Jun 19
It was on this date, June 19, 1947, that novelist Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay, India. Rushdie was born into a Muslim family but on 14 February 1989 his book The Satanic Verses earned him a fatwa or decision from Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who proclaimed the book to be an insult to the Islamic …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=6631
Jun 19
Rizal believed in peaceful reform – as well as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to a fair trial. He died an anti-clerical Catholic and was declared a national hero of the Philippines.
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=6626
Apr 28
“There is a rumour going around that I have found God,” says Pratchett. “I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.”
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=6372
Apr 02
It was on this date, April 2, 1947, that American author, teacher, and social critic Camille Paglia was born. She was brought up in New York by Italian immigrant parents and spent her earliest days on a farm before her educator-father moved the family to more urban surroundings. Paglia graduated Harpur College at Binghamton University …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=6256
Mar 27
It was on this date, March 27, 1797, that French poet, playwright, and novelist Alfred de Vigny was born into an aristocratic family in the town of Loches in central France. His mother, a woman of strong will inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, saw to his early education. Although the French Revolution left the family in …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=6218
Dec 08
Baron D’Holbach (1723) Many men without morals have attacked religion because it was contrary to their inclinations. Many wise men have despised it because it seemed to them ridiculous. Many persons have regarded it with indifference, because they have never felt its true disadvantages. But it is as a citizen that I attack it, because …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=4246
Nov 13
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850) It was on this date, November 13, 1850, that Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh. He once quarreled with his father over religion and, thereafter, rarely mentioned his hostility to it. From childhood, Stevenson suffered from tuberculosis. He spend much …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=3928
Nov 11
Joseph McCabe (1867) It was on this date, November 11, 1867, that Freethought writer Joseph Martin McCabe was born in Manchester, the product of Protestant East Anglians and Irish Catholic stock. He was named Joseph, after the saint, because he was, from infancy, promised to the priesthood. He entered the priesthood at age 16 and …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=3914
Nov 11
Kurt Vonnegut Jr (1922) It was on this date, November 11, 1922, that science fiction and satire writer Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Vonnegut enrolled at Cornell University as a biochemistry major, but left for the Air Force during World War Two. He was captured in May 1944 during the Battle of the …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=3898
Nov 09
Ivan Turgenev (1818) It was on this date, November 9, 1818 (NS), that Russian Realist novelist, poet and playwright Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́нев), was born in Orel. He attended both Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities and received a Master’s Degree in philosophy. He developed some sympathy for democracy in Russia, but made the …
Permanent link to this article: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=3874
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