Michaelmas

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Sep 282014

Michaelmas is one of my favorite days — so many associations and recipes.

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Marianne Mozart
Today is the birthday (1751) of Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart, called “Marianne” and nicknamed Nannerl, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and daughter of Leopold (1719–1787) and Anna Maria Mozart (1720–1778). She and Wolfgang were the only 2 of 7 children of their parents who survived infancy. Marianne Mozart was born in […]
Marshall McLuhan
Today is the birthday (1911) of Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian philosopher whose work is one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. McLuhan coined the expression “the medium is the message” and he was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, though his influence began to wane in the early 1970s. […]
Eid al Adha
Today (July 19) at sundown commences the second of two Eid celebrations in the Islamic calendar – Eid al Adha, called colloquially “salty eid.” Eid al-Adha, Arabic for Festival of the Sacrifice, honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to God’s command. (The Jewish and […]
Buckminster Fuller
Today is the birthday (1895) of Richard Buckminster Fuller, who styled himself R. Buckminster Fuller but preferred to be called Bucky, which I will here. He was, without doubt, the quirkiest individual I have ever come across and it is my great misfortune never to have met him, although I did have some dealings with […]
Sir Kenelm Digby
Today is the birthday (1603) of Sir Kenelm Digby whose name may not ring a bell with you. In his day he was a noted courtier and diplomat, for both Charles I and II, and was a noted astrologer and natural philosopher. Or, as he is described in John Pointer’s Oxoniensis Academia (1749), he was […]
The Christmas Truce
The Christmas Truce was a series of widespread, unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the […]
Édith Piaf
Today is the birthday (1915) of Édith Piaf, famed French singer who became a national icon in France, and still has an ardent following worldwide (myself included). I decided to start the post with a recording of one her most famous songs, rather than the usual portrait or icon, so that you could see her […]
Wright Brothers
Today is the anniversary (1903) of the the Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. From 1905 to 1907, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not […]
William Tell
Supposedly on this date in 1307 William Tell shot an arrow into an apple on his son’s head. The legend as told by Tschudi (ca. 1570) reports that William Tell, who originally came from Bürglen, was known as a strong man, mountain climber, and an expert shot with the crossbow. In his time, the Habsburg […]
Bodleian Library
On this date in 1602 the Bodleian Library, Oxford University’s main library, opened for use. It has been in continuous service ever since, growing considerably over the years (now holding an estimated 11 million books). It was where I studied and did research as an undergraduate, and I still occasionally visit when I need to […]
St Francis of Assisi
Today is the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, without doubt one of the best known and best loved saints of all time. He is probably most frequently remembered as a lover of animals, and because he is the patron saint of animals, his feast day was chosen in 1931 as World Animal Day, […]
Michaelmas
Today is Michaelmas, or, more formally, the Feast of St Michael and All Angels. In times past it was a very important day in the calendar marking the beginning of autumn (in the northern hemisphere), the end of the summer harvests, and, therefore a time for reckoning up – farm laborers got paid, as did […]
Johnny Appleseed
Today is the birthday (1774) of John Chapman, generally known as Johnny Appleseed, Swedenborgian Christian missionary, early conservationist, and folk hero. Chapman was known as Johnny Appleseed because of his large number of fruit tree plantings. He is regarded informally as the patron saint of orchardists in the U.S.A., and today is commonly celebrated as […]
Darwin and the Galápagos Islands
On this date in 1835, HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reached the Galápagos Islands. The ship landed at Chatham, or San Cristobal, the easternmost island of the archipelago. His visit to the Galápagos Islands is justly famous because of the observations he made there that helped him develop the general principles of natural selection. […]
International Chocolate Day
Today is International Chocolate Day. Well, actually, there are several dates that lay claim to this distinction, but I have chosen this one because it’s a slow day in the anniversary world. I could give you a whole song and dance about the history of chocolate, but I’m not going to. Instead I am going […]
Roger Penrose
Today is the birthday (1931) of Roger Penrose, mathematician, philosopher, and artist. I am a big fan. Some of you who read this blog regularly may wonder why I admire so many mathematicians; maybe this post will solve that puzzle. Penrose was born in Colchester on the east coast of England, and is the brother […]
Prometheus Cut Down
On this date in 1964 the oldest known unitary organism, Prometheus, a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree (Pinus longaeva) growing near the tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada was cut down by a graduate student and United States Forest Service personnel for research purposes. The tree was at least 4862 years old […]
Juliet’s Birthday
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet there is this line: “Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen” (Act 1 sc iii) Lammas is August 1, so today (Lammas Eve) is Juliet’s birthday. Romeo and Juliet was one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays (written some time between 1591 and 1595). It was a popular audience pleaser throughout […]
Independence Day, Vanuatu
Today is Independence Day in Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu (Ripablik blong Vanuatu), an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were the members of a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived in 1605. […]
Martha of Bethany
Today is the feast day of Martha of Bethany, as well as of her brother Lazarus of Bethany. I am going to focus on Martha today. Next year on this date, Deus vult, I’ll give you the story of Lazarus. Martha appears in three well known stories, one in Luke’s gospel and two in John’s. […]

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Michaelmas

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