Timeline

  • Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici
    Jan 1, 1449

    Birth of Lorenzo de’ Medici

    Lorenzo de’ Medici was born in Florence, Italy.
  • Gutenberg prints the first Bible
    Oct 22, 1454

    Gutenberg prints the first Bible

    A Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany.
  • Michelangelo completes the sculpture the David
    1504

    Michelangelo completes the sculpture the David

    It is a 14.0 ft marble statue depicting the Biblical hero David, represented as a standing male nude.
  • Thomas More publishes Utopia
    1516

    Thomas More publishes Utopia

    In 1516 the statesman and scholar Thomas More published a work describing an ideal island state – he called it Utopia.
  • Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg
    Oct 31, 1517

    Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg

    The priest and scholar Martin Luther approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
  • Leonardo da Vinci completes his painting the Mona Lisa
    1519

    Leonardo da Vinci completes his painting the Mona Lisa

    Mona Lisa, also called Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, Italian La Gioconda, or French La Joconde, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most famous painting.
  • King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church
    1534

    King Henry VIII begins Protestant Anglican church

    The Church of England, or Anglican Church, is the primary state church in England, where the concepts of church and state are linked.
  • Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
    1543

    Nicolas Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres

    Published just before his death, placed the sun at the center of the universe and argued that the Earth moved across the heavens as one of the planets
  • William Shakespeare is born
    1564

    William Shakespeare is born

    He was born in United Kingdom.
  • Galileo invents a thermometer

    Galileo invents a thermometer

    Galileo Galilei is often claimed to be the inventor of the thermometer. However the instrument he invented could not strictly be called a thermometer.