Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He was a physicist, philosopher, theologian, inventor, alchemist and English mathematician. He is best known for discovering the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion. Newton discovered gravity when he saw an apple fall from a tree in his yard and wondered why things fall to the ground. He died on March 31, 1727.