17 Februrary

February 17 1819 – The First Missouri Compromise Passes the United States House of Representatives

February 17 1819 – The First Missouri Compromise Passes the United States House of RepresentativesRate this post Forty years before the United States erupted in Civil War, the debate over slavery kicked into high gear with the passage of the first Missouri Compromise on February 17, 1819. Designed to create a plan for the admission of new states into the Union with a balance between pro- and anti-slavery, the bill made it through the House of Representatives before being denied by the Senate. The US was well on its way to becoming a house divided. Missouri Territory first petitioned Congress for the ability to join the nation in 1817. According […]

February 17 1600 – Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive

February 17 1600 – Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned aliveRate this post On February 17, 1600, Giordano Bruno, the Italian philosopher, occultist, and mathematician, was burnt at the stake on charges of heresy and blasphemy. Many of his teachings anticipated modern science. Bruno was among the earliest astronomers and mathematicians who spoke of the multiplicity of worlds and defined the universe as infinite. Giordano Bruno was born in 1548 at Nola near Naples. His father, Giovanni Bruno, was a soldier, and his mother was Fraulissa Savolino. Young Bruno was sent to Naples to study humanities, logic, and dialectics in 1562. Three years later he entered the Dominican convent of San […]