Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in Toruń. A Polish astronomer and mathematician, Copernicus studied in Kraków and in Italy, and spent most of his life as a canon of the cathedral at Frombork. He proposed a heliocentric model of the Solar System, in which the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun, and the Earth rotates daily on its axis, in contrast to the geocentric system of Ptolemy. He worked out his theory in the 1510s but published it only in 1543, in On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, the year he died. His work began the Scientific Revolution. He was also a physician, administrator and economist.
Before and after
- 21 May 1471Birth of Albrecht Dürer
- 1472Founding of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- 1473Construction of Sistine Chapel
- c. 1473William Caxton prints the first book in English
- 19 February 1473Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus
- from c. 1470s to 1620sThe Ming dynasty rebuilds the Great Wall in brick and stone
- from 1475 to 1479War of the Castilian Succession
- 1475Construction of Dormition Cathedral
- 6 March 1475Birth of Michelangelo
More in Science & technology
- 721 CEBirth of Jabir ibn Hayyan
- 866 CEBirth of Abu Bakr al-Razi
- 9th centuryGunpowder
- 965 CEBirth of Ibn al-Haytham
- 1270Glasses
- 13th centuryDiscovery of arsenic
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.