Charles Richet (1850) It was on this date, August 26, 1850, that French physiologist Charles Richet was born in Paris. The son of a surgeon, Richet entered medical school but anatomy and surgery bored him, so he wrote poetry and drama as a diversion. He became a hospital intern on a women's ward and there […]

Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572) It was on this date, August 24, 1572, that the bloodiest massacre of Christians by Christians began in France – the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. The Reformation of the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which had begun in Germany, had spread to France and gained many followers, including […]

World Council of Churches Formed (1948): What is a Church? It was on this date, August 23, 1948, that the World Council of Churches was formed in Amsterdam, Holland. Over 100 Protestant churches agreed to tolerate each other's existence at an ecumenical conference in 1937. The next year, a provisional committee met at Utrecht to […]

Ray Bradbury (1920) It was on this date, August 22, 1920, that prolific science fiction author Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois. His formal education ended when he graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. He became a full-time writer in 1943. Bradbury has published more than thirty books, including about […]

Bernard Becomes a Saint (1153): What Sainthood Means It was on this date, August 21, 1153, that Bernard of Clairvaux, canonized a Catholic "saint" in 1170 by Pope Alexander III, died in the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux, in France. Bernard was born in 1090, at Fontaines, near Dijon, France, and at age 25 was entrusted […]

Jules Michelet (1798) It was on this date, August 21, 1798, that French historian Jules Michelet was born in Paris, into a family with a Huguenot past. Of his youth, under the post-revolutionary, reactionary French government, Michelet recalled, I remember that in the dire misfortunes of daily deprivation and fears for the future... unsure of […]

Bernardo O'Higgins (1778) It was on this date, August 20, 1778, that the Irish-Chilean soldier and statesman Bernardo O'Higgins was born Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme in Chillán, Chile. His father was an Irish engineer who refused to marry his mother, the daughter of an aristocratic Chilean family. His absent father at least saw that O'Higgins was […]

H.P. Lovecraft (1890) It was on this date, August 20, 1890, that American author Howard Phillips Lovecraft, who wrote as H.P. Lovecraft, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Fatherless from the age of three, Lovecraft was reared by his mother and grandparents, and it was his grandmother who held him spellbound with weird tales that […]

The following is a commentary in an ongoing series of “Reflections” by John Mill. John Mill is the radio persona of Ronald Bruce Meyer and can be heard on “American Heathen.” “The American Heathen” Internet radio broadcast is aired, live, on Friday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm Central time on ShockNetRadio.com Visualize No Liberals A Reflection by […]

Gene Roddenberry (1921) It was on this date, August 19, 1921, that the creator of the Star Trek TV series, Eugene Wesley Roddenberry was born in El Paso, Texas. The family moved to Los Angeles before Gene was two and his father became a career police officer. Roddenberry took classes in law enforcement but got […]