On this day in 1939, months of brown-nosing Hitler’s Nazis by the winners of World War One – Britain, France and America AKA the Western Powers – resulted not in a safer Europe but in the Invasion of Poland, when, … Continue reading
On this day in 1956, a group of around twenty obscure radical artists converged on the small Italian town of Alba, just southeast of Turin, for the First World Congress of Liberated Artists. Revolution was the common denominator among these … Continue reading
Today we recall the heroic escape to freedom of the great Frederick Douglass, America’s first black leader of a truly national stature, whose struggle from his slave roots in Maryland to successful published author just seven years later captivated the … Continue reading
When I was twelve years old, I discovered that my best friend Liz’s grandmother had, throughout her adult life, enjoyed a decades-long love affair with Paul Robeson. Singer, scholar, Hollywood actor, Broadway star, political activist – Robeson was a worldwide … Continue reading
Today we recall and venerate Crazy Horse – the visionary, legendary, almost mythical Native American warrior leader of the Oglala Lakota Sioux – who was betrayed by friends then assassinated in custody on this day in 1877. Fucked over by … Continue reading
“When the history of our civilization is written,” wrote H. G. Wells, “it will be a biological history – and Margaret Sanger will be its heroine.” Hearing her tale for themselves, most modern women would find it difficult to disagree … Continue reading
Though it is almost impossible to imagine, in light of where Stalin and Mao took their respective communist countries, less than a century before their totalitarian regimes took power, anarchism stood side-by-side with communism as a genuine political consideration for … Continue reading
Today we celebrate the long life of a remarkable, and remarkably unsung, woman: Alexandra David-Néel. Alexandra was a Belgian-French explorer, who travelled the world from Europe to China –usually alone, in a time where this was nearly unthinkable for a … Continue reading
On this day in 1971, in the so-called liberal state of New York, the white authorities of Attica State prison – desperate to restore some semblance of order amongst the concentration camp-like conditions they’d imposed upon their primarily African-American inmates … Continue reading
On this day in 1676, the most Visionary and Prophetic reformer of the entire English Civil War period died at the age of sixty-seven. Thrust into the revolutionary times surrounding Oliver Cromwell’s execution of King Charles I, Gerrard Winstanley was … Continue reading
On this day in 2001, all of America’s postwar bullying, lying, cheating, deceiving, extorting, interloping and specifically self-serving ways resulted in the shocking, gruesome, horrific and utterly tragic massive attack that destroyed the Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan.
Today we remember Timothy Leary’s daring and ingenious highwire escape across the highway from his Californian jail. A middle-aged Harvard professor yet symbol of the psychedelic revolution, Leary was assisted to freedom by members of the righteous terrorist organisation, the … Continue reading
At the beginning of the 20th century, the great city of Smyrna on the Anatolian coast was one of the world’s richest, most cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse metropolises – containing large Armenian and Jewish communities, as well as twice as many … Continue reading
Today we celebrate one of the world’s most beloved poets, Dante Alighieri, who died on this day in 1321. Despite the passage of nearly seven centuries, and the seismic political and religious shifts that have occurred since the medieval struggles … Continue reading
In his life, the Chilean folksinger Victor Jara was the voice of his country’s dispossessed. As one of the founders of Nueva Canción – the socially committed movement of ‘new song’ that played such a powerful role throughout Latin America … Continue reading
On this day in 1920, a bedraggled horse-drawn wagon made its way along Wall Street in Lower Manhattan – which had recently eclipsed London as the financial centre of the world – and stopped directly in front of its then-most powerful … Continue reading
On this day in 2011, a group of 1000 gathered in New York City’s financial district to protest corporate power over democracy, the growing disparity of wealth distribution, and the total absence of criminal accountability of the greedy rotters responsible … Continue reading
On this day in 1991, Rob Tyner took leave of this planet at the age of 47 after suffering a heart attack behind the wheel of his parked car in the family driveway. He left behind not only his longtime wife Becky and … Continue reading
Today we recall the shameful expulsion from America of Charlie Chaplin – the great film-making pioneer and veritable icon – who, with his deft touch of comedy and pathos, brought enduring pleasure to the world and generated millions of dollars for … Continue reading
Parents with daughters: in such times when our reprehensible media will regularly scrutinise a 5-pound weight loss or gain of any (so-called) ‘celebrity’, is it any wonder there is such a paucity of female role models? We must fight back … Continue reading
Seventy-five years ago today saw the maiden flight of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, that huge American warplane whose atomic load would, with the bombing of Hiroshima, bring World War 2 to a sudden and dreadful conclusion. Faster, vaster, and with … Continue reading
The most revolutionary proclamation ever issued by an American president was announced on this day in 1862. A recollection of this momentous occasion will appear here shortly.
Today we commemorate Pablo Neruda – genius poet and political activist hero – who died forty-four years ago aged 69. As one of the leading voices in his native Chile during its long and turbulent era of instability, Neruda was at … Continue reading
24th September 1969 marked the beginning of the infamous and so-called Chicago Conspiracy Trial – the most highly publicised showcase for the opposing political, cultural and generational ideologies that divided America during its explosive Vietnam years. Accused of conspiring to incite … Continue reading
Today we recall the Irish Republican revolutionary and martyr, Thomas Ashe, who suffered a brutal death at the hands of his British oppressors at the age of thirty-two. As a freedom fighter, Ashe had led his greatly outflanked battalion to … Continue reading
On this day in 1919 , anarchist leader Nestor Makhno – outrun, outnumbered and outmanoeuvred – led his Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine (otherwise known as the Black Army) to the unlikeliest of victories over the anti-revolutionary and vastly superior … Continue reading
Not with any single, amazing knock-out blow did today’s subject achieve greatness, but instead through umpteen rounds of parries, punches and counter-punches. For Sylvia Pankhurst – who died on this day in 1960 – earned her historical place as a World … Continue reading
“One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on Sept. 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I guess … Continue reading
Today we pay tribute to Herman Melville, who died on this day 1891. At the time of his death at the age of 72, the author of Moby-Dick had abandoned his professional literary ambitions some twenty-five years previously; a victim … Continue reading
The announcement read: “All Jews living in the city of Kiev and its vicinity must come to the corner of Melnikova and Dokhturovska Street by 8 o’clock on the morning of Monday, September 29th 1941. They are to bring with … Continue reading
Today we honour the great British adventurer, author and hero, T.C. Lethbridge, the Cambridge University academic whose Timothy Leary-style volte-face midway through his illustrious archaeology career saw him newly transformed into a visionary of Blakean proportions. Out went the excellent … Continue reading
An alternative "On This Day", On This Deity aims to bring light to and celebrate Culture Heroes, Outsider Icons, Beloved Immortals and Revolutionary Events in history.
Disclaimer: These are spirited and informed opinion pieces. Photos have been credited wherever possible, which hasn’t often been the case. Please contact me (via Comments) if you are the photographer of any pictures used by On This Deity and would like your photo to be credited or removed.
