Apologizing 300 Years Late for Witch Executions: Christianity vs. Witchcraft It was on this date, January 14, 1997, that a reenactment of a day of fasting took place in Salem, and across Massachusetts, in penance for the wrongful persecution of “witches” three centuries earlier. That is, Massachusetts held a day of fasting for wrongly persecuting […]

It was on this date, January 13, 1810, that American reformer Ernestine Rose was born Ernestine Louise Lasmond Potowski, the daughter of a Polish rabbi in a Warsaw ghetto. At an early age she rejected the Jewish religion and left home at age 17, traveling eventually to England. There she not only adopted the socialist […]

It was on this date, January 12, 1954, that radio “shock jock” Howard Allan Stern, the self-proclaimed “King of All Media,” was born in Jackson Heights, NY. Both of his parents are Jewish, and although Howard Stern occasionally accompanies them to religious worship, he has demonstrated less than full allegiance to Judaism. To read more, […]

It was on this date, January 11, 1842, that American psychologist William James was born in New York, the son of a Swedenborgian theologian, Henry James, Sr. Emanuel Swedenborg was the 18th century Swedish mystic who entered ecstatic trances, claimed to have therein visited heaven and hell, but was found by his contemporaries to be […]

It was on this date, January 10, 1776, that an anonymous pamphlet called “Common Sense” was published in the American colonies, authored by English-born citizen Thomas Paine. It became so popular that Paine himself was often called “Common Sense.” In effect, Thomas Paine, a Deist who denied the divinity but not the morality of Jesus, […]

It was on this date, January 9, 1908, that French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir was born Simone Lucia Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir in Paris. Rejecting her mother’s Roman Catholicism, she became an Atheist as a teenager and graduated from the Sorbonne in 1929, after giving a presentation on Leibniz. Shortly thereafter de Beauvoir […]

It was on this date, January 9, 1967, that popular musician Dave Matthews was born David John Matthews in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dave Matthews came to the U.S. at age 18. Since the 1990s the Dave Matthews band has prospered with their unique combination of jazz and rock, and providing music for the films Mr. […]

It was on this date, January 9, 1911, that burlesque-era stripper Gypsy Rose Lee was born Rose Louise Hovick in Seattle, Washington. Sister of actress June Havoc, Gypsy started dancing and stripping at burlesque houses from the age of 15, under the oppressive hand of her mother, Rose. She took her stage name while dancing […]

It was on this date, January 8, 1697, that Edinburgh University student Thomas Aikenhead was hanged for blasphemy in Scotland. Thomas was born in March 1676 and baptized on the 28th. His upbringing is obscure, except that he was the son of an educated father and that he was an orphaned by age 10. Nevertheless, […]

It was on this date, January 8, 1911, that actress Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen was born in Tampa, Florida, the daughter of a stevedore and a domestic worker. Although she was raised a Christian, she began to question the value of organized religion as a child. She gave up her study of nursing to become an […]