Today in History

[Tamrin]

28 March

1760 - Birth of Thomas Clarkson, English abolitionist (Negro Emancipation)

1859 - Birth of Joséphin Péladan, French writer/founder (French Rosicrucians)

1917 - Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv & Jaffa by Turkish authorities

1959 - 11 days after Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet's government & installs Panchen Lama

1960 - Pope John raises the 1st Japanese, 1st African & 1st Filipino cardinals

1987 - Maria Augusta Trapp, singer (Trapp Family Singers), dies at 82

1996 - Hans Blumenberg, philosopher, dies at 75

Hans Blumenberg
(Died this day 1996)

Blumenberg created what has come to be called 'metaphorology', which states that what lies under metaphors and language modisms, is the nearest to the truth (and the furthest from ideologies). His last works, especially "Sorrow Crossing the River" (Die Sorge geht über den Fluss), are attempts to apprehend human reality through its metaphors and involuntary expressions. Digging under apparently meaningless anecdotes of the history of occidental thought and literature, Blumenberg drew a map of the expressions, examples, gestures, that flourished in the discussions of what are thought to be more important matters. Blumenberg's interpretations are extremely unpredictable and personal, all full of signs, indications and suggestions, sometimes ironic. Above all, it is a warning against the force of revealed truth, and for the beauty of a world in confusion.

[Tamrin]

29 March

1673 - English King Charles II accepts Test Act: Roman Catholics excluded from public functions

1804 - Thousands of Whites massacred in Haiti

1852 - Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 & women to work more than 10 hours a day

1882 - The Knights of Columbus, founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, was chartered by the General Assembly of Connecticut. Established as a lay fraternal society, the K of C encourages benevolence, patriotism and racial tolerance among its members.

1912 - Captain Robert Scott, blizzard-bound in a tent 18 km from the South Pole, makes last entry in his diary "the end cannot be far"

1936 - Nazi propaganda claims 99% of Germans voted for Nazi candidates

1971 - 1st Lieutenant William L Calley Jr. found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre

[Tamrin]

30 March

1135 - Birth of Maimonides [Moses Ben Maimon], Còrodoba Spain, philosopher/physician

1925 - Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher (anthroposophy), dies at 64

1930 - Birth of Rolf Harris, Bassendean Western Australia, Australian/British cartoonist/singer

1932 - Amelia Earhart is 1st woman to fly solo cross the Atlantic

1948 - Mahatma Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi

1953 - Einstein announces revised unified field theory

1981 - President Reagan shot & wounded by John W Hinckley Jr

Rolf Harris
(Born this day 1930)

[Tamrin]

31 March

1492 - Queen Isabella of Castilia & Ferdinand of Aragon expels Jews

1596 - Birth of René Descartes, France, philosopher (he thought, therefore he was)

1631 - John Donne, Metaphysical poet, dies (birth date unknown)

1854 - Treaty of Kanagawa: Commodore Perry forces Japan to open ports to foreign trade

1870 - Thomas P Mundy became 1st black to vote in US (Perth Amboy NJ)

1889 - 300 meter Eiffel Tower officially opens (commemorates French Revolution)

1954 - USSR offers to join NATO

Commodore Perry's famous black ships
(His actions arguably led to Pearl Harbour, 1941)

[Tamrin]

1 April

1504 - English guilds/corp goes under state control

1578 - William Harvey of England discovers blood circulation

1866 - US Congress rejects presidential veto gives all equal rights in US

1908 - Birth of Abraham H Maslow, US psychologist (humanistic psychology)

1930 - Zawditu, 1st reigning female monarch of Ethiopia, dies

1952 - Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow

1970 - John Lennon & Yoko Ono release hoax they are having dual sex change operations

Empress Zawditu of Ethiopia
(Died this day 1930)

[Tamrin]

2 April

A Big Day for Birthdays:
0742 - Birth of Charlemagne, 1st Holy Roman emperor (800-14)
1725 - Birth of Casanova, writer
1805 - Birth of Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, author of 150 fairy tales
1834 - Frédéric-Auguste Bertholdi, France, sculptor (Statue of Liberty)
1840 - Birth of Émile Zola, France, novelist (Nana, J'Accuse)
1936 - Birth of Jack Brabham, Australia, race car driver (world champion 1966)
1965 - Birth of Rodney King, Sacramento CA, black motorist beaten by Los Angeles cops


Other Events:

1118 - Boudouin I of Bologne/Edessa, 1st crusader/king of Jerusalem, dies

1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain

1872 - Samuel F B Morse, developer of electric telegraph, dies at 80

1884 - London prison for debtors closed

1917 - Jeannette Rankin becomes 1st woman member of US House of Representatives

1932 - Charles Lindbergh turns over $50,000 as ransom for kidnapped son

1982 - Several thousand Argentine troops seize disputed Falkland (Malvinas) Islands

Memorial to Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Cimetière de Montparnasse, Paris,
Creator of Liberty Enlightening the World, a.k.a. The Statue of Liberty
Born this day 1834

[Tamrin]

3 April

0033 - Christ crucified (according to astronomers Humphreys & Waddington)

1657 - English Lord Protector Cromwell refuses crown

1715 - Birth of John Hanson, Port Tobacco MD, 1st US President under Articles of Confederation

1930 - Ras Tafari becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

1934 - Birth of Jane Goodall, London England, ethologist (studied African chimps)

1950 - Carter G Woodson "father of black history", dies in Washington DC at 74

1981 - Race riots in London's Brixton area

Coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie

[Tamrin]

4 April

1507 - Future German reformer Martin Luther, at age 21, was ordained a priest

1541 - Ignatius of Loyola becomes 1st superior-General of the Jesuits

1581 - Francis Drake completes circumnavigation of the world and is knighted

1818 - Congress decided US flag is 13 red & white stripes & 20 stars

1902 - Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund established with $10 million

1968 - Reverend Martin Luther King Jr civil rights leader, assassinated in Memphis at 39

1979 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto former Pakistani President, hanged in Pakistan at 51

Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind

[Tamrin]

5 April

1588 - Birth of Thomas Hobbes, England, philosopher (Leviathan)

1614 - Indian princess Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe

1684 - William Brouncker, 2nd viscount/1st president of Royal Society, dies

1725 - Birth of Giacomo Casanova, Italian writer/philanderer/adventurer (uncertain)

1753 - British Museum forms (opens in 1759)

1896 - 1st modern Olympic Games officially open in Athens

1964 - Douglas MacArthur, US General (Pacific theater-WWII), dies at 84

Pocahontas and her son, Thomas Rolfe
(by Sedgeford, Kings Lynn Museum)

[Tamrin]

6 April

1199 - Richard I the Lion-hearted, King of England (1189-99), dies at 41

1520 - Raphael [Raffaello Sanzio] Urbino Italy, painter/master builder, dies on his 37th birthday

1866 - Birth of Butch Cassidy [Robert Parker], US desperado (Wild Bunch Passage)

1868 - Brigham Young marries his 27th & final wife

1917 - US declares war on Germany, enters World War I

1945 - Birth of Bob Marley reggae musician/singer (Whalers-No Woman)

1991 - Subhana, becomes 1st Australian woman to become a Zen teacher

Richard the Lionheart, leading a Templar host
(Died this day 1199)