Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (born 1564)

Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei, commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the father of observational astronomy, modern-era classical physics, the scientific method, and modern science.

January 8 is the eighth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 357 days remain until the end of the year.