Giordani Bruno was one of those people truly born in the wrong place, if not also at the wrong time. Living in Italy around the middle ages meant unwavering obedience to the Catholic Church and its doctrine. While Bruno did enter the Dominican Order, he preferred his own philosophies on the nature of the universe: that the center around which others orbited was the sun, not Earth, and that there were infinitely many other worlds with other intelligent beings. This kind of free thinking got him into deep trouble with the law.On this day, January 27, 1592, the seven-year trial of Giordani Bruno opened in Rome. He was accused of holding several opinions contrary to the Catholic Church (i.e. heresy), including those about Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. He was also accused of propagating the belief of many worlds.

For most of the proceeding seven years, Bruno was offered opportunities to recant and renounce his beliefs. He could have likely escaped with his life if he had accepted the divinity of Jesus — the Church was willing to allow him to continue teaching his astronomical system, as they had with Copernicus. But Bruno insisted that Jesus was no more than a magician, and in 1600 was executed by the local authorities on Rome.