On July 6, 1476, Johannes Regiomontanus, one of the most outstanding astronomers and mathematicians on the cusp of the modern era, whose works paved the way for the shift away from the geocentric worldview, died.
Born in 1436 as Johannes Müller, he studied in Leipzig and, beginning in 1450, at the University of Vienna, where he earned his master’s degree from the Faculty of Arts in 1457 and subsequently taught for several years. He was a student and friend of Georg Aunpeck von Peuerbach. Regiomontanus’s "Dreieeckslehre" (Treatise on Triangles) advanced the application of trigonometry, and his "Ephemerides" became a standard reference work for astronomers and navigators. Columbus also used them on his voyages of discovery. Commissioned by Cardinal Johannes Bessarion, Regiomontanus edited the "Almagest," the magnum opus of the Greek astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy.
