Reginald Heber (1783–1826) was an English clergyman, traveller, man of
letters and hymn-writer, who served as the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta.
After graduating from Oxford University, where he gained a reputation as
a poet, he undertook an extended tour of Scandinavia, Russia and central
Europe at the height of the Napoleonic Wars. After ordination in 1807 he
took over his father's old parish of Hodnet in Shropshire, where he
combined his pastoral duties with other church offices and literary
work. He was consecrated Bishop of Calcutta in October 1823. During his
short episcopate he worked hard to improve the spiritual and general
living conditions of his flock, before a combination of arduous duties,
hostile climate and indifferent health brought about his collapse and
death at the age of 42. Monuments were erected to his memory in India
and in St Paul's Cathedral, London. Several of his hymns have survived
into the 21st century; one of these, "Holy, Holy, Holy", is a popular
and widely known hymn for Trinity Sunday. Some recent commentators have
asserted that the paternalism and imperial assumptions expressed in his
hymns are outdated and generally unacceptable in the modern world.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
753 BC:
Romulus and Remus founded Rome, according to the calculations
by Roman scholar Varro Reatinus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus>
900:
A debt was pardoned by the Datu of Tondo on the island of Luzon,
as inscribed on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the earliest known
written document found in the Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription>
1509:
Henry VIII became King of England, following the death of his
father Henry VII, eventually becoming a significant figure in the
history of the English monarchy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England>
1836:
Texan forces led by Sam Houston defeated General Antonio López
de Santa Anna and his Mexican troops in the Battle of San Jacinto near
La Porte, the decisive battle in the Texas Revolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto>
1863:
After the Ottoman Empire exiled him from Baghdad,
Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, began his twelve-day
stay in the Garden of Ridván where he declared his mission as "He whom
God shall make manifest".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h>
1970:
In response to a long-running dispute over wheat production
quotas, the Principality of Hutt River proclaimed its secession from
Western Australia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
overawe:
(transitive) To restrain, subdue, or control by awe; to cow.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overawe>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To love means to open ourselves to the negative as well as the
positive — to grief, sorrow, and disappointment as well as to joy,
fulfillment, and an intensity of consciousness we did not know was
possible before.
--Rollo May
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rollo_May>