Copernicus Proposes Heliocentric Model
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the solar system.
In 1514, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer and mathematician, began circulating his revolutionary idea that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. This heliocentric model, fully published in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543), challenged the geocentric Ptolemaic system that had dominated astronomy for over 1,400 years. Although initially met with resistance from both scientific and religious authorities, the Copernican Revolution fundamentally transformed humanity's understanding of its place in the universe and laid the groundwork for modern astronomy.
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