October 27 (A Slow Day)

1787 - The first of the 'Federalist Papers,' a series of 85 essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was published in a New York newspaper.

These essays were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, under the pseudonym 'Publius,' in honor of Publius Valerius Publicola (one of the founders of the Roman Republic in 509 B.C.).

These three men were some of the giants of their time - or any time - and fought hard for the passage of the U.S. Constitution, because they recognized the dangers the young (dis)United States faced if they did not unite in a federated system, under a republican (small 'r') form of government.

The threat of the 13 ‘states’ going to war with each other - economically and militarily - was a real problem, but it was the threat of invasion by the various European powers against separate groups of states which worried the Federalists more than anything.

Luckily, the Federalists won out, and the Constitution was passed. Otherwise there may not be a U.S.-as-we-know-it, and possibly wouldn’t be a U.S. at all.

1553 - Michael Servetus, who discovered the pulmonary circulation of blood, was burnt for heresy in Switzerland.

The price of genius has often been great...Servetus wasn’t the first to pay with his life for heretical discoveries, nor the last.

Here’s how John Calvin justified the execution:

"A thief only deprived one of worldly goods. A murderer only threatened a mortal life. A heretic threatened the immortal soul. A responsible government, a Christian government had no alternative but to silence the heretic forever by executing him, thus protecting the community from the infinite danger he represented."