In late November of 2008, it was announced that remains found in a Polish cathedral had been positively identified as belonging to 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Jerzy Gassowski, head of the Archeology and Anthropology Institute in Pultusk, Poland, made the announcement during a news conference on November 20.UPI: DNA confirms remains of Copernicus (November 21, 2008) DNA was extracted from a tooth and leg bone found in the cathedral and compared to that from a hair discovered in a 16th century book that belonged to Copernicus.Discover Magazine: DNA Test Solves the Mystery of Copernicus's Remains (November 20, 2008)
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"There has been a project working on Copernicus for some time. We tested pieces of bone and tooth from the site in Poland with the hair found at Uppsala. The pieces were tested twice, once in Sweden and once in Poland to ensure the accuracy of the results. The data collected confirmed that the skeleton found in 2005 is that of Copernicus." Marie Allen, professor at Uppsala University in SwedenUPI: DNA confirms remains of Copernicus (November 21, 2008)
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Fast Facts
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Remains believed to be those of Copernicus were first discovered in in Frombork Cathedral in 2005UPI: DNA confirms remains of Copernicus (November 21, 2008)
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Copernicus was the first to theorize that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of the universeThe Independent: Copernicus's remains found (November 22, 2008)
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Scientists used skull bones found in the grave to create a reconstruction of Copernicus' headPittsburgh Post-Gazette: Copernicus' grave, remains confirmed... (November 21, 2008)
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The evidence confirms centuries of speculation regarding the location of Copernicus' graveBBC: Polish tests 'confirm Copernicus' (November 21, 2008)
