Galileo Galilei

Birth

Feb 15, 1564

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa Italy on February 15, 1564. He was the first of 7 children. His father was a wool trader and a musician who wanted Galileo to study medicine so he'd have more money. (Bixby 7)

Start of Education

Sep 5, 1577

At the age of thirteen Galileo was placed in the Camaldolese Monastery. He attended grammar school prior to this. He was expected to study for instruction in Greek, Latin, and logic. He was forced at Vallombroso by his father. (Swisher 13)

Obeys Fathers Wishes

Sep 7, 1581

Bowing down to his father, Galileo enters the university of Pisa. Galileo was intending to study medicine when he entered the University just as his father wanted. He was at the age of seventeen. (Swisher 27)

A New Light

Feb 20, 1583

At an off-campus lecture Galileo learned Euclid's Geometry. This was a series of 13 books containing mathematical proofs, propositions, and definitions. This intruiged Galileo and got him interested in mathematics. (Swisher 16)

Roanoke Island

Dec 20, 1583

Queen Elizabeth The First attempted to find an English Settlement in North Carolina. By the time Sir Walter Raliegh got to Roanoke, however, it was abandoned. Roanoke is now known as "The Lost Colony." (Millard 86)

The Caribbean Raid

Sep 14, 1585

Sir Francis Drake fleet 7 large ships and 22 smaller vessels from Plymouth to the Northwest coast of Spain. They plundered and burned towns. All this was for was to capture people. (Millard 86)

Defeat of the Spanish Armada

Aug 7, 1588

English admiral Howard Van Effingham beat the Spanish Armada. The Amada was led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. The Spanish commander surrendered in August of 1588, and the Armada returned to Spain in October. (Millard 86)

Becomes a Teacher

Sep 15, 1589

Galileo became a teacher of mathematics at the University of Pisa. He tutored students in mathematics and even though he was exceedingly smart, he offended many people involved in mathematics. He was only 25 years of age. (Nardo 54)

Jamestown

Jul 23, 1607

The Virginia Company had been granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs by King James The First.The group then traveled and founded Jamestown. They were then instructed to settle in Virginia, find gold, and seek a water route to the Orient. (Millard 86)

Microscope

Jun 19, 1609

Galileo built a telescope and observed the moon and realized there were mountains and craters everywhere. What inspired Galileo to invent this was he had heard rumors that someone had invented a spectacle that made distant things seem closer. This was originally called a spyglass, but Galileo renamed it a telescope. (Bixby 73)

Jupiter's Moons

May 31, 1610

Proving that earth is not the only body in which celestial objects revolve around, Galileo discovered the four moons of Jupiter. This also proved that Earth was not the center of the universe and that the sun was. Most people didn't beleive him, but Galileo was confident he was right. (Bellis)

Slaves

Feb 12, 1619

Slaves are fisrt sent to Virginia from the Dutch. 20 slaves were delivered by a Dutch ship. Within 70 years there were several thousand slaves in Virginia. (Millard 86)

Mayflower

Nov 9, 1620

The Mayflower ship landed at Cape Cod, Massachusettes. It had 101 colonists. On November 11th the Mayflower Compact was signed by 41 men trying to form a government. The colonists agree to cooperate with the government for the better of the colony. (Millard 86)

The Dialouge

Oct 12, 1632

After being cleared by the church's censor, "The Diolouge" was published. This is just a book of characters having arguing about Galileo's theory about ocean tides. He thought this would be a more interesting approach to getting his arguments out instead of writing a scientific paper. Later he wrote a second dialouge about the Copernican system. (Nardo 98)

Death

Dec 18, 1642

Still on house arrest for having the Dialouge published, Galileo dies. He was lucky he even went on house arrest because he was threatened with tourture. All Galileo did was confess he was wrong and he got off. He died on his farm near Florence with one of his daughters. (Swisher 35)

Victory

Sep 10, 1992

A commission of scholars appointed by the pope John Paul The Second delivers the results of its study of the Galileo affair, The pope admits that Galileo was right and the church was wrong. Even though he is dead, this is a victory for Galileo. (Bixby 98)