Fifteen Minutes a Day
January February March April May June July August September October November December
July 1
(Darwin publishes outline of “Origin of Species,” July 1, 1858.)
While Darwin was working on his theory of evolution, another scientist independently arrived at the same conclusions. Darwin, then, was not the first to study evolution.
Read: Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES Vol. 11, pp. 5-17 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Evolution · History · Cause · Race and Nationality
July 2
So that the date for certain festivals would not fall one year in midwinter and in the heat of summer another year, Czsar reformed the calendar. July was named for him.
Read: Plutarch's CESAR Vol. 12, pp. 310-315 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Monarchy · Friendship · Prophecy · Honor
July 3
(Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863.)
An officer in that momentous battle narrates every major action of both armies. Thus we see the swarming lines of Confederates advance—the hand-to-hand struggle.
Read: Haskell's BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG Vol. 43, pp. 326-335 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: War and Peace · Courage · Honor · Emotion
July 4
(Independence Day.)
Some Americans preferred to be loyal to England and did not want independent government. Their hesitation is better understood when the finality of the Declaration is realized.
Read: DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Vol. 43, pp. 150-155 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Liberty · Tyranny · Government · War and Peace
July 5
Here is another of those fanciful Oriental stories that proclaims the democracy of Eastern despotism. A tailor might talk with a king and receive either a death sentence or the office of Grand Vizier as a reward.
Read: THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS Vol. 16, pp. 149-162 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Emotion · Love · Language · Family
July 6
(Sir Thomas More executed, July 6, 1535.)
When Europe was suffering from evil rulers, heavy taxes, and despair, Sir Thomas More dreamed of a happy land where an intelligently managed state perfected happiness.
Read: More's UTOPIA Vol. 36, pp. 135-142 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Punishment · Wealth · Exploration · Labor
July 7
(Sheridan buried in Westminster Abbey, July 7, 1816.)
The painted lips of the eighteenth century ladies and gallants vied with one another in whispering scathing gossip, in gleefully furthering the destruction of a good name. Sheridan depicts this gay world with a brilliant spicy pen.
Read: Sheridan's SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL Vol. 18, pp. 115-128 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Virtue and Vice · Honor · Family · Friendship
July 8
(Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned, July 8, 1822.)
When the monstrous Cenci forced his daughter Beatrice into a horrible situation, she revolted and boldly struck for freedom. Shelley tells her pitiful story in one of his best works.
Read: Shelley's CENCI Vol. 18, pp. 288-300 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Tyranny · Madness · Hospitality
July 9
(Bacon becomes Privy Councilor, July 9, 1616.)
“What is Truth?” asked Pilate. For an answer Bacon discourses not on human nature as it should be, but as it is. These shrewd observations on making a life and a living admit occasional departures from truth.
Read: BACON'S ESSAYS Vol. 3, pp. 7-19 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Religion · Truth · Life and Death · Virtue and Vice
July 10
The shadow of a phantom cast upon the cradle of Snorri, the first white child born in America, was a warning of an Indian attack on the settlement of courageous Norsemen who had risked the terrors of unknown seas to visit “Wineland.”
Read: THE VOYAGES TO VINLAND Vol. 43. pp. 14-20 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Wealth · Exploration · Honor
July 11
(Newcomb died July 11, 1909.)
The greatest spectacle offered man is a view of the magnificent vault of heaven. Under the stupendous arch of the Milky Way the cares of the world roll off.
Read: Newcomb's THE EXTENT OF THE UNIVERSE Vol. 30, pp. 311-321 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Astronomy and Cosmology · Science · One and Many · Quantity
July 12
(Henry David Thoreau born July 12, 1817.)
Thoreau’s individuality was unique and original. He had no profession; he never married; he never went to church; he never voted or paid taxes; he never smoked; he never drank wine. His amusement was walking, to observe and meditate.
Read: Thoreau's WALKING Vol. 28, pp. 395-405 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Nature · Liberty · Labor · Exploration
July 13
Pericles used public money to beautify Athens. The citizens protested against the expense, as citizens in all ages do. By a clever stroke Pericles won their support to his ambitious plans.
Read: Plutarch's PERICLES Vol. 12, pp. 47-57 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Wealth · Honor · Government · Art
July 14
(The Bastille surrendered, July 14, 1789.)
What the Fourth of July is to Americans, the Fourteenth of July is to Frenchmen. It commemorates an oppressive tyranny overthrown by a freedom-loving people.
Read: Burke's THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE Vol. 24, pp. 268-273 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Aristocracy · Revolution · Wealth · Justice
July 15
(Queen Elizabeth entertained at Kenilworth, July 15, 1575.)
Meals in the houses of the gentry and noblemen in Elizabethan England were taken most seriously. No one spoke. Holinshed records the strange table etiquette of our ancestors.
Read: HOLINSHED'S CHRONICLES Vol. 35, pp. 271-288 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Custom and Convention · Temperance · Art · Wealth
July 16
(Beginning of Moslem era of time, July 16, 622 A. D.)
The sacred book of the Moslems, the Koran, gives an account of the birth of Christ. The Koran gives Jesus a high position among the prophets but holds the first place for Mohammed.
Read: THE KORAN Vol. 45, pp. 908-913 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: God · Family · Punishment · Prophecy
July 17
(Racine elected to French Academy, July 17, 1673.)
Phedre first persecuted Hippolytus, her handsome stepson, then loved him. Suddenly he and her own son became rivals for the throne. Should she push her son’s claims or let Hippolytus take the crown?
Read: Racine's PHAEDRE Vol. 26, pp. 133-148 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Emotion · Love · Life and Death
July 18
“Browning’s play has thrown me into a perfect passion of sorrow,” wrote Charles Dickens of “The Blot in the ‘Scutcheon.” Like Shakespeare’s Juliet, Browning’s Mildred plays the rdéle of a youthful lover in a tragic drama.
Read: Browning's BLOT IN THE 'SCUTCHEON Vol. 18, pp. 359-368 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Honor · Family · Aristocracy · Love
July 19
(Sir Walter Raleigh imprisoned July 19, 1603.)
The famous gallant who spread his gorgeous cloak so the dainty slipper of his queen would be unspotted, soon lost the high favor this action won for him. In spite of his glorious voyages, Raleigh condemned himself when he fell in love with another woman.
Read: Raleigh's DISCOVERY OF GUIANA Vol. 33, pp. 311-320 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Exploration · Wealth · War and Peace · Slavery
July 20
John Bunyan, imprisoned for preaching without a license, gave to the world “Pilgrim’s Progress,” the greatest allegory in any language, second only to the Bible.
Read: Bunyan's PILGRIM'S PROGRESS Vol. 15, pp. 59-69 read · scan
July 21
(Robert Burns died July 21, 1796.)
The songs of Burns are the links, the watchwords, the symbols of the Scots. He is the last of the ballad singers. In his works are preserved the best songs of his people.
Read: BURNS' POEMS Vol. 6, pp. 70-79 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Life and Death · Religion · Hypocrisy · Medicine
July 22
Odysseus was wrecked with his men on an island inhabited by one-eyed giants. Trapped in the cave of a giant who gobbled up some of the crew for supper, the cunning Odysseus blinded the giant and rescued the survivors of his crew.
Read: Homer's ODYSSEY Vol. 22, pp. 120-129 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Hospitality · Prudence · Custom and Convention · Religion
July 23
(Francis Bacon knighted, July 23, 1603.)
There are styles in friendship as well as in clothes. The mode of friendship of Bacon’s time went out with plumed hats and long hose. But Bacon knew the true test of a friend.
Read: BACON'S ESSAYS Vol. 3, pp. 65-72 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Love · Friendship · Emotion · Prudence
July 24
Darwin visited a South American city ruined by an earthquake. There he heard the superstitious account of the The ignorant people accused Indian women of bewitching the volcano. But Darwin has another explanation.
Read: Darwin's THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE Vol. 29, pp. 306-316 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Geology · Cause · Nature · Science
July 25
Brynhild, Woden’s daughter, carried the dead heroes to Valhalla where they could feast and fight without dying; untl a sin divested her of divinity, and she fell in love with Sigurd.
Read: LAY OF BRYNHILD Vol. 49, pp. 391-395 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Honor · Emotion · Prophecy · Punishment
July 26
(Taomas 2 Keneges died July 26, 2.472.)
While Europe was shaken with wars, Thomas i Kempis lived in happy seclusion in his convent. His writings convind reflect the serenity and happiness of a man who has found peace— a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Read: Thomas a Kempis Vol. 7, pp. 205-211 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Religion · Wisdom · Knowledge · Desire
July 27
(Lister publishes paper om entisepiic rreatment, July a7, 1867.)
The use of antiseptics in surgery is new. Hardly more than a half century ago surgeons operated in frock coats. Lord Lister, surgeon to Queen Victoria, was among the first to advocate scrupulous cleanliness in dressing wounds,
Read: ON THE ANTISEPTIC PRINCIPLES Vol. 38, pp. 257-267 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Medicine · Cause · Experience · Progress
July 28
(Adbrakam Cowley died July 28, 1667.)
Cowley portrays the ideal life—that of a farmer, and blazons it forth in heraldry. “A plow in a field arable”—to him, the most honorable of all emblems.
Read: Cowley's OF AGRICULTURE Vol. 27, pp. 61-69 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Poetry · Wealth · Education · Labor
July 29
Stonehenge, that group of huge, rudely architectural stones on a vast plain in England, was erected no man knows when, nor why, nor how. Emerson, America’s greatest thinker, visited this monument and was amazed at the “uncanny stones.”
Read: Emerson's STONEHENGE Vol. 5, pp. 453-462 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Art · History · Religion · Custom and Convention
July 30
(Gilbert lands at Newfoundland near St. John’s, July 30, 1583.)
When the whole coast of America north of Florida was free to the first comer, Sir Humphrey Gilbert naively chose to settle on the rugged shores of Newfoundland. Read the glowing account of his great adventure “to plant Christian inhabitants in places convenient.”
Read: Gilbert's VOYAGE TO NEWFOUNDLAND Vol. 33, pp. 263-273 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Exploration · God · Religion · Sign and Symbol
July 31
(Defoe pilloried for defiance of public opinion, July 31, 1703.)
Lack of education, writes Defoe, makes a woman “turbulent, clamorous, noisy—“ Defoe defied his generation and preached equal education for women. To-day we have co-education, but have we the benefits Defoe predicted?
Read: Defoe's EDUCATION OF WOMEN Vol. 27, pp. 148-150 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Education · Soul · Man · Custom and Convention
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