apr 5, 1543 - Polish astronomer and polymath Nicolaus Copernicus

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proposes that the Earth rotates on its axis once daily and travels around the Sun once a year, and demonstrates that the motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting the Earth at rest in the centre of the universe. His Copernican Principle (that the Earth is not in a central, specially favoured position) and its implications (that celestial bodies obey physical laws identical to those on Earth) first establishes cosmology as a science rather than a branch of metaphysics, and marks a shift away from anthropocentrism.

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