Good News in History, May 23

180 years ago today, Báb, a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar, Iran, announced that he was a prophet, and, remarkably, was not murdered for heresy. Instead, he founded by Baháʼí Faith which preaches unity of the Abrahamic faiths and peoples into a universal brotherhood of goodwill. Expounding a hybrid doctrine from the Bible, Torah, and Quran, Báb, or “The Gate”, encouraged the learning of arts and sciences, modernizing education, improving the status of women, cultivation of ethics, independent investigation of truth, and human nobility. READ more about the days surrounding his revelation… (1844)

On the night of May 22, some few hours in advance of his proclamation of divine messengership, a local Mulla came to his house and quizzed him about his potential status as a prophet. The Mulla and Báb’s wife testified that Báb answered all of the Mulla’s questions correctly before writing a commentary on the 12th chapter of the Quran in remarkable quality with remarkable speed.

Mulla Husayn became the Báb’s first disciple. Within five months, seventeen other disciples recognized the Báb as a Manifestation of God. Among them was a woman, Fátimih Zarrín Táj Barag͟háni, a poet, who later received the name of Táhirih, the Pure. These 18 disciples later became known as the Letters of the Living (each soul containing one letter of the Spirit of God, which combine to form the Word) and given the task of spreading the new faith (understood as the return or continuation of the one Faith of Abraham) across Iran and Iraq.

Báb’s completion of the commentary, called the Qayyúmu’l-Asmáʼ, is a Baháʼí holy day that just happens to occasionally coincide with the celebration for the birth of Lord Buddha.

MORE Good News on this Day:

• Canada’s North West Mounted Police force was established (1873)
• Inventor of the synthesizer Robert Moog, who built his first electronic instrument, a theremin at age 14 and debuted the MiniMoog, the first compact, easy-to-use synthesizer in 1970, was born (1934)
• The Shining, a horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall and based on book by Stephen King, was released (1980)
• The first version of the Java programming language was released, one of the most popular languages in use today (1995)
• Mohammad Khatami, a moderate candidate interested in cultural and governmental exchange with the US, and heavily favored by women and young people, was elected President of Iran (1997)
• The Sunfull movement of positive encouragement on social media began in South Korea (2007)
• Following the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Egypt held the Arab world’s first competitive presidential election (2012)
• The Boy Scouts of America’s National Council of 1232 delegates voted overwhelmingly (61 percent) to end its ban on gay youth membership (2013)
• Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by national referendum (2015)

33 years ago today, publicity shots for Nirvana’s album Nevermind of a baby underwater in a swimming pool were taken by photographer Michael Lavine at Jay Aaron Studios in Los Angeles.

The idea came to Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl after they saw a TV documentary on water babies. Several babies were used, but 5-month-old Spencer Eldon’s photo came out best. (1991)

On this day 211 years ago, South American revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar entered Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and was proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”). Credited with leading the fight for independence in areas of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia, he is revered as a hero in these countries and throughout much of Latin America. A great admirer of the American Revolution (and a critic of the French Revolution), Bolívar described himself in his many letters as a classical “liberal” and defender of the free market economic system.

Among the books he traveled with when he wrote the Bolivian Constitution were Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Bolívar’s many speeches and writings reveal him to be an adherent of limited government, the separation of powers, freedom of religion, property rights, and the rule of law. On his deathbed, Bolivar asked his aide-de-camp, General Daniel Florencio O’Leary to burn the extensive archive of his writings, letters, and speeches. O’Leary disobeyed the order and his writings survived, providing historians with a vast wealth of information about Bolivar’s classical liberal philosophy and thought. (1813)

Happy 66th Birthday to comedian, actor, and TV host Drew Carey. Carey has appeared in films and sitcoms and has hosted the game show The Price Is Right since 2007. He loves being involved in professional sports, and uses a pseudonym to market his soccer photography of the U.S. National Team. In his New York Times bestselling autobiography, he revealed that he was once molested, and has suffered bouts of depression. While filming The Drew Carey Show, he needed heart surgery and later began a diet and exercise plan, resulting in extensive weight loss, which cured his Type 2 diabetes. (1958)

Also Happy Birthday to Victor Espinoza who turns 52 today. The thoroughbred horse racing jockey won the Triple Crown in 2015—the oldest jockey and first Hispanic ever to win the award.

Overcoming his fear of horses on his family’s farm in Mexico, he left home at 15 to pursue his dreams of riding. He has won the Kentucky Derby three times, in 2002, 2014, and 2015—and won the Preakness Stakes three times, in those same years. He donates 10 percent of all his prize money to a cancer research and treatment center. The first jockey in history to enter the Belmont Stakes with a third opportunity to win the Triple Crown, he finally won the elusive honor in 2015 on American Pharoah, the first horse to do it in 37 years. (1972)

And, 55 years ago today, The Who released in the UK the first rock opera, entitled Tommy, about a “deaf, dumb and blind kid,” who “sure played a mean pinball.” The double album written by Pete Townshend, sold more than 20 million copies by 2012, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Iconic singles include Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, and See Me, Feel Me. WATCH the band perform the Tommy Overture live – and hear the condensed story. (1969)

54 years ago today, in the wake of The Beatles breaking up, Paul McCartney’s debut solo album, McCartney, featuring Maybe I’m Amazed, hit No.1 on the US album chart.

Apart from Linda McCartney’s vocals, McCartney performed and recorded the entire album solo—mostly using basic home-recording equipment and overdubs on four-track tape. Other soulful songs on the LP on Apple records were Every Night and That Would Be Something. LISTEN and WATCH a video of Paul talking about making the album while The Beatles were breaking up, and finding comfort in his family… (1970)

Happy 52nd birthday to Brazilian racing driver, Rubens Barrichello. In Formula 1, Rubens raced notably for Ferrari, Honda (later Brawn GP) and Williams, winning 11 Grand Prix and making 68 podium finishes. Later he raced in Stockcar Brazil, in which he won 18 championships. Driving for Ferrari between 2000 and 2006, he was the teammate of Michael Schumacher, alongside which he took third, second, and fourth place finishes in the Driver’s Championship.

After his Ferrari days, Barrichello raced a rickety three years with Honda, during which the team could never get sufficient momentum or success. Despite that, the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix was the 257th Grand Prix of Barrichello’s career, marking him out as the most experienced driver in history. With Williams he became the highest-scoring Brazilian F1 driver in history, passing Ayrton Senna’s tally of 614.

Barrichello formerly held the fastest time by a Formula One driver around the Top Gear test track during the show’s (F1) Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment. His lap time of 1:44.3 put him ahead of the show’s in-house racing/test driver, a strange anonymous helmeted driver called “The Stig” by 0.1 seconds. For the rest of the show, it was alluded that the Stig had a deep-seated hatred of Barrichello, with the host Jeremy Clarkson at one point saying that around the office, rather than F1 glory, the Stig mostly talks about what Rubens Barrichello would look like if one were to send him through a ham slicer. (1972)

SHARE the Milestones, Memories, and Music…