Inventors Events

1452 Apr 15 Leonardo da Vinci is Born in Vinci
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, "at the third hour of the night"[nb 5] in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in the territory of Florence. He was th...
1466 Leonardo da Vinci Begins Apprenticeship at Verrochio's Workshop
n 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to one of the most successful artists of his day, Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio. Verrocchio's workshop was at the centre of...
1472
to 1475
Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Annunciation
The painting "Annunciation" or "The Annunciation" by Leonardo da Vinci was painted, with Andrea del Verrocchio, circa 1472–1475. The wings were later extended by another artist. The an...
1476 Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci
Ginevra de' Benci (Born 1457) was a lady of the aristocratic class in 15th century Florence, admired for her intelligence by Florentine contemporaries. She is the subject of one of only a...
1478 Leonardo da Vinci Paints The Benois Madonna
Madonna and Child with Flowers, otherwise known as the Benois Madonna, could be one of two Madonnas started by Leonardo da Vinci, as he remarked himself, in October 1478. The other one co...
1478
to 1480
Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Madonna of the Carnation
The Madonna of the Carnation, a.k.a. Madonna with vase or Madonna with child, is an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci created sometime around 1478-1480 (Renaissance). It is permanently ...
1478
to 1480
Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Self-Propelled Cart
For many years, folio 812r of the Codex Atlanticus was considered as Leonardo’s famous “automobile” project. Only recently has it revealed its true nature as a cart devised for use in the...
1480 Leonardo da Vinci Paints St. Jerome in the Wilderness
It depicts Saint Jerome during his retreat to the Syrian desert, where he lived the life of a hermit. St Jerome kneels in a rocky landscape, gazing toward a crucifix which can be discerne...
1481 Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Adoration of the Magi for the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto in Florence
The Adoration of the Magi is an early painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was given the commission by the Augustinian monks of San Donato a Scopeto in Florence, but departed for Milan...
1483
to 1486
Leonardo da Vinci Paints the First Madonna of the Rocks
The Virgin of the Rocks (sometimes the Madonna of the Rocks) is the usual title used for both of two different paintings with almost identical compositions, which are at least largely by ...
1483 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for a Parachute
Some think that a form of a primitive parachute was mentioned by Chinese texts 21 centuries ago. In 9th century Abbas Ibn Firnas and Ali Ben Isa (of Arabic origin) also created one of the...
1485 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for a Giant Crossbow
Leonardo’s project for a giant crossbow is found in a number of sheets in the Codex Atlanticus and Fol 149r shows the most well-defined and complete drawing. The effort put into the de...
1485 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for a Scythed Chariot
The scythed chariot is potentially one of the most lethal battlefield weapons and has ancient origins, though Leonardo noted their propensity to damage friend as readily as foe. The drawi...
1485 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for a Tank
Leonardo probably drew this model of a war machine for a presentation to Ludovico il Moro, “The Moor”, Duke of Milan, around 1485. The drawing in the original manuscript therefore appears...
1487 Leonardo da Vinci Draws the Vitruvian Man
The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen an...
1487
to 1489
Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Armored Vessel
This armoured assault vessel is probably one of the projects that Leonardo presented to Ludovico il Moro, “the Moor”, Duke of Milan, in order to obtain a commission as a military engineer...
1488 Leonardo da Vinci Designs his Ideal City
After Filarete's project for Sforzinda, an ideal city in honor of Francesco Sforza, Leonardo, as well, was fascinated by the idea of planning a city as a formally complete organism. The ...
1488
to 1489
Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for a Flying Machine
Leonardo studied mechanical wings for a long time and this is a reconstruction of one of the many projects for a flying machine documented in Manuscript B. In his fascination with flyi...
1488
to 1490
Leonardo Sketches the Design for a Double-Decker Bridge
Leonardo’s idea for a double-deck bridge is surprisingly modern. It recalls the function of bridges in some modern metropolis where the two-way flow of traffic is arranged on different le...
1489
to 1490
Leonardo da Vinci Paints Lady with an Ermine
Lady with an Ermine is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, from around 1489–1490. The subject of the portrait is identified as Cecilia Gallerani, and was probably painted at a time when she ...
1490 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for an Adding Machine
On February 13, 1967 an amazing discovery was made by American scientists working in the National Library of Spain, Madrid. They had chanced upon 2 unknown works of Leonardo da Vinci, kno...
1490
to 1505
Leonardo da Vinci Writes his Codex on the Flight of Birds
Codex on the Flight of Birds is a relatively short codex of circa 1505 by Leonardo da Vinci. It comprises 18 folios and measures 21 × 15 centimetres. Now held at the Biblioteca Reale in T...
1492 Clay Model Horse for Leonardo da Vinci's Francesco Sforza Monument is Completed
[Leonardo] worked on many different projects for Ludovico, including the preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions, designs for a dome for Milan Cathedral and a model for a...
1493 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for the "Aerial Screw"
The first studies on helicopters were well in advance of the first airplanes. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with having first thought of a machine for vertical flight, the "airscrew," the...
1495
to 1498
Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Last Supper
The Last Supper (Italian: Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena) is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice...
1495
to 1508
Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Second Madonna of the Rocks
The Virgin of the Rocks (sometimes the Madonna of the Rocks) is the usual title used for both of two different paintings with almost identical compositions, which are at least largely by ...
1499
to 1500
Leonardo da Vinci Draws the Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist
The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist, sometimes called The Burlington House Cartoon, is a full-size cartoon by Leonardo da Vinci. It is a combination of two themes po...
1500 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for a Machine Gun
In Leonardo's notebooks there is an array of war machines which includes a tank to be propelled by two men powering crank shafts. Although the drawing itself looks quite finished, the mec...
1502 Leonardo da Vinci Sketches the Design for the Golden Horn Bridge
In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci produced a drawing of a single span 720-foot (240 m) bridge over the Horn as part of a civil engineering project for Sultan Bayezid II. The vision was resurrecte...
1503
to 1506
Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel by Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance. The work is owned by the Government ...
1505 Leonardo da Vinci Paints The battle of Anghiari, Known as the "Lost Leonardo"
The Battle of Anghiari (1505) is a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci at times referred to as, "The Lost Leonardo", which some commentators believe to be still hidden beneath later fresco...
1508 Leonardo da Vinci Paints the Virgin and Child with St. Anne
he Virgin and Child with St Anne is an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci depicting St. Anne, her daughter the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. Christ is shown grappling with a sacrificia...
1510
to 1511
Leonardo da Vinci Collaborates with Marcantonio della Torre on his Work of Theoretical Anatomy
Leonardo's formal training in the anatomy of the human body began with his apprenticeship to Andrea del Verrocchio, his teacher insisting that all his pupils learn anatomy. As an artist, ...
1513
to 1516
Leonardo da Vinci Paints St. John the Baptist
St. John the Baptist is an oil painting on walnut wood by the artist Leonardo da Vinci. Completed from 1513 to 1516, when the High Renaissance was metamorphosing into Mannerism, it is bel...
1519 Leonardo da Vinci Dies in Amboise
From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both active at the time. In October 1515, ...
1847 Mar 3 Alexander Graham Bell is Born
Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 3, 1847. The family home was at 16 South Charlotte Street, and now has a commemorative marker at the doorstep, marking it as Alexan...
1856 Jul 10 Nikola Tesla Is Born
Tesla was born to Serbian parents in the village of Smiljan, Austrian Empire near the town of Gospić, in the territory of modern-day Croatia. His baptismal certificate reports that he was...
1875 Tesla Enrolls At Austrian Polytechnic
At the Polytechnic school Tesla began his studies in mechanical and electrical engineering. One day a physics teacher showed Tesla's class a new Gramme dynamo that—by employing direct cur...
1880 Feb 19 Photophone Invented
The Photophone, also known as a radiophone, was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his then-assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's 1325 'L' Street lab...
1882 Tesla Identifies Magnetic Induction Field Principle
In 1882, Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla identified the rotating magnetic induction field principle used in alternators and pioneered the use of this rotating and inducting electromagnetic ...
1884 Jun 6 Tesla arrives in the United States
On 6 June 1884, Tesla first arrived in the United States, in New York City with little besides a letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor, a former employer. In the letter of recom...
1885 Nikola Tesla quits working for Edison
Tesla claims he was offered US$50,000 (~ US$1.1 million in 2007, adjusted for inflation) if he redesigned Edison's inefficient motor and generators, making an improvement in both service ...
1886 Nikola Tesla forms Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing Company
The Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing was a company formed by Nikola Tesla in 1886. Located in Rahway, New Jersey, the company was formed after Tesla left Thomas Edison's employment, a...
1887 War of Currents era begins
During the initial years of electricity distribution, Edison's direct current was the standard for the United States and Edison was not inclined to lose all his patent royalties. Direct c...
1887 Apr Nikola Tesla begins experimenting with X-Rays
In April 1887, Tesla began investigating what would later be called X-rays using his own single terminal vacuum tubes (similar to his patent #514,170). This device differed from other ear...
1888 May 16 Tesla Delivers Lecture: A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers
At an AIEE meeting on May 16, 1888, Nikola Tesla delivered a lecture entitled A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers, describing the equipment which allowed efficient...
1891 Nikola Tesla Patents the Tesla Coil
A Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricit...
1891 Jul 30 Nikola Tesla becomes a citizen of the United States
On 30 July 1891, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States at the age of 35. Tesla established his 35 South Fifth Avenue laboratory in New York in the same year. Later, Tesla e...
1899 Tesla moves to research facility in Colorado Springs
In 1899, Tesla decided to move and began research in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he would have room for his high-voltage, high-frequency experiments. Upon his arrival he told report...
1901 Construction begins on Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower
Nikola Tesla began planning the Wardenclyffe Tower facility ca. 1898, and in 1901, construction began on the land near Long Island Sound. Architect Stanford White designed the Wardenclyff...