Major Events
- Jan 6 Construction begins on Portugal's Jerónimos Monastery, designed by architect Diogo de Boitaca to commemorate the return of Vasco da Gama from India [1]
- Jan 14 Martin Luther enters the University of Erfurt, aged 17
- Jan 16 Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral and 6 ships set off from Kannur, India, on their return voyage to Lisbon
- Jan 17 Cesare Borgia returns in triumph to Rome from Romagna
- May 20 Portuguese explorer João da Nova Castell discovers the uninhabited Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean
- Jul 15 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral arrives back in Lisbon after successfully discovering Brazil and returning from India
- Jul 27 Nicolaus Copernicus formally installed as an Augustinian canon of Frauenberg Cathedral at Frombork
- Aug 16 Michelangelo awarded the contract to create his statue of David at Florence Cathedral by the Overseers of the Office of Works (the Operai) of the Duomo
- Sep 3 Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres appointed Governor of the Indies by Spanish Queen Isabella I
- Sep 13 Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture
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Girolamo CardanoMore People Born in 1501
Who Died in 1501
- Jan 3 Ali-Shir Nava'i, Timurid poet and writer (Mahbub ul-Qulub) considered a founder of early Turkic literature, dies at 59
- Mar 20 Jean Carondelet, lawyer/chancellor of Burgundy (1480-96), dies at 72
- May 22 Robert Gaguin, French writer/diplomat (Arte Metrificandi), dies at 66
- Jun 17 Jan I Olbracht, King of Poland, dies
- Jun 17 John I Albert, King of Poland (1492-1501), dies at 59
More 1501 Deaths
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Raphael