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Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy. He was the first born to Vincenzio Galilei and Giulia di Cosimo Ammannati. He had 5 younger siblings - three sisters, Giulia, Virginia, and Livia, and two brothers, Michelangolo and Benedetto (Encyclopedia of World Biography 181).
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Galileo attended the University of Pisa in 1581 to study medicine. He studied there for two years before his interest in medicine started to fade, and he became interested in math and science. Eventually, Galileo had to leave the school before graduating due to financial issues with his father (Encyclopedia of World Biography 181).
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The Gregorian Calander was implimented by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. This calander is the international calander that is still used today. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII and was created to correct the Star and Julian Calendars as they were off by ten days (history.com).
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Galileo discovered that all things fall at the same speed, no matter their mass. To prove this, Galileo went to the top of the Tower of Pisa with balls of different sizes and masses and dropped them. They all hit the ground at the same time. Many people gathered to watch this demonstration because they did not believe him. This discovery by Galileo proved Aristotle wrong (Hightower 26-27)
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After Galileo left the University of Pisa, he found a job at the University of Padua. Here, he taught geometry, astronomy, and mechanics. This job increased his popularity in Italy, and he got to share his ideas and discoveries with people, which is what he wanted to do (biography.com).
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In 1593, Galileo applied for a patent for a horse driven pump. He wanted this pump to hoist water and irrigate the land. He was given a twenty year patent, and he had a working model by 1602 (Swisher 59).
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Miguel de Cervante wrote a modern novel called Don Quixote in 1605. This book is about a man named Don Quixote, who gets lost in his own world and forgets about the real world until the end, when he comes back to reality. This was the first best seller and it was translated into over sixty languages (biography.com).
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Jamestown, Virginia was the first colony to be established in North America. On May 14, 1607 about 100 settlers founded Jamestown on the bank of the James River. They grew tobacco here sold it to make money to expand their land. Pocahontas and John Rolfe got married here (history.com).
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Galileo presented his telescope to the Congress of Venice in 1609. He brought them to the top of a tall building and showed them the city of Pisa, which was over thirty miles away. He told them that his invention could be used to look out into space or during war. The Congress of Venice was so impressed with his invention, they doubled his salary and made his teaching job at the University of Pisa permanent (Fermi and Bernardini 48) (Hightower 45).
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Galileo wrote and published The Starry Messenger in 1610. In this book, he included his data about the moons of Jupiter. he found that Jupiter had four moons and they revolved around the planet. At first, he thought the moons were stars, but after further observations, he realized they were not. He was hesitant to publish this book because many of the ideas disagreed with the church and he did not want to disrespect the Church (Hightower 53).
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In 1616, Galileo was summoned to Rome by the Catholic Church. They found out that he was presenting theories and ideas that went against the beliefs of the Church, and they wanted to put him on trial for heresy. Galileo had publically agreed with the heliocentric theory, and the Church told him that he was not to hold, teach, or defend this theory in any way (biography.com).
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The Thirty Years' War was a war between the Protestants and Catholics. It lasted from 1618 until 1648, and most of it was fought in Germany. The Thirty Years' War ended with a series of treaties known as the Peace of Westphalia. Until World War II, this was the biggest catastrophe in Germany.
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In November of 1620, the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They sailed on three ships called the Mayflower, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. These settlers were the first settlers in New England and they were called the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims had friendly relations with the Native Americans in this area. (history.com).
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The Taj Mahal is a very famous building in India that was built in 1632. Shah Jahan decided to build this castle for his wife after she died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. The Taj Mahal was built in the city of Agra in memory of Mumtaz Mahal (history.com).
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After he was tried for heresy the Church had to find a suitable punishment. Galileo was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life in 1633. The Catholic Church wanted to punish him for going against their beliefs, and since Galileo was a part of the Catholic Church, he accepted this punishment (Hightower 42).
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Galileo died on January 8, 1642. He died in Arcetri, Italy at his house. He was 77 years old, and he is still remembered for his incredible achievements and influence (Encyclopedia of World Biography 181).
