Good News in History, December 21

Today is the magical Winter Solstice, bringing the longest night of the year to the Northern Hemisphere, and marking the start of more daylight every day for the rest of the season, until June 20.

The ancient cultures knew the Sun’s path across the sky, length of daylight, and location of the sunrise and sunset, which shifted in a regular way throughout the year, so people built monuments, like Stonehenge in England and the Torreon in Machu Picchu, Peru, to follow the Sun’s annual progress and predict its movements.

Today, we celebrate the solstice as an astronomical event caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and its motion in orbit around the Sun. No matter where you are on Earth’s globe – this is your time to celebrate this hopeful seasonal change.

MORE Good News on this Date:

• Mayflower Pilgrims went ashore at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts (1620)
• The first crossword puzzle, by Arthur Wynne was published in the New York World (1913)
• The Irish Free State of Eire declared independence (1948)
• Rondane National Park was established – Norway’s first –  as an important habitat for herds of wild reindeer (1962)
• The birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States was proclaimed by eleven of the 12 former Soviet republics (1991)
• Two French reporters held hostage for 4 months in Iraq were released (2004)

228 years ago today, Leopold von Ranke, the famous German historian was born. History as a soft science begins largely with his 1824 book, Histories of the Latin and Teutonic Peoples from 1494 to 1514, where for the first time ever, a historical text was compiled based almost entirely on things like diaries, government documents, missives, and personal correspondences from people living at the time.

He was awarded a professorship at the University of Berlin on merit because he wrote his book without access to any public libraries. As strange as it may sound, Ranke was just about the first modern European to suggest that history should be told “as it happened,” and is considered the pioneer of history as a critical science on the continent, in contrast to Hegel’s earlier view of a “philosophy of history,” that humors more strongly the human element in deciding what happened.

He published various histories, always between the 15th and 17th centuries, on the Papal state, Prussia, the Hapsburgs, France, Southern Europe, and England, was ennobled with a “von,” helped establish seminar teaching, and won numerous honors throughout his life, stretching from Norway to Greece.

Shortly before his death at the age of 90, this exceptional scholar penned a beautiful and stoic entry in his diary regarding his destiny.

The proverb tells us that poets are born. Not only in the arts, but even in some scholarly fields, young men develop into full bloom, or at least display their originality. Musicians and mathematicians have the expectation of attaining eminence in early years. But a historian must be old, not only because of the immeasurable extent of his field of study, but because of the insight into the historical process which a long life confers, especially under changing conditions. It would hardly be bearable for him to have only a short span of experience. For his personal development requires that great events complete their course before his eyes, that others collapse, that new forms be attempted.

Happy Birthday to Jane Fonda who turns 86 years old, yet is still fabulously-fit. A brilliant 2-time Oscar-winning actress and daughter of acclaimed actor Henry Fonda, Jane changed the face of fitness for women in America by introducing her Jane Fonda’s Workout on home videotape and turning-on millions to exercising in their living rooms.

When she reached 80, she threw a party for charity, raising $1.3 million for her Georgia-based nonprofit that focuses on preventing teen pregnancy. Since she founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential, teen pregnancy has fallen 66% in 22 years. She was thrilled to have reached 80, and to also still be working — co-starring with Lily Tomlin in the popular Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie and making a movie with Robert Redford. Her book, Prime Time, written when she was 75, describes how we can strive to live well in our ‘Third Act’, making the most of our senior years. (1937)

And, Happy 75th Birthday to actor–producer Samuel L. Jackson. After working as a doorman, overcoming a stutter, and studying with Morgan Freeman, he became famous for his role in the 1994 cult classic Pulp Fiction and memorable roles in dozens of films like Goodfellas, The Negotiator, Kingsman, Jurassic Park, and Django Unchained. In 2009, Jackson signed a 9-picture deal with Marvel to play Nick Fury in The Avengers franchise. And, as a civil rights activist, he was one of the ushers at Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. WATCH him talk about his career… (1948)

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