March 12

On the 12th in 1610, Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncios (Starry Messenger) was published. This book has the distinction of being the first scientific treatise to rely on observations obtained by using a telescope. It brought to Galileo a great deal of acclaim and, perhaps more importantly a degree of financial security. In her book Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel on page 36, points out the rather sweet deal Galileo was able to swing. He was appointed “Chief Mathematician of the University of Pisa and Mathematician and Philosopher to the Grand Duke… He also secured a bonus in personal liberty by arranging for his university appointment in Pisa to entail no noisome teaching duties”
On October 31, 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.