It was on this date, February 21, 1988, America’s then-leading television evangelist, Jimmy Swaggart, resigning from his ministry in a tearful, televised confession. Swaggart was found to have solicited a prostitute for sex, after exposing a similar indiscretion by his rival televangelist, Jim Bakker. Sexual hypocrisy is hardly new to the religion industry, especially among […]

It was on this date, February 20, 1925, that American film director Robert Altman was born (1925). Altman was educated in Jesuit schools prior to joining the Army at the age of 18, but he lost his religion soon after joining the military. Known for several important films, including the 1970 Korean War satire M*A*S*H, […]

It was on this date, February 19, 1859, that Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate Svante August Arrhenius, one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry, was born in Vik. Popular story relates that Arrhenius taught himself to read at the age of three, and became a mathematics prodigy in childhood. He studied at […]

It was on this date, February 19, 1473, that Nicolaus Koppernigk, known to science history by his Latinized name, Nicolaus Copernicus, was born in Toruń, what is now known as Thorn in modern Poland. Copernicus lost his father at age 10 and was taken under the wing of his Uncle Lucas, a free-living Polish cleric, […]

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 Saturday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm Central Time (8-11pm Eastern Time) on ShockNetRadio.com. The 2012 presidential […]

It was on this date, February 18, 1954, that the first Church of Scientology was established in Los Angeles, California. There’s a reason why some of us call the Church of Scientology “Where the Bullies Are”: they are notorious for their aggressive defense – not just of their religion but of their copyrighted holy books. […]

It was on this date, February 17, 1600, that Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned to death for his religious opinions at the Campo de’ Fiori in Rome. He was born Filippo Bruno, in 1548, in the Italian town of Nola, in Campania, in the Kingdom of Naples, and received a Neapolitan education. Bruno was […]

It was on this date, February 16, 1958, that nonfiction writer and a science journalist Natalie Angier was born in New York City. After studying physics and English at Barnard College, she graduated with high honors in 1978. Angier wrote about biology for Discover Magazine, then as science writer for Time magazine. As science reporter […]

It was on this date, February 15, 1748, that British jurist and social reformer Jeremy Bentham was born into a Tory family in London, the son of a lawyer. A precocious learner, Bentham studied Latin at age four and sailed through Oxford, pausing only long enough to condemn the “mendacity and insincerity” of its religious […]

It was on this date, February 15, 1820, that American feminist and social reformer Susan B. Anthony was born Susan Brownell Anthony in Adams, Massachusetts, into a strict Quaker family. Nevertheless, Anthony was taught from youth the virtues of self-discipline, principled convictions, and belief in one’s own self-worth, and developed a sense of justice and […]