While we’re actively working on plans for Doxacon Seattle 2024, there are still plenty of conventions going on in our region! This weekend will be KuroNekoCon (July 19 to July 21), held at the Spokane Convention Center – they’ve got a neat comeback story post-pandemic and are quickly growing. Even if you can’t make it, check out their mission & history at their website!
July 14 – Though the weather here in western Washington has gotten more normal (for us!), we would do well today to raise a (cold) drink in gratitude to John Gorrie. A Florida physician, today marks the anniversary of the first public demonstration of ice made by refrigeration (1850). While at a party for the French consul honoring Bastille Day, Gorrie arranged for ice to chill wine – a particularly welcome feat on a hot summer day! Read about it at Wired’s website.
July 15 – Happy birthday to Rembrandt van Rijn’s (1606)! One of the greatest visual artists – particularly during the Dutch Golden Age – he is also notable for having worked his faith into his painting. Read a biography of him at the National Gallery of Art.
July 17 – Today is also the birthday of Isaac Watts (1674), Congregational minister and hymn writer. His hymn authorship is super-extensive – over seven hundred hymns are credited to him! Some of his most well-known hymns include ‘Joy to the World’, ‘Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past’, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’, earning him the nickname the “Godfather of English Hymnody”. Read about him and Christianity Today.
July 19 – Today is the anniversary of Johannes Kepler developing his theory of the geometrical basis of the universe (1595). His later treatise Mysterium Cosmographicum (an amazing name!) was an effort to bring together his Christian faith and our understanding of the cosmos. Read more about him at the Vatican Observatory website.
July 20 – Touchdown! Not the sportsball kind, but rather the first Martian landing. Today, in 1976, the US Viking 1 touched down on the face of Mars, becoming the first successful Mars lander (the Soviet Mars 3 did land but lost contact seconds afterwards). Viking 1’s primary work was to look for evidence of life, measuring gasses and soil in particular. Read about it at NASA’s website.
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