Three bad, one questionable, and one good news items for today. In a historical note that the antisemitism was more widespread than people realize, in 1290 King Edward I of England issued the edict of expulsion, banishing all Jews (about 16,000 at the time) from England. In 1870 – did not realize it was so recent – the First Vatican Council decreed the dogma of papal infallibility. And in 1936 the Spanish Civil War began, which included a preview of the Nazi-Soviet conflict to come, and the establishment of the longest-running European dictatorship – that of Franco.
There was the first test of a jet engine, which was progress, but it was in German hands in 1944 during WWII. And then in the 1976 Summer Olympics, we were treated to the first perfect 10 in gymnastics (uneven bars) by Romania’s Nadia Comaneci.
Birthdays include English author William James Thackarey (1811 Vanity Fair), American West lawman Virgil Earp (1843 brother of Wyatt and Morgan), the “unsinkable Molly Brown” (1867, Titanic), comedian Red Skelton (1913), South African activist Nelson Mandela (1918), and astronaut and Senator John Glenn (1921).
Those who left us on this date include English author Jane Austen (1817), Mexican general and president Benito Juarez (1872), rags to riches storyteller Horatio Alger (1899), and Adrian Cronauer (2018) who really did utter the radio wake up call “Good Morning, Vietnam!”
To commemorate his birthday this is Nelson Mandela International Day
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