1496

January 3. Leonardo da Vinci tries to fly with one of his inventions. He fails.

January 31. Leonardo designs the scenery for the play "Danae" in the Count of Cajazzo's Milan palace.

1497

January 2. Beatrice d'Este dies during childbirth.

January 13. Sister Verónica da Binasco dies in her convent.

February 7. Followers of Girolamo Savonarola create the so-called "Bonfire of the Vanities" in Florence to burn thousands of "immoral" paintings, including some from Boticelli. He wants to stop the "pagan" taste of the Medici.

May 13. Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.

June 24. The Italian sailor Giovanni Cabotto (John Cabot) lands in North America for the first time.

Summer. Leonardo finishes The Last Supper in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

July 8. Vasco de Gama begins his first voyage to India.

1498

April. Louis XII is the new King of France. He will conquer Milan the following year, ending the reign of Ludovico il Moro.

May 23. Girolamo Savonarola is executed because of his criticism of the Pope. He is hung and burned in Florence.

May 30. Columbus embarks on his third trip to America, this time accompanied by friar Bartolomé de las Casas, great defender of the rights of the Indian people.