On This Day: Saturday August 13, 2005 This is the 225th day of the year, with 140 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: renaissance "The Renaissance is the name of an important artistic and scientific period that began about 1400 and went on for 200 years in Italy and, eventually, all of Europe. Renaissance means rebirth and this period was a time when scholars revived interest in learning and the arts of ancient Greece and Rome. People began to think of new ideas and develop art techniques, the sciences, architecture, and inventions. They looked for new lands and trade routes -- and their ideas and thirst for learning spread, especially through the new technology of printing. Important artists of the Renaissance were Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Cellini, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Important scientists were Copernicus and Galileo and philosophers were Machiavelli and Erasmus. Important writers were Montaigne, Shakespeare, and Cervantes. Columbus made his famous discoveries during this time. The most important philosophy developed was called humanism -- a new way of thinking that challenged the authority of the church and allowed scientists, artists, and scholars to produce their own ideas. The people of the Renaissance looked for new explanations, new ways of doing things, new interpretations of writings, new ways of building their homes and public buildings." Holidays Feast day of St. Simplician of Milan, St. Radegund, St. Wigbert, St. Pontian, pope, St. Benildus, St. Hippolytus of Rome, St. Narses Klaietus, St. Cassian of Imola, and St. Maximus the Confessor. Central African Republic: Independence Day. Tunisia: Women's Day. Events 1521 - Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez captured present-day Mexico City from the Aztec Indians. 1521 - After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés captured Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. 1889 - The first coin-operated telephone was patented by William Gray. 1961 - Berlin was divided with barbed wire as East Germany sealed off the border between the city's eastern and western sectors in order to halt the flight of refugees. 2004 - Hurricane Charley came in on the heels of tropical storm Bonnie and Florida experiences its worst hurricane since 1992's Andrew. Births 1818 - Lucy Stone, women's rights activist, who founded American Suffrage Association. 1860 - Annie Oakley (Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee), American sharpshooter, performer. 1888 - John Baird, Scottish television pioneer. 1899 - Alfred Hitchcock, British filmmaker, director. 1912 - Ben Hogan, American golf champion. 1926 - Fidel Castro (Ruz), Cuban revolutionary, leader. Deaths 1995 - Mickey Mantle, Hall of Fame baseball player for the New York Yankees. 2004 - Julia Child, Emmy Award-winning chef and television personality.