On This Day
1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings.
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of fishing)[3] was a British joint-stock company founded in 1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of national debt. The company was also granted a monopoly to trade with South America, hence its name. At the time it was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession and Spain controlled South America. There was no realistic prospect that trade would take place and the company never realised any significant profit from its monopoly. Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, peaking in 1720 before collapsing to little above its original flotation price; the economic bubble became known as the South Sea Bubble.
The Bubble Act 1720 (6 Geo I, c 18), which forbade the creation of joint-stock companies without royal charter, was promoted by the South Sea company itself before its collapse.
In Great Britain, a considerable number of people were ruined by the share collapse, and the national economy greatly reduced as a result. The founders of the scheme engaged in insider trading, using their advance knowledge of when national debt was to be consolidated to make large profits from purchasing debt in advance. Huge bribes were given to politicians to support the Acts of Parliament necessary for the scheme.[4] Company money was used to deal in its own shares, and selected individuals purchasing shares were given loans backed by those same shares to spend on purchasing more shares. The expectation of profits from trade with South America was used to encourage the public to purchase shares, but the bubble prices reached far beyond the profits of the slave trade.[5]
A parliamentary enquiry was held after the crash to discover its causes. A number of politicians were disgraced, and people found to have profited unlawfully from the company had assets confiscated proportionate to their gains (most had already been rich men and remained comfortably rich). The company was restructured and continued to operate for more than a century after the Bubble. The headquarters were in Threadneedle Street at the centre of the financial district in London. At the time of these events the Bank of England also was a private company dealing in national debt, and the crash of its rival consolidated its position as banker to the British government.[6]
Born On This Day
1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
Gertrude the Great (or Saint Gertrude of Helfta) (Italian: Santa Gertrude) (January 6, 1256 – c. 1302) was a German Benedictine, mystic, and theologian. She is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, and is inscribed in the General Roman Calendar, for celebration throughout the Latin Rite on November 16.
Life
Little is known of the early life of Gertrude. Gertrude was born on the feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1256, in Eisleben, Thuringia (within the Holy Roman Empire). At the age of four,[1] she entered the monastery school at the monastery of St. Mary at Helfta (with much debate having occurred as to whether this monastery is best described as Benedictine or Cistercian),[2] under the direction of its abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn. It is speculated that she was offered as a child oblate to the Church by devout parents. Given that Gertrude implies in the Herald that her parents were long dead at the time of writing,[3] however, it is also possible that she entered the monastery school as an orphan.
Gertrude was confided to the care of St. Mechtilde, younger sister of the Abbess Gertrude, and joined the monastic community in 1266.[4] It is clear from her own writings that she received a thorough education in a range of subjects. She, and the nun who authored Books 1 and 3-5 of the Herald, are thoroughly familiar with scripture, the Fathers of the Church such as Augustine and Gregory the Great, and also in more contemporary spiritual writers such as Richard and Hugh of St Victor, William of St Thierry, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Moreover, Gertrude’s writing demonstrates that she was well-versed in rhetoric, and her Latin is very fluent.[5]
In 1281, at the age of 25, she experienced the first of a series of visions[6] that continued throughout her life, and which changed the course of her life. Her priorities shifted away from secular knowledge and toward the study of Scripture and theology. Gertrude devoted herself strongly to personal prayer and meditation, and began writing spiritual treatises for the benefit of her monastic sisters.[7] Gertrude became one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher St. Mechtild, she practiced a spirituality called “nuptial mysticism,” that is, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ.[8]
Gertrude died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony, around 1302. Her feastday is celebrated on November 16, but the exact date of her death is unknown; the November date stems from a confusion with Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn.
FYI
By Brooke A. Lewis: Astronaut John Young has died at age 87
John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018)[2][3] was an American astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer, who became the ninth person to walk on the Moon as Commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.
Young enjoyed the longest career of any astronaut, becoming the first person to fly six space missions (with seven launches[4]) over the course of 42 years of active NASA service,[5] and is the only person to have piloted, and been commander of, four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command/Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle.[6]
In 1965, Young flew on the first manned Gemini mission, and commanded another Gemini mission the next year. In 1969 during Apollo 10, he became the first person to fly solo around the Moon. He drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon’s surface during Apollo 16, and is one of only three people to have flown to the Moon twice. He also commanded two Space Shuttle flights, including its first launch in 1981, and served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1974–1987. Young retired from NASA in 2004. He died on January 5, 2018.
More on wiki:
By William Hughes: R.I.P. Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke (July 27, 1931 – January 5, 2018) was an American comedian and actor as well as the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke.[1]
He made his television acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie’s brother, Stacey. Later in his career from 1989 to 1997, he portrayed Luther Van Dam on the ABC sitcom Coach.[1]
More on wiki:
By Tom McKay: Texas Man Sentenced to 15 Years For Targeting Gay Men For Home Invasions Via Grindr
By Abby Livingston: Texas poised to end dry spell of electing new women to Congress in 2018
By Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: An Admirals tough guy, a tiny baby, a snowstorm and an opponent’s act of kindness
By Laura Hazard Owen: The Offshore Journalism Project would let newsrooms send a “distress signal” when their content is at risk of being lost forever
By Christine Schmidt: Automated, live fact-checks during the State of the Union? The Tech & Check Cooperative’s first beta test hopes to pull it off
By Scott Myers: 12 Free ‘Go Into The Story’ eBooks
By Madeline Wells: From website to library: How one woman is bolstering women Latin American photographers
By Samuel Zeller: I’ve been sharing my photography for free on Unsplash for the past 4 years, here’s what I found.
Detroit Free Press: Takata adds 3.3 million air bag inflators to massive recall
By Patrick Lucas Austin: The iPad Gestures You Should Master
By Kate Bernot: Michigan pizzeria sent from heaven will deliver a pie and plow your driveway for $30
By Tessa Hulls: The Great Sandwina, Circus Strongwoman and Restaurateur
By Karen Gardiner: Why a Maritime Forecast Is So Beloved in the United Kingdom
The glacier receded. Remember Portage Glacier and how fast it receded after the blah-looking visitor’s center was built?
By Michael Inscoe: Hotel Belvédère
By Jasmin Nahar: 19 Life-Changing Food Hacks Every Lazy Person Needs To Know
By Mike Spohr: 19 Bacon Hacks That Are Guaranteed To Change Your Life For The Better
Widget not in any sidebars
Word of the day
- menorah December 26, 2024Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 26, 2024 is: menorah • \muh-NOR-uh\ • noun A menorah is a candelabra with seven or nine lights that is used in Jewish worship. // At sundown on the first night of Hanukkah, Elliott's father helped him light the first candle on the menorah. See the entry > […]Merriam-Webster
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 27 December 27, 2024Picture of the day The Seehornsee in the Berchtesgaden Alps. On the right the normal route to the Seehorn.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for December 26 December 26, 2024Picture of the day Khone Phapheng Falls, Si Phan Don, Laos. Located on the Mekong River near the border with Cambodia, at 10.7 kilometres (6.6 mi) wide, it is the widest waterfall in the world.
Widget not in any sidebars
Widget not in any sidebars
Widget not in any sidebars
Widget not in any sidebars