Significant Events in the Life of Isaac Newton

1642: Born December 25 in Woolsthorpe, north of London

1655: Attends Grantham Grammar School

1661: Enters Trinity College, Cambridge

1665: January—graduates Bachelor of Arts; August moves back home because of the plague

1666: Develops binomial theorem; invents the calculus; postulates a gravitational force holding the moon in its orbit; and proves that white light is a mixture of light of all colors

1667: Returns to Cambridge; elected fellow of Trinity College

1669: Elected Lucasian Professor of Mathematics

1672: Elected fellow of the Royal Society

1684: Edmund Halley’s visit leads to writing of the Principia

1687: Publication of Principia Mathematica

1689: Elected Member of Parliament

1693: Experiences mental breakdown

1696: Moves to London as Warden of the Mint

1700: Appointed Master of the Mint

1703: Elected president of the Royal Society

1704: Publication of Opticks

1705: Knighted by the Queen

1727: Dies March 20; buried in Westminster Abbey

Charles E. Hummel is author of The Galileo Connection and Genesis: God’s Creative Call (both InterVarsity).

- More from Charles E. Hummel

Also in this series

The Faith Behind the Famous: Isaac Newton

Charles E. Hummel

Newton’s Views on Science and Faith

Charles E. Hummel

Also in this issue

Christian History magazine was published by Christianity Today from 1982 to 2008.

Christian History Issue 30

View issue

Five Religious Options for Medieval Women

Ann K. Warren

Catherine of Siena

Caroline T. Marshall

Women in the Medieval Church: Did You Know?

Jeannette L. Angell

Life in a Medieval Village

Frances and Joseph Gies

The Black Death

The Editors

The Mystics

Elizabeth Alvilda Petroff

Christian Women Writers of the Medieval World

Katharina M. Wilson

Heloise and Abelard's Tumultuous Affair

Ruth A. Tucker

Writings from Women in the Medieval Church

Voices of the Mystics

The Faith Behind the Famous: Isaac Newton

Charles E. Hummel

A Skeptic Inside the Nunnery

Women in the Medieval Church: Recommended Resources

Women in the Medieval Church: The Christian History Timeline

Thomas O. Kay

Readers Respond to the 100 Events Issue

Kevin A. Miller

Joan of Arc

The Editors

Women in the Medieval Church: From the Editor - In the Middle (Ages) of a Debate

Kevin A. Miller

Newton's Views on Science and Faith

Charles E. Hummel

Terms of the Religious Life

Inside the Convent

Jo Ann McNamara

View issue

Our Latest

View All

I Failed to Mature as an Artist—Until I Learned to See

Wendy Kiyomi

Drawing is a way of entrusting what I can see to the care and attention of God.

Kelly Rowland as Leah Caldwell and Clifford “Method Man” Smith as Jarrett Roy in Relationship Goals.

How A Pastor’s Book Inspired a New Rom-Com

Haleluya Hadero

Mike Todd’s book, Relationship Goals, gets a spotlight in a film aimed at both Christian and secular audiences.

The Russell Moore Show

Charles Marsh on Bonhoeffer’s 120th Birthday

What does it mean to follow Jesus when the state is demanding your loyalty—and the church is tempted to comply?

We Are Obsessed with Gender

Bonnie Kristian

With incoherent language trickled down from academic theorists, we think and talk about gender incessantly—and to our detriment.

Jesus Did Not Serve Grape Juice

Brad East

Why reopen debate about what we serve for Communion? Because it matters that we follow God’s commands.

Faith leaders pray at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio.

Bracing for ICE Raids, Haitians Get Temporary Reprieve

Andy Olsen in Springfield, Ohio

A federal judge on Monday extended deportation protections for Haitian immigrants. While they waited for the ruling, pastors in Springfield, Ohio, gathered and prayed.