June 20

Today is the birthday, in 1847, of Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and feminist. She campaigned for decades for universal suffrage for women, unrestricted by social class. She is a reminder that women’s suffrage was an international issue advanced in multiple democracies of the day, and she was an ally of Millicent Garret, who I mentioned recently. 

Today is also the birthday of Edith Windsor, in 1929. She and her wife Thea Spyer were LGBTQ activists in New York, and when Thea died in 2009, her estate went to Edith, but she was taxed by the IRS as though they were not legally married. She sued, and the Supreme Court finally ruled in 2013, in a 5-4 decision, that the U.S. government had to recognize them as legally married. Edith died only four years later. She is a reminder of how long and slow the fight for freedom is. 

Today marks the death, in 1966, of Georges Lemaitre, priest and astrophysicist, who laid the groundwork for the Big Bang theory with his description of the expanding universe and the “primeval atom.” He also wrote powerfully on the relationship of faith to science. 

Today is the feast day of Hucbald, who died in 930, a monk and musician who created a system of musical notation that led to the conventions we have today. 

Reflection:

Georges Lemaitre said, 

and 

Prayer: Author of the Universe, we keep trying to cram you into your own book; prevent us from boxing you in. Amen.