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Feb 19, 1473
Copernicus is born
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473, in the city of Thorn (Toruń) in Royal Prussia, part of the Kingdom of Poland. His father was a merchant from Kraków and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy Toruń merchant. Nicolaus was the youngest of four children. -
Period: Jan 1, 1493 to
The Scientific Revolution
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Oct 31, 1517
Reformation
People Posted Luther's 95 Theses on and begins the Reformation.
One of the Theses is: When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. -
Jul 1, 1519
Luther Debate
Martin Luther arrived in Leipzig and joined the debate in July 1519, at the invitation of Eck. Luther and Eck expanded the terms of the debate, to include matters such as purgatory, the sale of indulgences, the need for and methods of penance, and the legitimacy of papal authority.A joint verdict on the outcome of the debate was to be issued by the University of Erfurt and the University of Paris, The faculty in Paris delivered a negative veredict. -
Sep 16, 1530
First descriptions of a new disease: Syphilis
Girolamo Fracastoro provides one of the first descriptions of a new disease in a work entitled Syphilis, or the French Disease. As an aside, the Italians called it the French disease, the French called it Italian disease. -
May 24, 1543
Death of Copernicus
Copernicus died in Frauenburg (Frombork) on 24 May 1543. Legend has it that the first printed copy of De revolutionibus was placed in his hands on the very day that he died, allowing him to take farewell of his life's work. He is reputed to have awoken from a stroke-induced coma, looked at his book, and then died peacefully. -
Nov 17, 1545
Ambroise Pare Intro to new medical methods
He ran out of boiling oil while treating some patients, and used an old method that the Romans had discovered a 1000 years before him. He treated the rest of the patients with the ointment of egg yolk, oil of roses and turpentine and left them overnight. When Paré returned the following morning he discovered that the soldiers treated with the boiling oil were in pain, while the others weren't. He never used boiling oil again. . . -
Jan 8, 1564
Birth of Galileo
Galileo was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, the first of six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lutenist, composer, and music theorist, and Giulia Ammannati. Four of their six children survived infancy, and the youngest Michelangelo (or Michelagnolo) also became a noted lutenist and composer. -
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), an early Copernican, albeit philosophical and religious rather than technical, Bruno also argued form an infinite universe and a plurality of worlds. He was burned at the stake in Rome for his heretical opinions. -
Galileo's Telescope
Galileo Galilei was determined to attempt to construct his own spyglass. After a frantic 24 hours of experimentation, working only on instinct and bits of rumors, never having actually seen the Dutch spyglass, he built a 3-power telescope. After some refinement, he brought a 10-power telescope to Venice and demonstrated it to a highly impressed Senate. His salary was promptly raised, and he was honored with proclamations. -
Galileo's Inquisition
1633 -- Galileo is called before the Inquisition in Rome; he is vehemently suspected of heresy for supporting and teaching the Copernicanism hypothesis. After he abjured, Galileo was placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life, his visitors, his mail, and his daily actions were monitored. While the Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books, Galileo lived to see it translated into Latin, for a larger European audience.