500 years ago…
• The Great Plague hit various parts of Tudor England between 1509-1510.
• In 1512 Copernicus writes Commentariolus, and proclaims the sun the centre of the solar system.
• The Protestant Reformation begins in 1517 when the German Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Saxony.
• Leonardo da Vinci dies of natural causes on May 2, 1519.
• King Henry VIII, famous for beheading three of his six wives, sat on the English throne between 1509-1547.
• In 1487 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama
was the first to sail down the west coast of Africa and round the Cape of Good Hope in search of a new route to India avoiding the Mediterranean.
• In 1492 the Italian Christopher Columbus was the first to sail due west across the Atlantic from Lisbon, believing it would take him to China. He found the Caribbean islands, which he called the West Indies.
• 1476 William Caxton sets up a printing press in England.
Recent Comments