History of the Day: 11/26

On this day in 43 BC, the 2nd Trimvirate, consisting of Octavian and two guys named Marcus, was formed. 1,433 years later, another triumvirate of sorts, consisting of Vlad the Impaler and two guys named Stephen was formed. Octavian eventually became sole ruler of Rome, taking the titles Augustus (magnificent) and Divi filius (son of god). Vlad became sole ruler of Wallachia, taking the name Dracula (son of the dragon or the devil). Guess which one killed more people ...

On this day in 1977, Vrillon, the representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, took over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes at 5:12 PM. Seriously. Of course, it is believed that it was a hoax, something akin to the Max Headroom station jamming that happened on Nov. 22nd in Chicago.

Happy birthday to Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. His is not exactly an inspiring story, but it is a very human one. He, at the end of his rope, called out to God and had a conversion experience of sorts. This helped him for a time, but he began to crave alcohol again and decided he needed to meet with other alcoholics. Thus, the community was formed out of the desperation of people with nowhere else to go. Although he was able to conquer that addiction, he smoked for the remainder of his days, even when he was on oxygen and suffering from emphysema. He was also infatuated with young women, to the point where the AA board, had to establish a "Founders Watch" to steer young women away from him at meetings he attended. On his deathbead, his final request was a glass of whiskey (which was denied). Still, his efforts helped uncounted masses suffering from addiction.

Happy birthday as well to Charles Shulz, creator of Peanuts and my favorite existential philosopher, Charlie Brown. Shulz' first cartoon, the precursor to Peanuts, was Li'l Folks. Today is also the feastday of St. Stylianos, who could be the patron saint of li'l folks, or at least of day care operators. Unlike many monks of his age, he didn't withdraw from the world. Rather, he spent his days in service to the community, especially caring for children. He would keep them while the mothers went out to do what mothers do. Then, at night, he would retire to his solitary cell for prayer and sleep.

On this day in 1326, Hugh the younger Despenser was put to death for treason and causing a rift between the king and queen of England. His execution, which was quite gruesome, inspired this picture. Directly after being convicted and sentenced, he was dragged behind four horses to his place of execution, where a great fire was lit. He was stripped naked, and biblical verses denouncing arrogance and evil were written on his skin. He was then hanged from a gallows 50 ft. high, but cut down before he could choke to death. Then, he was tied to a ladder, in full view of the crowd. The executioner climbed up beside him, and sliced off his ... ummm ... well ... he pulled a "bobbit" on him (the remains of which were thrown into the fire) while he was still alive and conscious. Subsequently, the executioner plunged his knife into his abdomen, and slowly pulled out, and cut out, his entrails and heart, which were likewise burnt before the ecstatic crowd. Just before he died, it is recorded that he let out a "ghastly inhuman howl," much to the delight and merriment of the spectators. Finally, his corpse was beheaded, and his body cut into four pieces, and his head was mounted on the gates of London. Wow. That's an execution.

Sojourner Truth died on this day in 1883. She's one of my few American heroes. She rewrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic for freed slaves, called The Valiant Soldiers. You can hear a clip of the magnificent group Sweet Honey in the Rock singing it here. In addition to working to end slavery, she also worked for women's rights. Her speech, Ain't I A Woman, is enough to shut the mouth of any man and should be memorized by students before they ever set eyes on The Gettysburg Address or the Declaration of Independence.

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Finally, today is the birthday of William Cowper; hymnist, poet and abolitionist; born on this day in 1731. His poems include Boadicea: an Ode, in which the fall of the Roman Empire is contrasted with the eventual rise of the British Empire (eat that, Augustus!), and Verses supposed to have been written by Alexander Selkirk. Selkirk was a real person on whom the fictional life of Robinson Crusoe was modeled. Cowper shows his belief in animal rights in his poem Care for the Lowest:

I would not enter on my list of friends
(Though graced with polished manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.

He was a great friend of John Newton (who wrote Amazing Grace) and wrote anti-slavery poems as well, including Sweet Meat Has Sour Sauce or The African Slave Trader in the Dumps and The Negro's Complaint:

FORCED from home and all its pleasures
Afric's coast I left forlorn,
To increase a stranger's treasures
O'er the raging billows borne.
Men from England bought and sold me,
Paid my price in paltry gold;
But, though slave they have enrolled me,
Minds are never to be sold.

Alas, though, Cowper was afflicted with depression, and many of his hymns and poems are tinged with it. In this poem, he shows how hope can turn to greater despair (an important thing to remember, as we pin all our hopes on the man who ran hope and change as his platform):

HOPE, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile
Through wintry skies, upon the frozen waste,
Cheers e'en the face of misery to a smile ;
But soon the momentary pleasure's past...

Oh then, kind Heaven, be this my latest breath !
Here end my life, or make it worth my care ;
Absence from whom we love is worse than death,
And frustrate hope severer than despair.

One cannot mention Cowper without including at least on hymn. On a night he de­cid­ed to commit su­i­cide by drown­ing him­self. He called a cab and told the driv­er to take him to the Thames Riv­er. How­ev­er, thick fog came down and pre­vent­ed them from find­ing the riv­er, or that was the excuse of the cabby who, after driving around lost for a while, delivered Cowper to his own doorstep. Cowper, believing this to be the work of God, wrote this hymn:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Still, although Cowper never succeeded in killing himself, he spent the last days of his life in utter despair. This is the final stanza of the final poem he wrote, The Castaway:

No voice divine the storm allayed,
No light propitious shone,
When, snatched from all effectual aid,
We perished, each alone:
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelmed in deeper gulfs than he.