Latest news with #PrincipiaMathematica
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act
Today is Saturday, July 5, the 186th day of 2024. There are 179 days left in the year. Today in History: On July 5, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act. Also on this date: In 1687, Isaac Newton first published his Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work setting out his mathematical principles of natural philosophy. In 1811, Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain. In 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his speech 'What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?' at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. In 1865, the Secret Service Division of the U.S. Treasury Department was founded in Washington, D.C., with the mission of suppressing counterfeit currency. In 1937, Hormel introduced a canned meat product called Spam; more than 9 billion cans have been sold since. In 1940, during World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke off diplomatic relations. In 1943, the Battle of Kursk began during World War II; in the weeks that followed, the Soviets were able to repeatedly repel the Germans, who eventually withdrew in defeat. In 1946, the modern bikini, designed by Frenchman Louis Reard, was first modeled in Paris. In 1947, Larry Doby made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Black player in the American League three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League. In 1954, Elvis Presley recorded his first single, 'That's All Right,' at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1971, President Richard Nixon certified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating Jimmy Connors. In 1977, Pakistan's army, led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seized power from President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1980, Bjorn Borg became the first male player to win five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. In 1994, Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos as an online marketplace for books. In 1996, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell by scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, was born. In 2011, a jury in Orlando, Florida, found Casey Anthony, 25, not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in the 2008 disappearance and death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. In 2013, Pope Francis cleared two of the 20th Century's most influential popes to become saints in the Roman Catholic church, approving a miracle needed to canonize Pope John Paul II and waiving Vatican rules to honor Pope John XXIII. Today's Birthdays: Julie Nixon Eisenhower is 77. Rock star Huey Lewis is 75. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rich 'Goose' Gossage is 74. NFL Hall of Fame receiver James Lofton is 69. Cartoonist Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) is 67. Singer-songwriter Marc Cohn is 66. Actor Edie Falco is 62. Actor Jillian Armenante is 61. Actor Kathryn Erbe is 60. Actor Michael Stuhlbarg is 57. Rapper RZA is 56. Author Gary Shteyngart is 53. R&B singer Joe is 52. Rapper Royce da 5'9' is 48. International Tennis Hall of Famer Amelie Mauresmo is 46. Actor Ryan Hansen is 44. Country musician Dave Haywood (Lady A) is 43. Actor Danay Garcia is 41. Retired soccer player Megan Rapinoe is 40. Actor Jason Dolley is 34. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is 31.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Today in History: July 5, Dolly the sheep born in cloning breakthrough
In 1687, Isaac Newton first published his Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work setting out his mathematical principles of natural philosophy. In 1811, Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain. In 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his speech 'What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?' at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, N.Y. In 1865, the Secret Service Division of the US Treasury Department was founded in Washington, D.C., with the mission of suppressing counterfeit currency. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act. In 1937, Hormel introduced a canned meat product called Spam; more than 9 billion cans have been sold since. Advertisement In 1940, during World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke off diplomatic relations. In 1943, the Battle of Kursk began during World War II; in the weeks that followed, the Soviets were able to repeatedly repel the Germans, who eventually withdrew in defeat. In 1946, the modern bikini, designed by Frenchman Louis Reard, was first modeled in Paris. In 1947, Larry Doby made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Black player in the American League three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League. In 1954, Elvis Presley recorded his first single, 'That's All Right,' at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn. In 1971, President Richard Nixon certified the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating Jimmy Connors. In 1977, Pakistan's army, led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seized power from President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1980, Bjorn Borg became the first male player to win five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. In 1994, Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos as an online marketplace for books. In 1996, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell by scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, was born. In 2011, a jury in Orlando, Fla., found Casey Anthony, 25, not guilty of murder, manslaughter, and child abuse in the 2008 disappearance and death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. In 2013, Pope Francis cleared two of the 20th Century's most influential popes to become saints in the Roman Catholic church, approving a miracle needed to canonize Pope John Paul II and waiving Vatican rules to honor Pope John XXIII. Advertisement
New European
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New European
Everyday Philosophy: Bertrand Russell, lessons from a pacifist prophet
In his first Sunday address to the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV appealed to world leaders to seek peace. His words rang out over the huge crowds in St Peter's Square: 'No more war, never again war.' The war in Ukraine continues despite on-off peace talks. Nuclear powers India and Pakistan are currently in a stand-off that could reignite into conflict. And who knows what will happen in the Middle East, given Benjamin Netanyahu's destruction of Gaza and his many probable war crimes, including using the starvation of Palestinian civilians as a weapon against Hamas. In a recent survey before VE Day, around half the respondents in Britain, Spain, France, Germany and Italy said they believed a third world war within a decade to be very or fairly likely. Many secular philosophers have opposed war and particular wars, but Bertrand Russell stands in a class apart. Born into the aristocracy in 1872, he began his career in Cambridge as a brilliant mathematician and logician. In the three-volumed Principia Mathematica, which he wrote with Alfred North Whitehead, he undertook the herculean task of consistently reducing all mathematics to logic. He looked set to become a lifelong academic of great distinction and was promised a fellowship at Trinity College, but his anti-clerical and agnostic views were well-known, and he was passed over. During the first world war, Russell's pacifism and campaigning on behalf of conscientious objectors led to his expulsion from the college in 1916 following a conviction under the Defence of the Realm Act. Then in 1918 he spent six months in Brixton jail for lecturing against the US joining the war. He used this time to write a book about mathematical philosophy. He later described his fellow prisoners as 'in no way morally inferior to the rest of the population, though they were on the whole slightly below the usual level of intelligence as was shown by their having been caught.' Many conscientious objectors are absolute pacifists who believe that all war is morally wrong in every conceivable circumstance. For them, there can never be a justification for any war or for taking part in it. Russell hated wars because they brought out the worst in humanity, caused immense suffering, set civilisation back, and were often uncontrollable once started. But he resented being typecast as an absolute pacifist and made clear that although most wars are futile, 'some wars, a very few, are justified, even necessary'. He was a consequentialist thinker – and believed that in some very unusual circumstances, violence could be a means to a good end. He counted the second world war among these since Nazi domination would have been even worse than war. After the second world war, however, Russell devoted his considerable energy to the cause of peace. He argued for the need for a world government to take control of the nuclear situation. He understood both the science and politics of atomic weaponry and feared that a simple error could trigger catastrophe for humanity. He was a founder member and the first president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which argued for unilaterally giving up weapons. Then, in 1960, he set up the Committee of 100 for Civil Disobedience, who were prepared to break the law in protest against the British government's commitment to nuclear weapons. There is a long tradition of morally motivated civil disobedience, breaking laws to draw attention to injustice. Russell hoped that large-scale law-breaking would deflect the British government from its nuclear policies, saying: 'If all those who disapprove of government policy were to join in massive demonstrations of civil disobedience, they could render governmental folly impossible and compel the so-called statesmen to acquiesce in measures that would make human survival possible.' In September 1961, aged 89, he found himself back in Brixton, this time for a breach of the peace at a sit-down anti-Polaris protest near the Ministry of Defence. The magistrate offered him the chance of avoiding jail if he would promise good behaviour. Russell, feisty as ever, declined, saying 'No, I won't!' The subsequent press coverage did wonders for the cause. Russell must have felt like Cassandra, though. He believed that only a world government should have access to nuclear weapons, and every other country should be forced to disarm to avert disaster. Philosophers, he declared polemically in 1964, had a duty to give up philosophy altogether and to campaign to stop nuclear war. They didn't, and his worst fears haven't been realised. But let's not be complacent. They still could be.
