The Holy Prepuce (or Holy Foreskin) is one of the various relics purported to be associated with Jesus Christ. Orthodox Christian belief has it that Jesus ascended bodily into Heaven at the end of his earthly life. This would mean that Jesus's foreskin (removed at his circumcision) would be one of the few physical remainders of Jesus left behind on Earth. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess it, sometimes concurrently. Various miraculous powers have been ascribed to it. The abbey of Charroux claimed to possess the Holy Foreskin during the Middle Ages. It was said to have been presented to the monks by none other than Charlemagne, who in turn is said to have claimed (per the legend) that it had been brought to him by an angel. Other claimants at various points in time have included (at least) the Cathedral of Le Puy en Velay, Santiago de Compostela, the city of Antwerp, and churches in Besançon, Metz, Hildesheim, and Calcata.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Prepuce

Today's selected anniversaries:

* 786 - Harun al-Rashid became the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid)

* 1752 - The British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (September 2 was followed directly by September 14 this year). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar)

* 1812 - The Russian army set Moscow on fire to prevent Napoleon from capturing the city. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow)

* 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt)

* 1959 - The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed onto and became the first man-made object to reach the Moon. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_2)

* 1960 - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC)

Wikiquote of the day:

"He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and he, who dares not, is a slave." ~ William Drummond (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Drummond)