It was on this date, January 4, 1884, that the longest-lived, continuously operating Socialist organization, the Fabian Society, was founded in London. Founders Frank Podmore and Edward Pease envisioned a society opposed to the revolutionary theory of Marxism, holding instead that social reforms and Socialistic public policy can be instituted through “permeation”: that is, through […]

It was on this date, January 3, 106 BCE, that Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in Arpinum, which is modern Arpino, Italy. Having chosen parents not among the ruling class in oligarchic Rome, Cicero rose through the political ranks – quaestor, aedile, praetor, and consul – much as one would today: […]

It was on this date, January 3, 1868, that Belgian archaeologist and philologist Franz Valery-Marie Cumont was born in Aalst, Belgium. He studied at the Royal Athenaeum in Brussels, then at the University of Ghent, and earned his doctor of philosophy and letters in 1887 at the age of 19. By age 24 (1892) Cumont […]

It was on this date, January 2, 1920, that American science and science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov was born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov in Petrovichi, Russia. He was educated in Orthodox Judaism, but religion had little influence throughout Asimov’s childhood. His father “didn’t even bother to have me bar mitzvahed at the age of thirteen,” Asimov remarked […]

It was on this date, January 1, 1484, that Swiss Protestant reformer Huldrych Zwingli was born at Wildhaus near Zürich, Switzerland, the son of a town magistrate whose brother was the town priest. Zwingli’s early religious education was influenced by the teachings of Thomas Wyttenbach (1472-1526). He was ordained to the priesthood, became a formidable […]

It was on this date, January 1, 1854, that British anthropologist, folklorist and author of The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer was born in Brandon Place, Glasgow, Scotland. The Frazer family were devout followers of the Free Church of Scotland, under whose strict doctrines James was raised. Frazer graduated in Classics at Trinity College, […]

It was on this date, December 31, 1514, that Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius was born Andreas van Wesel in Brussels, Belgium. Vesalius had studied medicine in the tradition of the ancient Roman anatomist Galen (129-211), but in acquiring great skill in dissection – often practiced on the bodies of criminals stolen from the gallows – […]

It was on this date, December 30, 1993, that the Vatican and Israel agreed to recognize each other. This diplomatic nicety did not, of course, end anti-Semitism anymore than the establishment of the State of Israel did, but it is always gratifying to see two major superstitions agree to play nice with each other on […]

It was on this date, December 29, 1170, that four knights of King Henry II burst into Canterbury Cathedral and murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket. The story of the stormy breakup between king and cleric has been the subject of a play by T.S. Eliot (Murder in the Cathedral, 1938) and one by Jean Anouilh (Becket, […]

It was on this date, December 28, 1065, that Westminster Abbey, in Westminster, London, was consecrated. The now-traditional place of coronation and burial for English monarchs, located just to the west of Westminster Palace, contains the Collegiate Church of St. Peter as well as the Abbey, or home for monks. According to legend, the church […]