Copernicus Dies: Sun-Centered Universe Theory Published
Nicolaus Copernicus spent 30 years refining the mathematics of a heliocentric solar system before he published. He was a canon in the Catholic Church, which meant he had to be careful. He shared his model in a short summary around 1514, without publishing formally, and colleagues had been aware of it for decades. He finally agreed to publish under pressure from a young mathematician named Georg Joachim Rheticus, who came to live with Copernicus for two years and push him toward it. Copernicus received the first printed copy of On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres on his deathbed on May 24, 1543. He was 70 and dying of a brain hemorrhage. Whether he was conscious to see it depends on which account you trust.
May 24, 1543
483 years ago
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