Giordano Bruno was born in January or February 1548. (I can't recall where I originally got the January first date, but it's as good as any alternative, so I'll stick with it.) At some point early on in his life he began to indulge in the unforgiveable sin of thinking for himself. Naturally this led him to arrive at numerous beliefs and ideas which were at odds with Official (Church) dogma. Some scholars go so far as to deem him to have been an early philosopher of science, while others, reluctant to assert that he had committed that most ultimate of unforgivable thought crimes, still assert that he ascribed to a completely heretical cosmology in addition to all of his other heretical beliefs.
The Church, of course, could not countenance the existence of a person ascribing to multiple instances of disinformation and set out to remedy that problem in their time tested manner. Accordingly, the Venetian Inquisition had him arrested on May 22, 1592 and began his "trial" for some of his heresies, but upon the insistence of the Roman Inquisition that Rome should deal with him, shipped him off to Rome in January 1593. His "trial" by the Roman Inquisition lasted until January 29, 1600, when Pope Clement VIII declared him to be a heretic and the Inquisition sentenced him to death. On February 17, 1600 his tongue was pinned to his jaw with an iron spike in order to prevent him from spreading disinformation and he was taken to the Campo de' Fiori and burned alive at the stake.
As a result he is widely considered to be a martyr for scientists, heretics and heresy, free thinkers of every stripe, and such pagans and heathens who chose to fight to the death rather than submit to having every aspect of their lives ruled by jumped up petty tyrants who lusted after the position of global dictator.
01/01/2024 is Long Count Date 13.0.11.3.8. -- 13 baktun, 9 katun, 11 tun, 3 uinal, 8k'in; and may you have a happy one!
On this day in history:
January 1 became the official start of the year in various places in various years, ranging from 45 BCE to 1752 CE 45 BCE -- The Julian Calendar took effect, the year starts on January 1 42 BCE -- The Roman Senate posthumously deified Julius Caesar. This was a BFD 1500 – Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered the coast of Brazil 1502 -- The Portuguese explored the area that was to become Rio de Janeiro 1772 -- The first traveler's cheques (usedful in 90 countries) went on sale 1801 -- The legal union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland was completed (though illegitimate) 1801 -- Ceres was discovered 1804 -- Haiti became the first black republic and second independent country in North America 1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time (and also time zones). This uniformity was subsequently destroyed by the pointless creation of Dastardly Stupid Time. 1808 -- The US outlawed the further importation of slaves. 1812 -- The Bishop of Durham ordered troops from Durham Castle to break up a miners' strike. God hates strikes. And miners. Pfui! 1833 -- The UK claimed sovereignty over the Falklands (because they were so close, no doubt) 1863 -- The Emancipation Proclamation took effect but only in Confederate territory 1892 -- Ellis Island opened to process immigrants into the US 1899 -- Spanish rule of Cuba ended. 1901 -- The Commonwealth of Australia was formed 1912 -- The Republic of China was established. (You know, Sun Yat-Sen's China) 1934 -- Alcatraz became a prison 1934 -- Nazi Germany passed the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring" 1937 -- The UK required Safety glass in vehicle windscreens 1947 -- The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 converted British subjects into Canadian citizens. 1959 -- Fulgencio Bastardo Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces 1965 – The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was founded in Kabul, Afghanistan 1970 – The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00 1971 -- Cigarette ads were banned on US TV 1979 -- China and the US established diplomatic relations 1983 -- ARPANET adopted the Internet Protocol, becoming the Internet. 1989 -- The Montreal Protocol went into force. US RWNJs went permanently batshit crazy with rage and paranoia 1994 -- NAFTA went into effect. The working class wept. 1995 -- The WTO went into effect, formalizing the supremacy of corporate profits over the laws of any and every member state 1999 -- The Euro was introduced 2000 - Y2K - the world ended then rebooted into this ugly timeline 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union went into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Some people who were born on this day:
There is no absolute up or down, as Aristotle taught; no absolute position in space; but the position of a body is relative to that of other bodies. Everywhere there is incessant relative change in position throughout the universe, and the observer is always at the center of things.
~~ Giordano Bruno
1548 -- Giordano Bruno, mathematician, friar, philosopher, poet, cosmological theorist and martyr *** 1735 -- Paul Revere, silversmith, engraver 1752 -- Betsy Ross, seamstress, US flag designer 1768 -- Maria Edgeworth, author 1769 -- Marie Lachapelle, obstetrician, the mother of modern obstetrics. 1769 -- Jane Marcet, science (and pseudoscience) author 1864 -- Alfred Stieglitz, photographer and curator 1879 -- E. M. Forster, author and playwright 1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, physicist and mathematician 1895 -- J. Edgar Hoover, corrupt, wantonly lawless foe of civil rights who created the FBI's organizational culture 1900 -- Xavier Cugat, singer, songwriter, and actor. 1911 -- Roman Totenberg, violinist 1912 -- Kim Philby, spook 1919 -- J. D. Salinger, author 1923 -- Milt Jackson, vibraphonist and composer, MJQ 1942 -- Country Joe McDonald, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1942 -- Judy Stone, singer and songwriter 1956 -- Andy Gill, guitarist, singer, and songwriter 1956 -- Martin Plaza, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1971 -- Chris Potter, saxophonist and composer 1979 -- Brody Dalle, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
*** He was tortured by the inquisition and brutally murdered by the Church for the unforgiveable mortal sin of thinking for himself. He thus became a secularist martyr in the Church's unending war on empiricism & free thought "heresy".
Some people who died on this day:
One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.
~~ Grace Hopper
1782 -- Johann Christian Bach, German composer 1894 -- Heinrich Hertz, German physicist and academic 1953 -- Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1981 -- Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist 1992 -- Grace Hopper, American computer scientist and admiral, co-developed COBOL 1997 -- Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitaris 2013 -- Patti Page, American singer and actress
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Emancipation Day (United States) Jump-up Day (Montserrat) National Bloody Mary Day (United States) New Year's Day (Gregorian calendar) Public Domain Day (multiple countries) Triumph of the Revolution (Cuba) National Tree Planting Day (Tanzania)
Today's Tunes
The (sleazy no good) Bishop of Durham
Cuba
Giordano Bruno
Paul Revere
Xavier Cugat
Charo
And Back up to Jedgar
Milt Jackson
Country Joe
Chris Potter
Hank Williams
Townes Van Zandt
Bonus:
picture is Bruno's statue in the Campo de' Fiori by enhydra lutris
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com Open Thread, Giordano Bruno, New Year, Milt Jackson, Cuba, Country Joe, Hank Williams, haiti, The Bishop of Durham, Townes van Zandt, Xavier Cugat