Freethought Almanac

Lighting a candle in toxic air.
2011-10-05
October 5: Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot (1713) On this date, October 5, 1713, the most famous French Encyclopedist, Denis Diderot, was born in Langres. Educated by the Jesuits (1728-1732), he took the opportunity to read everything that came his way, and then escaped before they could ordain him. Diderot gradually lost his faith between his Essay on Merit and […]

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2011-08-09
August 9: Marvin Minsky

Marvin Minsky (1927) It was on this date, August 9, 1927, that the MIT professor Marvin Minsky, known in computer science as the father of artificial intelligence, was born into a Jewish family in New York City. After serving in the US Navy from 1944 to 1945, Minsky earned a BA in Mathematics from Harvard […]

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2011-07-30
July 30: E. Haldeman-Julius

E. Haldeman-Julius (1889) It was on this date, July 30, 1889, that Emanuel Julius was born in a Philadelphia tenement – later to become known as the book publisher E. Haldeman-Julius. Emanuel left school at age 13 to seek his fortune as a writer in New York and got a job on a Socialist newspaper, […]

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2011-07-21
July 21: Insulting Monkeys

The famous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial was a publicity stunt that exposed the imbecility of fundamentalism.

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Ronald Bruce Meyer

Our Fearless Leader.


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Week in Freethought History (June 24-30)

Here’s your Week in Freethought History: This is more than just a calendar of events or mini-biographies – it’s a reminder that, no matter how isolated and alone we may feel at times, we as freethinkers are neither unique nor alone in the world. Last Sunday, June 24, but in 1842, journalist and social critic […]



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