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Do you know who the Da Vinci part of the famous book and film, 'The Da Vinci Code' is?
Or rather 'was', because Leonardo da Vinci (his full name) was born in Italy in 1452 and died in 1519. 'The Da Vinci Code' is all about a made-up mystery but Leonardo had a few secrets of his own in real life too... We wanted to show you this great new website called Universal Leonardo. There's all the lowdown on the man himself, plus some fab games! (More on those later.)
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Leonardo was an artist. His painting called the Mona Lisa is very famous.
Here she is on the left. No-one's sure whether she's happy or sad. What do you think? Take a closer look at Mona Lisa on Universal Leonardo and see what you think.
© Universal Leonardo
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As well as being a painter, Leonardo was also an inventor. He wouldn't let anyone see his work though, in case they pinched his ideas.
Leonardo was fascinated by flight. You can see his plans for a glider he invented on the British Library website. © British Library
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Leonardo wrote all his notes down in a special code to keep them secret.
It's called mirror writing, where you write backwards, from right to left.
You can try a bit of mirror writing yourself with this game from Universal Leonardo.
© Universal Leonardo
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Leonardo designed many flying machines like the glider above. He wanted to be able to fly like a bird.
Fancy testing his flying machines? Go to the Fly like a bird, sink like a stone game to test his theories. Just click on Play when you get through.
© Universal Leonardo
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The British Library has put one of Leonardo's notebooks online. You can flick through and see his sketches and mirror writing for yourself.
Just click on Sketches by Leonardo and that'll take you to his drawings. It'll take a minute to load up but the wait is worth it.
© British Library
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Did you know that Da Vinci also invented the aeroplane, submarine, parachute and even the car? But it was hundreds of years before they were finally made.
Why not make your own glider using handy tips from the site?
Just don't fly it around in class or you'll be in trouble!
© Universal Leonardo
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Have you ever invented something? Perhaps Leonardo has inspired you to have a go? If so, we'd love to hear from you - why not Get in Touch?
Show Me surfer Patrick sent in his amazing invention. Here's a sneak preview of it (left).
Can you guess what it is? To find out, take a closer look here. Leonardo would have been proud Patrick. We've still got some prizes to give out, including some fab science books, so get your plans in and you may be lucky. Happy inventing!
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