1305 - Giotto completes his work on the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. 1419 - Architect Brunelleschi designs the dome for the Florence Cathedral. 1434 - The Medici family becomes the head of the city-state of Florence. 1450 - Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press. 1453 - The Ottoman Empire captures the city of Constantinople, signaling an end to the Byzantine Empire. 1469 - Lorenzo de Medici becomes head of the city-state of Florence. He is one of the great patrons of the arts. 1485 - Henry VII becomes king of England beginning the reign of the House of Tudor. 1486 - Boticelli completes the painting The Birth of Venus. 1492 - Explorer Christopher Columbus discovers America. 1495 - Leonardo da Vinci paints the Last Supper. 1498 - Vasco da Gama arrives in India after sailing around the southern tip of Africa from Portugal. 1501 - Michelangelo begins his work on the sculpture David. 1503 - Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa. 1508 - Michelangelo begins his painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 1509 - Henry VIII becomes king of England.