Niccolo Machiavelli

On May 3, 1469, the Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli was born. A lifelong patriot and diehard proponent of a unified Italy, Machiavelli became one of the fathers of modern political theory.

Machiavelli entered the political service of his native Florence by the time he was 29. As defense secretary, he distinguished himself by executing policies that strengthened Florence politically. He soon found himself assigned diplomatic missions for his principality, through which he met such luminaries as Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and perhaps most importantly for Machiavelli, a prince of the Papal States named Cesare Borgia. The shrewd and cunning Borgia later inspired the title character in Machiavelli's famous and influential political treatise The Prince (1532).

Leonardo da Vinci

On May 2 1519 Leonardo da Vinci died. Born on April 15, 1452, he was the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of Florence. Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice and spent his last years in France, at the home awarded him by Francis I.

May Day

May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. May Day falls exactly half of a year from November 1, another cross-quarter day which is also associated with various northern European pagan and neopagan festivals such as Samhain. May Day marks the end of the uncomfortable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations.

As Europe became Christianized the pagan holidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day, or were merged with or replaced by new Christian holidays as with Christmas, Easter, and All Saint's Day. In the twentieth century, many neopagans began reconstructing the old traditions and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival again.

History Trivia

On April 30, 0030 Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. In 313 Valerius Licinianus Licinius, Roman emperor ( 308 to 324), unified the whole of the eastern empire under his own rule. In 1250 King Louis IX of France was ransomed for one million dollars. In 1527 Henry VIII and King Francis of France signed the treaty of Westminster and in 1563 all Jews were expelled from France by order of Charles VI.

History Trivia

On April 29, 1289 , Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captured Tripoli. In 1429 Joan of Arc led Orleans, France, to victory over Britain. In 1661 The Chinese Ming dynasty occupied Taiwan and in 1672 King Louis XIV of France invaded the Netherlands.

History Trivia

On April 28, 357, Constantius II visited Rome for the first time and in 1282 villagers in Palermo led a revolt against French rule in Sicily.

History Trivia

On April 27 4977 B.C., the universe was created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, considered a founder of modern science. Kepler is best known for his theories explaining the motion of planets. Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in Weil der Stadt, Germany. As a university student, he studied the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus' theories of planetary ordering. Copernicus (1473-1543) believed that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system, a theory that contradicted the prevailing view of the era that the sun revolved around the earth.