It was on this date, January 19, 1798, that the French founder of the philosophy of Positivism, Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte, was born in Montpellier. Auguste Comte was reared a Catholic, but gave that up to become a disciple of Saint-Simon. In 1824, when they had a falling out, he developed his own […]

It was on this date, January 19, 1809, that American poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe was born Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of itinerant actors who died within two years. Edgar was reared in Richmond, Virginia, by merchant John Allan, from whom Poe took his middle name. Poe showed great […]

It was on this date, January 18, 1689, that French jurist and nobleman Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu was born in Bordeaux of a wealthy family. He was educated in science, history and law, and came into his fortune in 1716. He came into fame at age 32 with his […]

It was on this date, January 18, 1906, that British mathematician Jacob Bronowski was born in Łódź, Poland. Fleeing the Russian conquest of Poland in World War I, the Bronowski family emigrated to Germany, then in 1920 moved to London. Bronowski was known to his friends as “Bruno,” and studied mathematics at Jesus College, Cambridge, […]

It was on this date, January 17, 1706, that American statesman, scientist, writer, printer and philosopher Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Although his formal schooling was brief, Franklin believed “the doors to wisdom are never shut,” and taught himself logic, history, science, algebra, geometry, navigation, English grammar, and could get along in five […]

It was on this date, January 16, 1786, that the Virginia Legislature adopted the “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.” Written by Thomas Jefferson almost ten years earlier as “An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom,” and proposed to the legislature when Jefferson became Governor of Virginia in 1779, It took a mighty push from both Jefferson […]

It was on this date, January 15, 1622, that French poet and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, who became famous under the pen name Molière, was baptized in Paris where he was born. The son of an upholsterer who was valet to the King, his initial education was with the Jesuits at the Collège de Clermont… To […]

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, […]