On this day in ...
... 1633 (375 years ago today), in the Convent of Minerva, Rome, Italy,
70-year-old scientist Galileo Galilei declared aloud the document at right, which stated that "with sincere heart and unfeigned faith I abjure, curse, and detest the aforesaid errors and heresies, and generally every other error, heresy, and sect whatsoever...." His heresy? Having published his findings that the earth revolves around the sun. Galileo's renunciation came immediately after leaders of the Roman Catholic Church banned the book and sentenced him to custody "at our pleasure."
70-year-old scientist Galileo Galilei declared aloud the document at right, which stated that "with sincere heart and unfeigned faith I abjure, curse, and detest the aforesaid errors and heresies, and generally every other error, heresy, and sect whatsoever...." His heresy? Having published his findings that the earth revolves around the sun. Galileo's renunciation came immediately after leaders of the Roman Catholic Church banned the book and sentenced him to custody "at our pleasure."... 1999, the parliament in Vilnius "overwhelmingly voted to ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights," a move toward outlawing capital punishment in Lithuania.
