February 18

The filibuster is a tool that members of a government can use to extend a debate on issues facing the governing body. The provisions for a filibuster that are written into the rules of our Senate do not require that those speaking during a filibuster remain on-topic and they can talk about whatever they feel like. This provision must have struck someone as a particularly good idea. It was, however, a theoretical option until the 18th in 1841, when the Democratic minority tried to block a bank bill favored by the Whig majority by using this political tactic. Senator Henry Clay, a promoter of the bill, threatened to change Senate rules to allow the majority to close debate. Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton (pictured) rebuked Clay for trying to stifle the Senate's right to unlimited debate and Clay was unsuccessful in eliminating the filibuster with a simple majority vote. The filibuster would last until March 11.

February 17

If you look around, you will notice that there are many dangerous jobs: ironworker, commercial fisherman, bridge painter, test pilot, mercenary soldier (or any soldier), and field agents for the Posse Comitatus are but a few. To that list, you might want to add Philosopher. On the 17th in 1600, Giordano Bruno was convicted of heresy and burned at the stake at Campo de' Fiori in Rome.

February 16

Governments have a responsibility to the people that they serve, responsibilities that they ignore at their peril. A government should have a close and abiding relationship with its people and ought to pass and enforce laws that will benefit the nation as a whole. Ideally, they should pay little or no heed to special, partisan interests. In times of peril, a government should take the lead in insuring the happiness of the masses it is serving. That is the only explanation of why, on the 16th in 1859, the French government passed a law setting the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz to standardize the pitch. I was unaware of the French interest in baseball.

February 15

Socrates is considered one of the wisest of the ancients. He considered himself wise, however, simply because he knew that he knew nothing, as opposed to his contemporaries who while considering themselves to be wise actually knew very little. For all practical purposes, a person who is aware of the fact that he or she knows nothing does give that person a slight edge over the teeming masses. Which is why it is really rather unfortunate that Socrates, after having been convicted and sentenced to death for his unwavering opposition to the democratic regime he lived under, chose to drink a lethal dose of hemlock instead of escaping. He did this on the 15th in 399 b.c.e.

February 14

On the 14th in 1779, James Cook, renowned British maritime explorer and navigator, was clubbed to death and, in all likelihood, eaten by the indigenous peoples of the Hawaiian Islands. This was the result of an altercation that began over a small boat stolen from Cook’s ship. Personally, I think the native population was upset that Cook had the temerity to rename their homeland The Sandwich Islands, after the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who at the time was the acting First Lord of the Admiralty and thus Cook’s boss. It should seem painfully obvious even to the most casual observer that Cook’s biggest mistake was being such a brown nose.

February 13

The 16th century was not a particularly good time to be an ambitious woman and while being of royal birth does have many benefits, it does absolutely nothing in the long, happy life department. On the 13th in 1542, Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII was beheaded after having been found guilty of adultery, a crime classified as treason.

February 12

Lady Jane Grey was the Queen of England from July 6 to July 19, 1553. Sixteen-year old Lady Jane was beheaded for treason on the 12th in 1554, which seems to be a terribly high price for her to have paid for her 15 minutes.