The End of the Lord's Prayer in Public Schools on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools on this day in 1963.

Billy Graham said, "[i]n my opinion... the Supreme Court... is wrong.... Eighty percent of the American people want Bible reading and prayer in schools. Why should a majority be so severely penalized...?"

There was a time where I would have applauded the Supreme Court's decision and sneer at Billy Graham. There was a time where I thought that the New Atheists (Hitchens, Harris & Dawkins)  made a lot of sense. 

I've changed my mind. The secularism that the West has embraced has failed society.

Why?

In 1963 most families were intact. 

In 1963 everyone knew what a woman was. 

In 1963 there were only two genders. In fact, the word "gender" was only used in relation to language.

In 1963 profanity was not as ubiquitous as it is today. In 1963, the entertainment industry adhered to the Hays Code which prohibited profanity, suggestive nudity, graphic or realistic violence, sexual persuasions and rape.

In 1963 there was no Pride Month. People kept their peccadillos private.

In 1963 there was no Wokeism.

In 1963 men weren't feminized.

In 1963 people believed in freedom of speech. 

In 1963 we weren't calling each other "Racist."

In 1963 were weren't flooding our countries with people who hate us.

In 1963 promiscuity was considered a moral failure. We did not brag about a "body count."

In 1963 there were no mass school shootings. In fact, kids brought guns to school. Schools even had shooting clubs.

In 1963 a big chunk of the population were not on antidepressants and psychotropic drugs.

In 1963 there were far less people needing mental health treatment.

In 1963 our schools and universities were respected. Today, 19% of high school graduates can't read.

In 1963 we had a shared narrative in Christianity. It bound us together.

In 1963, we didn't hate the people who built our country.

In 1963 we did not have a World Economic Forum or a Club of Rome or any other such organization whose aim is to reduce and enslave the population. 

In 1963 the media reported news instead of propaganda.

In 1963 we trusted our institutions. Now you are wise not to.

In 1963 we weren't offended by absolutely everything.

In 1963 we talked to each other. There was no Social Media.

Sure, 1963 was not all sunshine and rainbows. After all, 1963 ended with the killing of an American president by a faithless Communist.

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Chuck Berry and Charles Manson on This Day in History

 

This day in history: On this day in 1960, Rock and Roll pioneer Chuck Berry was acquitted by a jury of charges of violating the Mann Act.

Also on this day in 1960, in Laredo, Texas, Charles Manson was arrested on charges of violating the Mann Act and his parole terms. He would remain in prison until 1967 and go on to infamy as leader of a cult of serial killers.

In its original form, the Mann Act made it a felony to engage in interstate or foreign commerce transport of "any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose". Its primary stated intent was to address prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking, particularly where trafficking was for the purposes of prostitution. It was one of several acts of protective legislation aimed at moral reform during the Progressive Era. In practice, its ambiguous language about "immorality" resulted in it being used to criminalize even consensual sexual behavior between adults. It was amended by Congress in 1978 and again in 1986 to limit its application to transport for the purpose of prostitution or other illegal sexual acts.

Some other notable people who have been charged with the Mann Act was Charlie Chaplin, Frank Lloyd Wright, Chuck Berry, R. Kelly and Ghislaine Maxwell.

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Robert Dreyer, a Florida resident drowned on his 89th birthday after he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and was then swallowed by the sinkhole created by the broken water line which had fed the hydrant on this day in 2017. 

J. Edgar Hoover was appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on this day in 1924, and remained so until his death in 1972.

Marvel Comics published the first issue of The Incredible Hulk on this day in 1962.

Sony introduced the Betamax videocassette recorder on this day in 1975.

One World Trade Center became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on this day in 2013.

John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1838.

Arguably the greatest dancer who ever lived, Fred Astaire, was born on this day in 1899.

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was born on this day in 1957.

Confederate General Stonewall Jackson died on this day in 1863, 8 days after being shot.

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed on this day in 1994.

American race car driver and designer Carroll Shelby died on this day in 2012.

The horror movie classic Friday the 13th was released on this day in 1980.

Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer Donovan was born on this day in 1946.

The movie Twister, starring Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Jami Gertz was released on this day in 1996.

Mommie Dearest, Joan Crawford died on this day in 1977.

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Bible Translator Charles Bray Williams on This Day in History

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This day in history: Bible translator Charles Bray Williams died on this day in 1952. C.B. Williams should not to be confused with Bible translator Charles K. Williams.

Williams graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem NC, and was a Baptist minister. 

Williams stated, "Our aim is to make this greatest book in the world readable and understandable by the plain people."

Some have noted that there are many similarities between Williams New Testament and Goodspeed's New Testament (one of the greatest New Testament translations ever produced).

Here are some comparisons:

Revelation 5:10 "and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth." Goodspeed

"and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule over the earth." Williams

While "over" is a better translation, most Bible use the word "on".

John 10:38  "But if I am doing so, even if you will not believe me, believe the deeds, that you may come to know and continue to know that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father." Williams

"But if I am doing them, then even if you will not believe me, believe the things I do, in order that you may realize and learn that the Father is in union with me, and I am in union with the Father." Goodspeed

Both Goodspeed and Williams use the phrase "in union with" many times.

John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you, I existed before Abraham was born!'" Goodspeed

"Then Jesus said to them, 'I most solemnly say to you, I existed before Abraham was born.'" Williams

This is a better translation than the traditional "I am" as the "Greek at John 8:58 fits an idiom described by grammarian Kenneth McKay as the “Extension from Past”, which occurs when a present tense verb is “used with an expression of either past time or extent of time with past implications.” (A New Syntax of the Verb in New Testament Greek: An Aspectual Approach), p. 41, 42 (Source)

However, Williams was much more conservative/fundagelical in many passages.

For instance at John 1:1 where Goodspeed has "the Word was divine",  Williams goes overboard with the horrible rendering of "the Word was God Himself."

At John 1:18, where it should read, "No man hath seen God at any time; an only begotten god, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him", Williams has, "No one has ever seen God; the only son, Deity Himself, who lies upon His Father's breast, has made him known." 

Where Goodspeed would use "homage" in places like Matthew 2:2, Williams reverted back to the word "worship,"

Additionally, Williams insisted on continuous action of a Greek verb made Mark 1:5 sound like the people were being repeatedly baptized, "And people from all over Judea and everybody in Jerusalem kept on going out to him and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins."

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The Highest Concert Attendance on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The English rock group Led Zeppelin set a record for paid attendance at a music concert, attracting 76,229 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome, a pro football stadium in Michigan in 1977. In 1973, they had set a record by bring 56,800 fans to Tampa Stadium in Florida, before The Who broke the record in 1975 by playing at Pontiac in front of 75,972 fans.

Some other concerts with large attendance numbers include:

Monsters of Rock Concert: 1.6 million attendees in 1991 at Tushino Airfield in Moscow, Soviet Union

The Rolling Stones' Bigger Bang Concert: 1.5 million attendees in 2006

Paul McCartney: 184,000 attendees in 1990 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro

Queen: 120,000 attendees in 1981 at Estádio do Morumbi in São Paulo

The Rolling Stones: 120,000 attendees in 1982 at Roundhay Park in Leeds

Madonna: 120,000 attendees in 1993 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro

Michael Jackson: 120,000 attendees in 1996 at Bemowo, Airport in Warsaw

Pink Floyd: 120,000 attendees in 1994 at Strahov Stadium in Prague 

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, with a total gross of $1.04 billion and 4.35 million tickets sold.

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The Morse Code on This Day in History

 

On this day in 1794 Samuel Morse, the inventor of the Morse code was born. Morse Code is now often called the Victorian Internet. 

Did you know that Morse Code has also been used as an alternative form of communication for people with disabilities or whom have their abilities to communicate impaired by stroke, heart attack, or paralysis. There have been several cases where individuals have been able to use their eyelids to communicate in Morse Code by using a series of long and quick blinks to represent the dots and dashes.

The most famous signal in Morse Code is the SOS distress signal. "The inception of this signal emerged in the early 20th century, during a period when burgeoning global communication necessitated a standardized, unmistakable cry for aid.

Contrary to popular belief and the annals of maritime folklore, the abbreviation 'SOS' was never intended as an acronym for phrases such as 'Save Our Souls' or 'Save Our Ship.' Instead, its selection was far more pragmatic.

The chief merit of the SOS sequence lies in its distinctiveness—the simplicity and rhythm of its three short signals, followed by three long and then three short again, rendered it unmistakably clear in even the most adverse conditions.

At the 1906 Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference, the SOS signal was formally introduced as an international distress call, superseding previous, more convoluted signals. It was hoped that such a distinct pattern would minimize any risk of misinterpretation across the vast expanses of the world's oceans and tumultuous airwaves." Source

Also, there is a Morse Code translator online. https://morsecode.world/international/translator.html

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The Loch Ness Monster on This Day in History

 

This day in history: The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail on this day in 1934.

From Wikipedia:

The "surgeon's photograph" is reportedly the first photo of the creature's head and neck. Supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934. Wilson's refusal to have his name associated with it led to it being known as the "surgeon's photograph". According to Wilson, he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, grabbed his camera and snapped four photos. Only two exposures came out clearly; the first reportedly shows a small head and back, and the second shows a similar head in a diving position. The first photo became well known, and the second attracted little publicity because of its blurriness.

For 60 years, the photo was considered evidence of the monster's existence, although skeptics dismissed it as driftwood, an elephant, an otter or a bird. The photo's scale was controversial; it is often shown cropped (making the creature seem large and the ripples like waves), while the uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre. The ripples in the photo were found to fit the size and pattern of small ripples, rather than large waves photographed up close. Analysis of the original image fostered further doubt. In 1993, the makers of the Discovery Communications documentary Loch Ness Discovered analyzed the uncropped image and found a white object visible in every version of the photo (implying that it was on the negative). It was believed to be the cause of the ripples, as if the object was being towed, although the possibility of a blemish on the negative could not be ruled out. An analysis of the full photograph indicated that the object was small, about 2 to 3 foot long.

Since 1994, most agree that the photo was an elaborate hoax. It had been described as fake in a 7 December 1975 Sunday Telegraph article that fell into obscurity. Details of how the photo was taken were published in the 1999 book, Nessie – the Surgeon's Photograph Exposed, which contains a facsimile of the 1975 Sunday Telegraph article. The creature was reportedly a toy submarine built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell. Spurling admitted the photograph was a hoax in January 1991. Wetherell had been publicly ridiculed by his employer, the Daily Mail, after he found "Nessie footprints" that turned out to be a hoax. To get revenge on the Mail, Wetherell perpetrated his hoax with co-conspirators Spurling (sculpture specialist), Ian Wetherell (his son, who bought the material for the fake), and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent). The toy submarine was bought from F. W. Woolworth, and its head and neck were made from wood putty. After testing it in a local pond the group went to Loch Ness, where Ian Wetherell took the photos near the Altsaigh Tea House. When they heard a water bailiff approaching, Duke Wetherell sank the model with his foot and it is "presumably still somewhere in Loch Ness". Chambers gave the photographic plates to Wilson, a friend of his who enjoyed "a good practical joke". Wilson brought the plates to Ogston's, an Inverness chemist, and gave them to George Morrison for development. He sold the first photo to the Daily Mail, who then announced that the monster had been photographed.

Little is known of the second photo; it is often ignored by researchers, who believe its quality too poor and its differences from the first photo too great to warrant analysis. It shows a head similar to the first photo, with a more turbulent wave pattern, and possibly taken at a different time and location in the loch. Some believe it to be an earlier, cruder attempt at a hoax, and others (including Roy Mackal and Maurice Burton) consider it a picture of a diving bird or otter that Wilson mistook for the monster. According to Morrison, when the plates were developed, Wilson was uninterested in the second photo; he allowed Morrison to keep the negative, and the photo was rediscovered years later. When asked about the second photo by the Ness Information Service Newsletter, Spurling "... was vague, thought it might have been a piece of wood they were trying out as a monster, but [was] not sure."

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