respective weights and the density of the surrounding liquid.