WHO WAS BORN
1451: Amerigo Vespucci
The year of Amerigo Vespucci's birth is traditionally given as 1451, the same as that of Christopher Columbus; but it's more likely he was born as late as 1454. The exact date is also up for debate.
WHO DIED
1440: Saint Frances of Rome
Although she early felt the call to a spiritual life, Frances obeyed her family and married Lorenzo de' Ponziani. When the Ponzianis lost their fortune due to the Great Schism of the Western church, she founded the Oblates of Mary.
1444: Leonardo Bruni
Humanist scholar and secretary to the papal chancery, Bruni wrote the first history of Florence based on a critical examination of source materials, translated Greek classics into Latin, and wrote Italian-language biographies of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch.
1566: David Riccio
Riccio (or Rizzio) was secretary and advisor to Mary, Queen of Scots, and arranged her marriage to Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. After Mary had become pregnant with her only son (who would be the future James I of England), Darnley grew increasingly unstable and, manipulated by Scottish lords who sought the eventual deposition of Mary, became jealous of Riccio's relationship with his wife.
While Darnley was present and did nothing to stop them, armed men dragged Riccio from Mary in her supper room in Holyroodhouse and stabbed him to death.
