Catholic Scholar Erasmus on This Day in History

 

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This day in history: Dutch Catholic scholar Desiderius Erasmus died on this day in 1536. Though Erasmus remained Catholic his entire life, his influence was felt greater on the Protestant side of Christianity. His Greek Testaments passed into the Stephanus Greek New Testament in 1551 (the first New Testament in verses), which came to be called the Textus Receptus, and became the basis for the Geneva Bible New Testament in 1557 and the Authorized King James Version in 1611.

There is a disputed controversy concerning one particular Scripture in his New Testament, that of the Johannine Comma (1 John 5:7,8).

It reads in the King James Bible:

"For there are three that bear record (witness) in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

However, most other Bibles have:

"For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree."

Take note of the words that are missing.

Erasmus was attacked for not adding the Comma Johanneum (the Three Heavenly Witnesses). He answered that he had not found the words in any Greek manuscript, including several he examined after publishing his editions. But he unwisely said that he would insert the Comma Johanneum in future editions if a Greek manuscript could be found that contained the spurious passage. Interestingly, one was found, or made, that contained the words. The manuscript was made by a Franciscan friar named Froy(or Roy) in 1520 A.D. Erasmus kept his word and added the passage in his 3rd edition, but he added a long footnote expressing his suspicion that the manuscript had been prepared just so to confute him.

Or at least, that is how the story goes with objections in some quarters.

In one Interrogation of Unitarian Anabaptist Martyr Herman van Vlekwijk, Erasmus' name was brought up repeatedly for promoting Anti-Trinitarianism.

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Murder at Big Moose Lake on This Day in History

 

This day in history: A young American woman named Grace Brown was drowned by her boyfriend, Chester Gillette, on Big Moose Lake, New York, after she told him she was pregnant on this day in 1906. 

The events and trial of the suspect attracted national newspaper attention.

Brown's life has inspired such fictional treatments as Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel An American Tragedy, and Jennifer Donnelly's 2003 novel A Northern Light. The murder was analyzed and explored in two non-fiction books, both published in 1986: Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906, written by Joseph W. Brownell and Patricia A. Wawrzaszek, and Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited, by Craig Brandon.

"On July 11, 1906, Miss Brown, 20, climbed into a boat with her boyfriend, Chester Gillette. They rowed onto Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks, where Mr. Gillette bludgeoned Miss Brown with a tennis racket and pushed her overboard, knowing she could not swim. After her bruised body was plucked from the water the next day, an autopsy showed she was several months pregnant. The police also found her desperate letters to Mr. Gillette, 23, saying she knew he was dating other women, and was terrified he would run off." Source

Gillette’s trial in the village of Herkimer was the biggest the area had ever known, drawing reporters from around the country and made front-page news all over. The trial lasted three weeks, and resulted in a guilty verdict for Gillette for the premeditated murder of Brown; he was sentenced to death. The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, and Governor Charles Evans Hughes refused to grant clemency.

Gillette was executed on March 30, 1908, in Auburn Correctional Facility by electrocution.

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Father of Photography, Louis Daguerre on This Day in History

 

This day in history: Louis Daguerre died on this day in 1851. He is known for the daguerreotype, the first widely used photographic process. Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process.

Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839, the daguerreotype was almost completely superseded by 1860 with new, less expensive processes, such as ambrotype, that yield more readily viewable images. There has been a revival of daguerreotype since the late 20th century by a small number of photographers interested in making artistic use of early photographic processes.

Although the daguerreotype process is sometimes said to have died out completely in the early 1860s, documentary evidence indicates that some very slight use of it persisted more or less continuously throughout the following 150 years of its supposed extinction.

Daguerreotype of Lincoln

First Ever Daguerreotype depicting a man getting his show shined

The Martyrs of Gorkum on This Day in History

 

This day in history: 19 Dutch Catholic clerics were hanged on this day (9 July) in 1572 in the town of Brielle by militant Dutch Calvinists during the 16th-century religious wars—specifically, the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, which developed into the Eighty Years' War.

It is easy to reflect on the bad things that Catholics have done throughout the ages, but when the tables were turned, the Protestants were often just as blood-thirsty. "During their imprisonment, the priests were tortured, subjected to countless indignities, and offered their freedom if they would deny the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the primacy of the pope. Despite a letter from Prince William of Orange ordering their release and protests from the magistrates of Gorkum, the men were thrown half-naked into the hold of a ship on July 6, and taken to Briel to be killed in the presence of a Protestant nobleman, Admiral Lumey, who was noted for his hatred of Catholicism. Their bodies, mutilated both before and after death, were callously thrown into a ditch." Source

Sabine Baring-Gould remarked on this in his Lives of the Saints: "The execution was done so carelessly that they were long in expiring. The cord supported one only by the chin, another had it in his mouth, and bit it like a bridle. Nicasius did not die till after the suu had risen. Before they were cold, the soldiers hacked the bodies and mutilated them in the most horrible manner. They fixed their noses, ears, and hands on their casques, or hung them over their pikes, and threw the bleeding morsels in the faces of the people who came to see the sight. The soldiers made the curious pay to enter the grange and feast their eyes on the horrible objects within. As the fat of those who have been hung was superstitiously believed to be useful in various diseases, the butchers cut up Jerome, who was fat, and extracted all the lard they could from his body, and sold it to quacks for the fabrication of unguents. On the roth, two ditches were dug, the bodies cast into them. There they remained till 1615, when they were exhumed and translated to Brussels. Portions of the relics have been given to many churches in Belgium."

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Alfred Binet (and the IQ Test) on This Day in History

 

This day in history: French psychologist Alfred Binet was born on this day in 1857. Binet invented the first practical IQ test, the Binet–Simon test. Intelligence Quotient testing is fascinating, but became unpopular with many as it also exposed the intelligence differences between races and the sexes. It is interesting to reflect that the IQ test was invented not to determine how smart people are, but how stupid.

“Incredibly intelligent people always seem odd to those who are not as sharp.”

― Alexei Maxim Russell, Why Not-World

“I don't know, and have no intention of finding out. IQ is like dick size - if you have to measure, you're way too invested in it. And both are gauche to discuss in polite company. (Upon being asked his IQ on Quora)”

― Adrian Lamo

Ten countries with the lowest IQ.

https://www.therichest.com/poorest-list/10-countries-with-the-lowest-reported-iqs/

Is Genius a Disease? article in The Literary Digest 1895

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/12/is-genius-disease-article-in-literary.html

Ringo Starr on This Day in History

 

This day in history: Sir Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr, was born on this day in 1940. Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. He occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from My Friends". He also wrote and sang the Beatles songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of others.

In 1973 and 1974, after the Beatles break-up, Starr had two number one hits in the US: "Photograph", a UK number eight hit co-written with Harrison, and "You're Sixteen", written by the Sherman Brothers. Starr's third million-selling single in the US, "You're Sixteen" was released in the UK in February 1974 where it peaked at number four. Both tracks appeared on Starr's debut rock album, Ringo, produced by Richard Perry and featuring further contributions from Harrison as well as a song each from Lennon and McCartney. A commercial and critical success, the LP also included "Oh My My", a US number five. The album reached number seven in the UK and number two in the US.

Goodnight Vienna followed in 1974 and was also successful, reaching number eight in the US and number 30 in the UK. Featuring contributions from Lennon, Elton John and Harry Nilsson, the album included a cover of the Platters' "Only You (And You Alone)", which peaked at number six in the US and number 28 in the UK, and Hoyt Axton's "No No Song", which was a US number three and Starr's seventh consecutive top-ten hit.

Starr's net worth is between 290 million dollars to 350 million dollars. His monthly income, according to Forbes is 3 million dollars. Ringo Starr is the wealthiest drummer in the world.

The Dangers of Kissing on This Day in History

 

This Day In History: Today is International Kissing Day. However, half of the world's population thinks kissing is gross, according to a study cited by Medical Daily. And they may be on to something. A 2014 study published in Microbiome Journal found that there was an "average total bacterial transfer of 80 million bacteria per intimate kiss of 10 [seconds]." 

Kissing also helps to spread the flu, hepatitus B, meningococcal meningitis, gum disease and may give you a cold sore.

Kissing may also give you cavities. "The act of kissing alone doesn't immediately lead to cavities, but swapping saliva does have the potential to spread the bacteria that causes cavities. 'Cavities are caused by bacteria that stick to teeth and feast on food particles and produce acid that causes tooth decay,' dentist Emanuel Layliev of the New York Center for Cosmetic Dentistry told Self. 'Cavities are typically passed through mouth-to-mouth contact when there is an exchange of saliva.' So on top of all the germs that get passed around while kissing, there's also the possibility that you can get more cavities from tongue-tangling with someone." Source

If you don't want to engage in this filthy activity, today is also "National Fried Chicken Day" which is observed in the USA. If you want dessert, you need not wait long as tomorrow is actually World Chocolate Day.

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