Newton Dies: Gravity's Author Passes at 84
Newton didn't discover gravity by watching an apple fall. That story came later, told by Newton himself to make a point about inspiration. What actually happened was slower and stranger: twenty years of obsession, a nervous breakdown, a feud with Leibniz over who invented calculus first, and a personality so difficult that he had almost no friends. He died at 84, a virgin, having never married. His Principia gave the world the math to predict planetary motion, cannon trajectories, and eventually space travel. He spent the last thirty years of his life not on physics but on alchemy and biblical prophecy. Nobody talks about that part.
March 20, 1726
300 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on March 20
A Thracian shepherd who couldn't speak proper Latin became master of Rome. Maximinus Thrax never set foot in the Senate, never visited the capital during his en…
Emperor Tenmu ascended the throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara, consolidating imperial authority after his victory in the Jinshin War. By centralizing power and …
He didn't want the job. Michael IV Autoreianos, a respected scholar and monk, tried to refuse when Emperor Theodore I Laskaris appointed him Ecumenical Patriarc…
Five Swedish noblemen were publicly beheaded in Linkoping on Maundy Thursday, executed by Duke Charles for supporting King Sigismund during the civil war over S…
Five noblemen were beheaded in Linköping's main square on Maundy Thursday, the day Christians commemorate humility and forgiveness. King Sigismund's supporters …
The world's first stock market bubble was invented by accident when the Dutch East India Company sold shares to literally anyone who walked in off the street. A…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.