03/02/2024
Did you know? Leonardo da Vinciās father, an attorney and notary, and his peasant mother were never married to one another, and Leonardo was the only child they had together. With other partners, they had a total of 17 other children, da Vinciās half-siblings. Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, engineer, architect, inventor, and student of all things scientific. His natural genius crossed so many disciplines that he epitomized the term āRenaissance man.ā Today he remains best known for two of his paintings, "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper." Largely self-educated, he filled dozens of secret notebooks with inventions, observations, and theories about pursuits from aeronautics to human anatomy. His combination of intellect and imagination allowed him to create, at least on paper, such inventions as the bicycle, the helicopter, and an airplane based on the physiology and flying ability of a bat.