1901 – Linus Carl Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon. He helped integrate chemistry with quantum theory and founded the discipline now known as molecular biology. When the atomic bomb was developed, Pauling became a pacifist. He joined First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, California. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1945 and … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 28

1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the most famous American poet of his time, was born in Portland, Maine. He taught modern languages at Bowdoin College and at Harvard University. His many famous poems included “The Song of Hiawatha,” “Tales of a Wayside Inn,” and “Evangeline.” He was a friend of the Transcendentalists of the Concord-Cambridge … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 27

1608 – George Otinovius, a Socinian who was imprisoned for writing Book of Extracts from the Scriptures and the Church Fathers, died in prison. He was headmaster of the Socinian School in Rakow. With his older brother, Erasmus Otvinovius, he also wrote Unitarian tracts. The post February 26 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 26

1566 – Ferancesco Sega de Rovigo was executed for being a member of the Unitarian society in Venice, Italy. He was a friend of Laelius Socinus and was influenced by Michael Servetus’s On the Errors of the Trinity. De Rovigo was taken by boat into the Adriatic Sea, weighted with stones, and dropped into the … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 25

1566 The first disputation on the Trinity in Transylvania, originally scheduled for Torda, was opened at Gyulafehervard under the leadership of Francis Dávid and authority of Prince John Sigismund. This brought to a close a period of outbursts against the Trinity by a local clergy and congregations throughout the country. The post February 24 first … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 24

1813 – John Murray Forbes was born in Bordeaux, France. His father was a wealthy merchant, and John learned the trade. He invested in land, iron, steam and railroads and served as the president of the Michigan Central Railroad. Murray became an abolitionist and provided equal pay to freed slaves. He was a member of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 23

1830 – Brooke Herford was born in Altrincham, Cheshire, England. He studied theology at Manchester College and served as a Unitarian minister in England and the United states. Herford was author of The Story of Religion in England. Harvard awarded him a D.D. degree. Read more about Brooke Herford at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 21

1855 – Joseph Hume, a member of Parliament who adopted Universalist views, died. He was the leader of the Radical Party for thirty years, taking special interest in financial oversight of both public and private enterprises. The post February 20 first appeared on Harvard Square Library. Read more at: www.HarvardSquareLibrary.org – the digital library of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 20

1719 – The English Parliament repealed the Schism Act, an extreme High Tory measure to prevent nonconformists and Catholics from educating their own children. Queen Anne died on the day the Act was to take effect in 1714. It was repealed because her successor, King George I, did nothing to enforce it. The post February … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 18

1958 – Frederick May Eliot, president of the American Unitarian Association, died at age 68. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Eliot descended from a long line of Unitarian ministers. He headed the Commission on Appraisal of the American Unitarian Association when it issued its historic report Unitarians Face a New Age in 1936. As president of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History February 17