The People's History Project: On This Day

On this day in the year 362 of the common era (CE) the bishop Athanasius of Alexandria returns to his home city following an edict by the Emperor Julian that recalled exiled bishops, thereby ending his third exile (356–362 CE). This allowed Athanasius to convene the influential Synod of Alexandria to promote a clear definition of what was now the Catholic and Orthodox Christian position on trinitarian theology and the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth as Christ, the incarnated Son of God according to the terms laid out at the Nicaean Council in 325 CE, formulated in its creed and agreed to by a majority of those bishops and theologians in attendance. Athanasius’ intention was to manage members of the Alexandrian who did not accept the preposterous new doctrine of the preexistence of Christ, holding the same view as Arius, and his followers that Jesus was a human being…like the rest of us, and that his divinity (such as it is) was bestowed on him after his death for having lived a meritorious life, which was the prevailing view of the church in its first three hundred years of existence…and was only suppressed by centuries more of bloody war as the Athanasian version of Chrisitan doctrine slowly became transformed into the Imperial Church, carrying the force of law; seven hundred and eleven years later, pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a martyr of church for refusing the orders of his king in while holding up the authority of the Catholic Church in England. Becket was murdered by the king’s men in the Canterbury Cathedral; seventy-two years after that, in 1245 CE another Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is allowed to resign after having confessed to being a torturer of his fellow human beings, as well as a forger of church documents. One hundred and eighty-six years after that, Joan of Arc's faces her first day of interrogation at her trial for heresy; three hundred and sixty-four years later, freedom of worship is established in France under its new constitution co-authored by American patriot, revolutionary and founder, Thomas Payne. Fifty-three years after that; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in London, England, calling religion “the opiate of the masses.”

On this day in the year 1613 CE, Michael Romanov, son of the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow is elected the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov.

On this day in 1792 CE the United States Congress passes the Presidential Succession Act; sixty-five years later, Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in the United States.

In 1804 CE the world’s first steam locomotive, built by Richard Trevithick, makes its inaugural run the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales; thirty-eight years later, the first known sewing machine is patented by John Greenough of Washington, D.C.. Sixteen years after that, Edwin T. Holmes installs the first electric burglar alarm, in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1828 CE the first American Indian newspaper is published in the United States, the Cherokee Phoenix; fifty years later, telegraph manager George Coy of New Haven, Connecticut, issues the world's first telephone directory, a single page containing information for 50 subscribers. Forty-seven years after that, the first issue of New Yorker is published.

In 1846 CE Sarah G. Bagley of Lowell, Massachusetts becomes the first female telegrapher in the United States; twenty years later, Lucy B. Hobbs (Taylor) becomes the first woman in the United States to earn the degree of Doctor in Dental Science (D.D.S.)

In 1864 CE the first Catholic parish church for black worshippers in the United States is dedicated in Baltimore, Maryland; thirty-one years later, the North Caroline legislature adjourns for the day to mark the passing of Frederick Douglass. Seventy years after that in 1965 CE, civil rights activist and Muslim minister Malcolm X is shot dead by Nation of Islam followers at the Audubon Ballroom in New York, New York; five years later the Jackson 5 make their Television debut on Dick Clark’s, American Bandstand. Forty-four years after that. United States president Barack Obama meets with the Dalai Lama.

In 1887 CE, Oregon becomes the first state in the United States to make Labor Day a holiday; eighty-one years later Major League Baseball announces a minimum annual salary of ten thousand dollars for its rostered players.

In 1916 CE the Battle of Verdun begins with a German offensive and continues for nine months, the longest battle of World War I (WWI), resulting in an estimated one million casualties; six years later, Irish Nationalist Eamon De Valera calls a convention of the Sinn Féin, declaring that the Republican Government is the only legitimate government in all of Ireland. Forty-eight years after that the first session of the Widgery Tribunal opens its investigation of events that led to the 'Bloody Sunday' massacre of January 30^th, 1972. It is held in Coleraine, County Derry

In 1931 CE, Alka Seltzer is introduced to the global marketplace, much to relief of many people.

In 1958 CE, British artist Gerald Holtom designs Nuclear Disarmament logo, based on blended semaphore signals for the letters N and D; it later became an international peace symbol; five years later the United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

In 1971 CE the Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna, Austria; one year later Richard Nixon becomes the first United States President to visit China, normalizing relations between the two countries in a meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing. Three years after that in 1975 CE, Watergate figures John Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman are sentenced to 2½-8 yrs for conspiracy and obstruction of justice in their efforts to protect Richard Nixon for his culpability as the sitting president in their crimes; thirteen years later, the Pentecostal televangelist Jimmy Swaggert confesses to his congregation (on national T.V.) to the sin of adultery, confirming allegations that he had been habitually sleeping with prostitutes while engaging in an effusive use of pornography. One year after that, Pete Rose, also known as “Charlie Hustlel” and still the all-time leading hitter with four thousand, two hundred and fifty-two hits, meets with MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth to discuss his gambling as both a player and a manager…claiming to be an ethical cheater, never having bet on himself or his team to lose.

In 1974 CE, silver hits a record five dollars and ninety-six cents per ounce in London, England; today the price of silver is eighty-four dollars and fifty-seven cents per ounce.

In 1980 CE, American country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton tops the Billboard pop chart in the United States with her single 9 to 5 from the film of the same name, in which she co-starred with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.