One day, new ways wake up as traditions. In the 1950s, CS Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia; in it, the affairs of Narnia were discussed by a parliament of owls; the books sold well; and somewhere along the way “parliament” became the “correct” collective for owls. Lewis took his legislature from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Parlement… Continue reading #OTD 14 February
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#OTD 13 February
The Greek word “episkopos” has shaped the English-speaking world. It means “overseer”; via Latin we get “Episcopal” and via old English we get “bishop”. The creation of the Church of England in the middle of the 16th century was not the abolition of bishops but the creation of a new episcopacy. Unsurprisingly, Protestants continued to… Continue reading #OTD 13 February
#OTD 12 February
Amazon was almost called Cadabra. The name was dropped because too many people on the phone heard “Cadaver”. On 12 February 1809, two births. One, at The Mount in Shrewsbury on the River Severn, Charles Darwin. The other, on Sinking Spring Farm in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln. One writer has called them “the men behind the… Continue reading #OTD 12 February
#OTD 11 February
On 11 February 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts signed himself into history by authorising a radical redrawing of electoral districts designed to win his party the next election. By March the Weekly Messenger observed that the county of Essex had become two districts, one concave and the other convex, “as one of them fits… Continue reading #OTD 11 February
#OTD 10 February
On 10 February 1840, Queen Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. While Victoria was descended from the related line of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in the UK she was the last of the House of Hanover. Their son Edward founded the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, changed to the House of Windsor in the Great War. While… Continue reading #OTD 10 February
#OTD 9 February
9 February is a day to reflect upon the authors of freedom and their critics. In 1776, “Common Sense” was published anonymously. Preferring radicalism over reform, it was the tract for its time: The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind. John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail: It… Continue reading #OTD 9 February
#OTD 8 February
Joseph Schumpeter was born on 8 February 1883. An economist, his enduring idea was that capitalism is growth and growth needs innovation; the entrepreneur + creative destruction = a system which thrives upon itself. He was overshadowed by Keynes during his life but his work endures. Unlike most capitalists, he was a student of Marx.… Continue reading #OTD 8 February
#OTD 7 February
Burning performs the useful ambiguity of destruction and absolution. So the 1933 book burnings by the German Student Union were dubbed “Action against the Un-German Spirit”. The logical conclusion is Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451, where the role of the fireman is not to put out fires but to make them for the specific purpose of… Continue reading #OTD 7 February
#OTD 6 February
Some three to five million Africans reached Brazil as slaves. Over nine decades from 1605 in what is now the state of Alagoas, Palmares developed from a fugitive community to a kingdom which parleyed with, fought with, and so had a recognition of sorts by, the Dutch and the Portuguese. On 6 February 1694, the… Continue reading #OTD 6 February
#OTD 5 February
On 5 February 1919, United Artists was formed by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and DW Griffiths. As the name suggests, it was an attempt by the Talent to take on the System. The idea foundered as the founders found that banks preferred cash flow over bankability. The little person taking on and beating… Continue reading #OTD 5 February