Galileo Galilei, the famous astronomer who “”perhaps more than any other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern science” (according to Stephen Hawking, who should know, being a physicist himself) died in 1642, while under house arrest near Florence, Italy. (He was put under house arrest by the Catholic Church, which then ruled what later become Italy, because he believed in a sun-centered Solar System, which was considered heresy at the time.)

95 years after his death, his body was moved to Florence to a special tomb near Michelangelo’s, in Florence. At that time, a tooth, his right thumb, and his right middle finger were kept by an admirer, and the relics were passed down through the family.

But now they’ve been given to the Museum of the History of Science in Florence and will soon be on display there. This is true. Read about it here: Galileo’s fingers, tooth are found.