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Jan 1, 1449
Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici
Patron of the Arts -
Jun 17, 1455
Gutenberg prints the first Bible
holds the distinction of being the inventor of the movable-type printing press -
Sep 15, 1473
Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus -
Nov 16, 1501
Michelangelo sculpts the David
It is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence. -
Jul 18, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
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. -
Mar 20, 1516
Thomas More writes Utopia
Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535) published in 1516 in Latin. -
May 21, 1517
Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church
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. -
Dec 19, 1534
King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church
declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England. ... As a result of this schism, many non-Anglicans consider that the Church of England only existed from the 16th century Protestant Reformation. -
Jun 17, 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. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" -
Galileo invents a thermometer
Although named after Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, the thermometer described in this article was not invented by him. Galileo did invent a thermometer, called Galileo's air thermometer
