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Jan 1, 1440
Invention of the Printing Press
Invented in the Holy Roman Empire by Johannes Gutenberg. Perfected the printing process through all its stages by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes. -
Jan 1, 1453
Fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constamtinople to the armies of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, along with the Muslim centres of Baghdad and Cordoba. Constantinople was killed defending his city -
Jan 1, 1455
Gutenberg Bible is Printed
First major book printed with a movable type printing press and marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution." It was widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities. The book has its iconic status. It is an editionof the Vulgate printed by Johannes Gutenberg. -
Jan 1, 1492
The End of the Middle Ages
Lorenzo the Magnificent dies in Florence, Columbus discovers America (almost), and Grenada(the last Moslem presence in Spain) falls, which is why 1492 is regarded by many as symbolically the last year of the Middle Ages. -
Jan 1, 1500
The Age of Exploration
A period starting in the 15th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with Africa, the Ameicas, Asia and Ocenia and mapping the planet. -
Jan 1, 1509
The Praise of Folly
Eramus wrote his most famous work, The Praise of Folly. This book poked fun at greedy merchants, heartsick lovers and quarrelsome scholars. It was considered one of the most notavle works of the Renaissance. -
Jan 1, 1543
Andreas Vesalius
One of the most famous publications in natural philospohy was the anatomical book of Andreas Vesalius, De fabrica(On the Fabric of the Human Body). It was arguably the most important anatomical texts of the century, at once criticizing the work of the ancients, rincipally Galen, which offering new illustrations based on first hand observation and fresh dissections. -
Jan 1, 1545
The Counter-Reformation
The Catholic Church at the long running council of Trent(1545-63) decides that the Reformation needs to be rolled back (or stopped from further expansion anyway) two of the European instruments ised in this were the Jesuits(founded by S Ignatius Loyola in 1534) to teach and an expanded Inquistion to root out and eliminate those who did not want to be taught. -
William Gilbert
In his On the magnet the Englishman William Gilbert produced a hyper-empirical study of magnets, magneticism and electircity with speculations about cosmology. Gilbert collected dozen of diamonds to magnetize rub magents with garlic, and otherwise to the English tradition to extreme lengths. It is a pioneering classic "empirical" method -
Death of Elizabeth I
She died of blood poisoning. She refused to allow her doctors to examine her. She also refused to rest in bed. Fell into a deep sleep and never woke up. She died at Richmond Place.
