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Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( pronunciation (help·info), April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer.

He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.[2] Helen Gardner says "The scope and depth of his interests were without precedent...His mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote".[1]

The phases of Venus, observed by Galileo in 1610

A replica of the earliest surviving telescope attributed to Galileo Galilei, on display at the Griffith Observatory.

Dome of the cathedral of Pisa with the "lamp of Galileo"

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqués del Valle de Oax

aca (Spanish

Hernán Cortés

The capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan, built on raised island in Lake Texcoco.

The Aztecs' legendary home was Aztlan, a Nahuatl word likely meaning "place of the heron". It is generally thought that Aztlan was somewhere to the north of the Valley of Mexico; some experts have placed it as far north as Northwestern Mexico and the US Southwest, while others suggest is a mythical place, since Aztlan can also be translated as "the place of the origin".

heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe.

Aristarchus's 3rd century BC calculations on the relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon, from a 10th century AD Greek copy

In the 17th century AD Galileo Galilei opposed the Roman Catholic Church by his strong support for heliocentrism

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined.[1] The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft).[2]

In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya used a base 20 (vigesimal) and base 5 numbering system (see Maya numerals). Also, the preclassic Maya and their neighbors independently developed the concept of zero by 36 BC. Inscriptions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions and dates so large it would take several lines just to represent it. They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to those of any other civilization working from naked eye observation.[citation needed]

Founded by Christopher Columbus in 1492, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, and was the first seat of Spanish colonial rule in the New World.

Dating to 1496, when the Spanish settled there, and officially to 5 August 1498, Santo Domingo is the oldest European city in America. Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Isabela, after the Queen of Spain Isabella I. It was later renamed "Santo Domingo", in honor of Saint Dominic.

Santo Domingo was destroyed by a hurricane in 1502, and the new Governor Nicolás de Ovando had it rebuilt on a different site nearby.

Pages from 1550 SACROBOSCO "Tractatus de Sphaera" with the Ptolemaic system.

This drawing from an Icelandic manuscript dated around 1750 illustrates the geocentric model.

Phases of Venus

Physically, St. Elmo's fire is a bright blue or violet glow, appearing like fire in some circumstances, from tall, sharply pointed structures such as lightning rods, masts, spires and chimneys, and on aircraft wings. St. Elmo's fire can also appear on leaves, grass, and even at the tips of cattle horns.[3] Often accompanying the glow is a distinct hissing or buzzing sound.

St. Elmo's fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formiae (also called St. Elmo), the patron saint of sailors. The phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms, and was regarded by sailors with religious awe, accounting for the name. Ball lightning is often erroneously identified as St. Elmo's fire. They are separate and distinct meteorological phenomena.[2]

The first attempt to explore western South America was undertaken in 1522 by Pascual de Andagoya. The native South Americans he encountered told him about a gold-rich territory called Virú, which was on a river called Pirú (later corrupted to Perú) and from which they came. These reports were related by the Spanish-Inca mestizo writer Garcilaso de la Vega in his famous Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609).

Relic

relics were enshrined in stupas wherever Buddhism was spread

A relic is an object or a personal item of religious significance , carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism , Christianity , Hinduism , Shamanism , and many other religions. The word relic comes from the Latin reliquiae, meaning "remains." A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more relics.

Foxe was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, England of a middlingly prominent family[3] and seems to have been an unusually studious and devout child.

The Inca civilization began as a tribe in the Cuzco area,

Pizarro met with the Inca, who had brought only a small retinue. Through interpreters, Pizarro requested the new Inca ruler convert to Christianity. A disputed legend claims that Atahualpa was handed a Bible and threw it on the floor. The Spanish supposedly interpreted this action as reason for war. Though some chroniclers suggest that Atahualpa simply did not understand the notion of a book, others portray Atahualpa as being genuinely curious and inquisitive in the situation. Regardless, the Spanish attacked the Inca's retinue, capturing Atahualpa.

The Inca Empire was separated into four sections together known as 'Ttahuantin-suyu' or "land of the four sections" each ruled by a governor or viceroy called 'Apu-cuna' under the leadership on the central 'Sapa Inca'. Cuzco was the central capital of the Inca Empire from which where the Sapa Inca ruled from. According to the oral traditions of the Inca the empire was ruled by 14 kings in succession. The earliest kings are likely either local leaders of ayllus around Cuzco or possibly mythical figures.

A sword fundamentally consists of a blade and a hilt, typically with one or two edges for striking and cutting, and a point for thrusting. The basic intent and physics of swordsmanship have remained fairly constant through the centuries, but the actual techniques vary among cultures and periods as a result of the differences in blade design and purpose. The names given to many swords in mythology, literature, and history reflect the high prestige of the weapon (see types of swords).

The geocentric model of the cosmos is a paradigm which places the Earth at the center of the universe. Common in ancient Greece, it was believed by both Aristotle and Ptolemy. Most Greeks assumed that the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets orbit Earth

In 1499 Pinzón sailed to the South American coast. Carried by a strong storm, he reached the north coast of what today is Brazil on January 26, 1500.

In 1505, Pinzón was named commander-in-chief and 'corregidor' of the city of Puerto Rico, now called San Juan.

Two common observations were believed to support the idea that the Earth is in the center of the Universe: The first observation is that the stars, sun, and planets appear to revolve around the Earth each day, with the stars circling around the pole and those stars nearer the equator rising and setting each day and circling back to their rising point.[2]; the second is the common sense perception that the Earth is solid and stable it is not moving—but is at rest.

the second is the common sense perception that as the Earth is solid and stable it is not moving—but is at rest.

Claudius Ptolemy

Martin Luther

Tetzel was born in Pirna, Saxony, and studied theology and philosophy at the university of his native city. He entered the Dominican order in 1489, achieved some success as a preacher, and was in 1502 commissioned by the pope to preach the jubilee indulgence, which he did throughout his life. In 1509 he was made an inquisitor, and in 1517 Pope Leo X made him commissioner of indulgences for all Germany.

Martin Luther (German pronunciation: [ˈmaʁtin ˈlʊtɐ] 1483 – 1546)