" There are two sorts of beauty, one of the mind, the other of the body; that of the mind displays and exhibits itself in intelligence, in modesty, in honorable conduct, in generosity, in good breeding...and when it is this sort of beauty...that is the attraction, love is apt to spring up suddenly and violently. "
Miguel de Cervantes

Back in the day


John Birch Society Founded

The John Birch Society was founded in 1958 by Robert H. Welch, Jr., a retired candymaker, to combat communism and promote ultraconservative causes in the US. It was named for an American missionary and army intelligence officer killed by Chinese communists in 1945, considered by the society the first hero of the Cold War. Its membership reached more than 70,000 in the 1960s. Since then, it has promoted many objectives, including pressing for the US to withdraw from what organization?




Derived from an Old Norse word meaning "sorrow," anger is an emotion whose merits have been debated by philosophers and scientists alike since antiquity. Galen and Seneca, for example, regarded anger as a kind of madness and saw value in controlling it. Marcus Aurelius viewed it as a sign of weakness. Aristotle, however, believed anger to be useful for preventing injustice because it arises from perceived injustice. What have recent studies shown about the association between anger and optimism?

Born on a day like today


William Whiston

Whiston was an English clergyman and mathematician. He won favor through his New Theory of the Earth and in 1701 was made deputy to Sir Isaac Newton, whom he succeeded as a professor of mathematics at Cambridge. Well known as a preacher, Whiston aroused opposition by proclaiming his opinions about early Christianity, and in 1710 he was dismissed from the university for heresy. In 1736, he caused widespread panic when he predicted that what would bring the world to its end within the year?

Last updated on Friday, 9th December 2011

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