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300 BCE
Aristotle explained the geocentric theory.
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100
Ptolemy supported the geocentric theory.
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1543
Nicolaus Copernicus reasoned the heliocentric theory.
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1543
Andreas Vesalius published On the Fabric of the Human Body.
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Zacharias Janssen invented the microscope.
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The Baroque period began in art, music, and literature.
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Galileo developed the law of the pendulum.
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Johannes Kepler published the first two laws of planetary motion.
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Francis Bacon published Novum Organum which encouraged the experimental method.
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William Harvey showed that the heart acted as a pump to circulate blood throughout the body.
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Galileo was put under house arrest by the Inquisition for supporting Copernicus's theory.
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Rene Descartes published Discourse on Method which set forth reasoning.
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Evangelista Torricelli developed the first mercury barometer.
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Thomas Hobbes published Leviathan.
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Robert Boyle created Boyle's law.
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Isaac Newton published his laws of gravity.
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John Locke explained his theory of "natural rights".
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Mary Astell wrote A Serious Proposal to the Ladies.
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Anton van Leeuwenhoek saw red blood cells for the first time.
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Francois-Marie Arouet changes his name and champions religious freedoms.
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Gabriel Fahrenheit made the first thermometer.
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The enlightened despot, Frederick II, began his rule of Prussia.
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Anders Celsius created a scale for the mercury thermometer.
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Emilie du Chatalet translated Newton's work from Latin to French.
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Montesquieu published On the Spirit of Laws.
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Marie-Therese Geoffrin held her first salon of philosophes.
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The enlightened despot, Catherine the Great, began her rule of Russia.
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Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote The Social Contract.
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Cesare Beccaria published On Crimes and Punishments.
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Denis Diderot published the first volume of the Encyclopedia.
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Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.
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The classical Period began in art, music, and architecture.
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Antoine Lavoisier discovered and named gas oxygen.
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The enlightened despot, Joseph II, began his rule of Austria.
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The U.S. enacted the Constitution - establishing a federal system, separation of powers, checks and balances.
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The U.S. Congress added the Bill of Rights.
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Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
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Edward Jenner introduced a vaccine to prevent small pox.
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Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
