31 October, 1517 –Martin Luther posts his Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power of Indulgences (Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum) on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, starting the Protestant Reformation The theses  are a list of propositions for academic disputation  and  advance Luther’s positions against what he saw as abusive practices… Read More 31 October, 1517: Luther’s 95 theses

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, (Halloween)  Orson Welles broadcast  his radio play of H. G. Wells’s “The War of the Worlds,” causing anxiety in the U.S. The radio play  was an adaptation of  the novel “ The War of the Worlds” (1898), which tells the story of an alien invasion of Earth,  directed  and narrated… Read More 30 Oct. 1938: N.Y. panics over alien invasion

Clocks Go Back 1 Hour in Europe Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 Earlier sunrise in Europe as Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends and clocks are set back 1 hour on Sunday, October 30, 2016. Lighter Mornings Sunrise and sunset ill be about 1 hour earlier on Sunday, October 30, 2016, than the day before, so there… Read More End of “Daylight Saving Time”

28 October,1965: “Nostra aetate” (the “Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions” of the Second Vatican Council)  is promulgated by Pope Paul VI: it absolves the Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus, reversing Innocent III’s 760-year-old declaration. On October 28, 1965. Pope Paul VI promulgated Nostra Aetate, which  proclaimed the… Read More 28 October,1965: Jews absolved of collective guilt for Jesus’ crucifixion.

Trinity College Library, Dublin Literally, the term  “BOOKWORM” refers to various insects whose larvae infest books, piercing the pages with small holes.  eating  the paper or the paste in the bindings. No single species may properly be called bookworm,  but bookworms may be booklice (pidocchi dei libri). silverfish (cimici), beetles (scarafaggi), spiders, (ragni), etc. As… Read More An idiom: BOOKWORM

An earthquake achieves what the law promises but does not in practice maintain, the equality of all men.  

Bruce Springsteen  got “The Boss” nickname long before he ever became a big recording superstar in his club days when he was tasked with collecting the band’s pay from club owners and distributing it amongst the band afterwards. Springsteen never cared too much for “The Boss” because of his distaste for bosses. According to others… Read More “The Boss”

ASBURY PARK Asbury Park, in Monmouth County on the New Jersey coast, was developed in Victorian times as a playground for glam metropolitan types, It had been a booming seaside resort since the late 1800s, with about 200 hotels and a carnival-like atmosphere on the boardwalk, stretching from the Casino building at the south end… Read More Asbury Park (My city of ruins)

MY CITY OF RUINS Bruce Springsteen wrote this song about Asbury Park, New Jersey, a resort town near where he grew up. He went there a lot when he was young, and watched it deteriorate as he got older. Once a popular town  in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Asbury Park had declined for… Read More MY CITY OF RUINS

Two months ago an earthquake hit Central Italy, causing a lot of casualties. On Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016  during his concert in New Jersey BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN  dedicated “My City of Ruins” to its victims MY CITY OF RUINS There’s a blood red circle On the cold dark ground And the rain is falling down The… Read More (u3a) 25 Oct: WORDS & MUSIC