John Dee was a noted British mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer and consultant to Elizabeth I. He was also devoted much of his life to alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. Dee straddled the worlds of science and magic. One of the most learned men of his time, he was lecturing to crowded halls at the University of Paris in his early twenties. He was an ardent promoter of mathematics, a respected astronomer and a leading expert in navigation, training many of those who would conduct England's voyages of discovery. At the same time, he immersed himself deeply in Christian angel-magic and Hermetic philosophy, and devoted the last third of his life almost exclusively to these pursuits. For Dee, as for many of his contemporaries, these activities were not contradictory, but aspects of a consistent world-view.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1279: The Song Dynasty in Imperial China ended with a Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty)

1687: The search for the mouth of the Mississippi River led by French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle ended with a mutiny and his murder in Texas. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%E9_Robert_Cavelier%2C_Sieur_de_La_Salle)

1915: The planet Pluto was photographed for the first time, 15 years before it was eventually discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_%28planet%29)

1932: The Sydney Harbour Bridge, a major landmark in Sydney, Australia, was formally opened. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Harbour_Bridge)

1982: The Falklands War began with an Argentine occupation of South Georgia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"The man of character, sensitive to the meaning of what he is doing, will know how to discover the ethical paths in the maze of possible behavior." -- Earl Warren (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Earl_Warren)