Miscellaneous Facts

He was born in Italy in 1452; the illegitimate son of a lawyer and a peasant
He never knew his mother
He died in France on May 2, 1519 (age 67)
In his last will he stated that, at his funeral, the following were to occur:
- Sixty poor people carrying burning torches were to walk around his coffin.
- The thick wax candles that the church would light were to weigh ten pounds each.
- Mass was to be sung three times in the castle of St. Florentine, and thirty low masses were to be said in the churches of St. Denis and St. Gregory.
- The thirty low masses were to be sung by Franciscan friars.
He is reported to have written the words "Oh! How many they shall be who will never see their native land again and whose bones shall be strewn in foreign parts." Little did he know that he prophesied his own demise.
Aside from being an artist, Leonardo was also a scientist, inventor, storyteller, a comedian of sorts, and a soothsayer.
Many of his major works were left unfinished, leaving the possibility that he was somewhat of a perfectionist, and nothing was quite good enough, either that or his interests changed so quickly that he lost interest in what he was doing.
Leonardo could write in "mirror handwriting" (meaning that aside from writing normally (left to right), he could write right to left with the letters flipped backwards and everything.)
Among his sketches, plans for several inventions were found. Aside from the helicopter and military tanks, sketches of parachutes, paddleboats, bridge canals, battleships, dredgers, and even bicycles have been found on his notes.
Though most of his ideas were related to war, others were based on his study of human anatomy. One such invention was a man-powered flying machine. It was a structure shaped like bird's wings that would be fastened to a person's back. By studying the flights of birds he came up with this creation of getting man off the ground. Unfortunately, the plan failed.
On November 11, 1994, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates paid 30 million dollars for a notebook of Leonardo's entitled Codex Leicester.
Leonardo had an interest in Physiognomy; the practice of judging character by observing the features on a person's face. (This relates to his statement that "A person's soul is shown in their eyes".)