28 Interesting Facts About Leonardo da Vinci

Here are 28 interesting Leonardo da Vinci facts.

1-5 Leonardo da Vinci Facts

1. Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Hammer was purchased for $30,802,500 in 1994 by Bill Gates; 3 years later he released a digital version of the historic diary for all the world to enjoy. – Source

2. Leonardo da Vinci’s last words were: “I have offended God and Mankind, by doing so little with my life.” – Source

3. Over 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci made an interesting observation about trees. He concluded that the total thickness of a tree’s branches is equal to the total thickness of the tree trunk. Trees across many species obey this rule.  – Source

4. Leonardo da Vinci used to buy caged animals at the market just to set them free. – Source

5. Leonardo da Vinci created plans for a “mechanized knight,” a robot-like creation reliant on a system of pulleys. When these plans were found almost 500 years later and built according to Leonardo’s specifications, the design worked perfectly. – Source

6-10 Leonardo da Vinci Facts

6. Despite being one of the most famous painters in history, only 15 paintings of Leonardo da Vinci are known to exist. The small number of surviving paintings is due in part to Leonardo’s frequently disastrous experimentation with new techniques and his chronic procrastination. – Source

7. Leonardo da Vinci may have written backward not for secrecy, but because he is left-handed and it was easier for him to do. – Source

8.  Leonardo da Vinci recommended gazing at stains on a wall or similar random marks as a stimulus to creative fantasy. – Source

9. Leonardo da Vinci invented the earliest known machine for producing coins. – Source

10. Leonardo da Vinci invented the Miter Lock in 1497, which is still in use today including in the Panama and Suez Canals. – Source

11-15 Leonardo da Vinci Facts

11. Leonardo da Vinci claimed to have dissected more than 30 people in his pursuit to further understand human anatomy, and his more than 240 detailed drawings and over 13,000 words of observations revealed many then unknown characteristics of our bodies. However, all this remain unpublished. – Source

12. Leonardo da Vinci could draw forward with one hand while writing backward with the other. – Source

13. Leonardo da Vinci designed a scuba suit. – Source

14. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with inventing the résumé. – Source

15. Leonardo da Vinci deliberately left errors in the designs of his inventions, in order to prevent it from being put to practice by unauthorized people. – Source

16-20 Leonardo da Vinci Facts

16. Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors, played the viola, and spent twelve years painting the Mona Lisa’s lips. – Source

17. Leonardo da Vinci had a pupil who painted a nude version of Mona Lisa, called Monna Vanna. – Source

18. Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli devised a plan together to change the direction/flow of the River Arno in Pisa, they failed. – Source

19. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was among the first celebrities from the European Renaissance era who supported vegetarianism. – Source

20. Leonardo da Vinci’s signature is considered “ineligible for copyright because it falls below the required level of originality” and therefore is in the public domain. – Source

21-25 Leonardo da Vinci Facts

21. “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci has a mistake: Oranges weren’t introduced to the Middle East until several hundred years after Christ. – Source

22. Leonardo da Vinci dressed lizards up as dragons to freak people out. He would “fasten scales to a lizard, dip it in quicksilver so it trembled as it moved, add larger eyes, a horn, and a beard, and after taming it, show it to his friends to terrify them”. – Source

23. Leonardo da Vinci predicted the mass use of solar energy as long ago as 1447. – Source

24.  Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo once had a painting contest. – Source

25. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and Pablo Picasso was initially arrested as the thief. – Source

26-28 Leonardo da Vinci Facts

26. Leonardo da Vinci was arrested, along with several young companions, on the charge of sodomy. When no witnesses came forward, the charges were dropped. – Source

27. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with inventing the sniper rifle and becoming the first sniper. – Source

28. Leonardo da Vinci believed the moon had an atmosphere and oceans. The Moon was a fine reflector of light, Leonardo believed because it was covered with so much water. – Source

Featured image credit: commons.wikimedia.org