Today in 1564 Galileo Galilei (seen above in a painting by Rubens) was born. As well as inventing the thermometer and developing the pendulum and telescopic astronomy, he also vindicated Copernicus’s theory that the earth revolves around the sun. Thankfully, the Catholic Church was there to deny this dangerous heresy, and forced him to do the same.
Today is Sigfrid of Sweden’s Day, an 11th-century English missionary who converted King Olof of Sweden. When the king’s church was ransacked and his three brothers killed, Sigfrid talked Olof out of executing the culprits.
It is also Nirvana Day, commemorating for Buddhists the death of Shakyamuni Buddha in 483 BC. After telling his monks, ‘The components of the personality are subject to decay. Exert yourselves with diligence!’ he fell into a meditative state (or possibly a coma).
Image: Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0