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