Freethought Almanac

Lighting a candle in toxic air.
2011-11-16
November 16: US Recognizes USSR (1933): Atheism and Communism

It was on this date, November 16, 1933, that the United States recognized the Soviet Union when President Roosevelt established diplomatic relations with the USSR — sixteen years after the Russian Revolution. The Soviet Union, so the popular story goes, was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion. This […]

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2011-11-15
November 15: Albert the Great

Albertus Magnus (d. 1280) It was on this date, November 15, 1280, that Albertus Magnus or Albert the Great, died at Cologne, in what is now Germany. Albert was born about 1206, the son of the Count of Bollstädt, and made his early studies at the University of Padua, where Latin translations from Greek of […]

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2011-11-15
November 15: William Pitt the Elder

William Pitt the Elder (1708) It was on this date, November 15, 1708, that "The Great Commoner," English statesman William Pitt the Elder, was born in London. After attending Oxford, Pitt stood for Parliament, where he attracted followers by opposing the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. He was a novel politician in a largely corrupt […]

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2011-11-14
November 14: Charles Lyell

Charles Lyell (1797) It was on this date, November 14, 1797, that pioneering Scottish geologist Charles Lyell was born the oldest of 10 children of an active naturalist. He was educated at Oxford and turned from the law to geology, publishing his greatest work, The Principles of Geology, in three volumes from 1830-1833. His researches […]

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2011-11-14
November 14: Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889) It was on this date, November 14, 1889, that the first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: जवाहरलाल नेहरू; Urdu: جواهر لال نهرو), was born in Allahabad, central India, the son of a successful and politically active Hindu lawyer. He grew up in a wealthy family under the British occupation […]

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2011-11-13
November 13: Robert Louis Stevenson

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 […]

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2011-11-13
November 13: Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo (354 CE) It was also on this date, November 13, 354, that Augustine of Hippo – Aurelius Augustinus – the brilliant Roman Catholic Church Father, was born in Tagaste (Souk-Ahras), in what is now Algeria. He had a wild youth until, at age 33, after fathering a son out of wedlock, Augustine […]

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2011-11-12
Class Warfare and Free Stuff

My brother loves to forward such right-leaning e-mails as the one reproduced below. But seeing not much evidence of critical thought in it, I just had to respond. The full e-mail is quoted below with a few responses to break up and fact-check the bullshit: About FREE STUFF I AM FORWARDING THIS EMAIL THAT I […]

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2011-11-12
November 12: Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815)

It was on this date, November 12, 1815, that feminist pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, New York, the daughter of a lawyer. To read more, go to THIS LINK. Originally published October 2003 by Ronald Bruce Meyer.

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2011-11-11
November 11: Joseph McCabe

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 […]

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Ronald Bruce Meyer

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This Week in Freethought History (March 3-9)

Read about Ira Glass, Penn Jillette, the brutal Pope Eugene IV, Gabriel García Márquez, André Morellet the Encyclopedist, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Mirabeau the revolutionist and more …



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