Thomas Aquinas, the philosopher who would celebrate his 800th birthday next year, integrated #faith and reason into a comprehensive system. His work endures and his legacy is complex.

Philosophy professor Therese Cory on why Aquinas’ work is worth reading today: buff.ly/3CBDhGH @histodons #Histodons @philosophy #christianity

Why you should get to know Thomas Aquinas, even 800 years after he lived

The 13th-century theologian’s influences included Greek, Muslim and Jewish thinkers.

^{The Conversation}

The roots of American patriotism go back to 1774 (and a 250th anniversary you may have missed during the election), when delegates from 12 colonies united against British rule.

Their “Continental Association" defined patriotism through economic action and community solidarity. It reminded these very different Americans that they could act as patriots by pursuing a common interest.

Lessons for us all today:
buff.ly/3CySh89
#Histodons @histodons #USPolitics

To American revolutionaries, patriotism meant fair dealing with one another

The first widespread agreement across the American Colonies dealt with economic independence from British trade and taxation.

^{The Conversation}

Johanna Neumann was 8 when she witnessed the 1938 Kristallnacht attack on Hamburg’s Bornplatz Synagogue. The windows shattered and Torahs lay burning in the street.

Now, plans to rebuild the synagogue are dividing Germans: is it a symbol of Jewish revival or painful erasure of #history?
theconversation.com/kristallna…
#histodons #holocaust #jewstodon #krystallnacht

Kristallnacht’s legacy still haunts Hamburg − even as the city rebuilds a former synagogue burned in the Nazi pogrom

Questions about how to represent German Jews, past and present, have complicated plans to rebuild the destroyed temple.

^{The Conversation}

‘When emancipation comes, it was a shock to a lot of white people in this country to see formerly enslaved people so eagerly embrace democracy—embrace the right to vote. Eighty percent of Black males registered to vote immediately after emancipation and began using the ballot to create real opportunities and power,” says Bryan Stevenson.

“Violence became the primary tool for pushing against that Black participation.”’

#history #histodons #blackhistory
#BlackMastodon

smithsonianmag.com/history/the…

These Black Americans Were Killed for Exercising Their Political Right to Vote

In the Jim Crow South, activists became martyrs at the hands of white racists, all for the just cause of using the vote to fight for equality and freedom

^{Tracy Scott Forson (Smithsonian Magazine)}

Carving turnips.
Wearing costumes to ward off spirits.
Carrying pocketfuls of treats.

Sound familiar?

It’s the prehistory to a certain upcoming holiday 🎃🦇
theconversation.com/how-was-ha…
#Histodons @histodons #Halloween

How was Halloween invented? Once a Celtic pagan tradition, the holiday has evolved to let kids and adults try on new identities

From its origins as a Celtic pagan ceremony to its celebration of all things gruesome and ghoulish today, Halloween has been reinvented over the centuries.

^{The Conversation}

Will Rogers – ”The Cowboy Philosopher” – urged Americans to avoid politicizing every issue. When it came to politics, he urged people to maintain skepticism, perspective and civility.

He was wildly popular in his time. A century later, his insights might still prove useful for navigating tumultuous election years.
theconversation.com/view-polit…
#history #histodons @histodons #USPolitics #politics #election

#OnThisDay, 28 Oct 1908, Muriel Matters, Violet Tillard and Helen Fox unfurl a banner and then chain themselves to the grille in the Ladies Gallery in the House of Commons, London, demanding votes for women.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory #Histodons
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An important #history fact:

The American Revolution wasn’t just fought by white Protestants. Jewish patriots, Muslims, Catholics and other religious minorities played key roles in the fight for independence.

And they were not fighting to establish a Christian nation.
theconversation.com/during-the…
#history #histodons @histodons

During the American Revolution, Brits weren’t just facing off against white Protestant Christians − US patriots are diverse and have been since Day 1

The soldiers and patriots who made the American Revolution a success included people whose faiths faced discrimination, including Jews and Catholics.

^{The Conversation}

#OnThisDay, 27 Oct 1967, the Abortion Act gains royal assent. It allows women in the UK – except for Northern Ireland - to legally have an abortion on a range of medical grounds but stops short of making abortion legal.

It came into effect in April 1968 everywhere except Northern Ireland: NI passed their own act in 2020.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory #Histodons

What if we told you the first ghost photos were an accident?

In the mid-1800s, early cameras took 30 seconds to take a picture – so anyone who wandered in the frame of a picture showed up as a transparent spooky figure. And of course, Victorian photographers took the chance to have fun and be creative:
theconversation.com/victorian-…
#history #photography @histodons #Histodons

A sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus was vandalized by being beheaded in Austria, days after it went on display as part of an exhibition exploring women’s roles in faith and tradition.

The work had drawn criticism from some Catholics, who said it was blasphemous.

A historian of art says it's part of a long tradition of artists reimagining Christ's birth to align with contemporary values and beliefs.
theconversation.com/a-realisti…
#art #Catholic #histodons @histodons

A realistic statue of Mary giving birth was criticized, then vandalized − but saints and artists have often reimagined Christ’s birth

Early Christian texts reveal how the birth of Christ reflected ideas of the day − in some illustrations, midwives helped the Virgin Mary give birth.

^{The Conversation}

#OnThisDay, 24 Oct 1901, American Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first *person* to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

The cat did *not* do the stunt with her.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons