This date is reserved for German humanitarian hero Armin T. Wegner, whose courageous actions on penalty of death bore undeniable photographic evidence of the systematic genocide of over one million Armenians committed by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. … Continue reading →

A tribute to the Nicaraguan freedom fighter and anti-imperialist hero Augusto César Sandino –  murdered on this day – will appear here soon.

A tribute to Upton Sinclair – radical writer, lifelong crusader for social justice, and victim of the first ever American political smear campaign – will appear here shortly.

A man who helped to bring about the end of a brutal empire, whose tireless campaigning laid the groundwork for groups like Amnesty International, and who defeated Winston Churchill in an election – but who nobody has heard of – … Continue reading →

Look at the camera and say ‘cheese’ and ‘thank you’ to Joseph Nicéphore Niépce who died on this day in 1833, for it was Niépce who changed the way we view the world. Born in France 1765 into a middle-class family Niépce … Continue reading →

A tribute to William Godwin – the father of philosophical anarchism – will appear here shortly.

In the 1960s space was the final frontier. But just half a century earlier, the final frontier was the South Pole. And one hundred years ago today – his two companions lying frozen to death next to him – 43-year-old … Continue reading →

Today, on the anniversary of his death in 1650, we remember the life and work of French philosopher and mathematician, René Descartes. Although not overtly political, the work of Descartes succeeded in redefining much of philosophical thought, to the extent … Continue reading →

The Bible, Genesis 2:20, states: “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field”. But actually it wasn’t Adam. It was a Swedish botanist: Carl Linnaeus. My dad … Continue reading →

As befits such a momentous world-shifting event, On This Deity proudly presents two overviews to mark the occasion of the death of Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Revolution he begat.  These days we are constantly told that the Internet is the … Continue reading →

On the evening of November 30th 1994, in the remote French village of Champot, revolutionary and avant-gardist Guy Debord enacted his final spectacle of deconstruction when he shot himself through the heart. He was 62. For the prime mover of … Continue reading →

It happened in a quarry behind a prison camp on the outskirts of Châteaubriand. In three groups of nine, twenty-seven men were lined up. Behind them a pit to fall into. Before them a row of German guns. It was … Continue reading →

Today we recall the social theorist and world-changer – Friedrich Engels – chiefly known as the lifelong friend, literary executor and “junior partner” of Karl Marx. One of the most remarkable collaborative relationships in history, together Engels and Marx wrote The … Continue reading →

Today we honour Arthur Lee – the African American protest singer, metaphysical poet and leader of LA’s pioneering psychedelic refuseniks Love – who quit this planet six years ago after an arduous battle with cancer. Like Lou Reed, Arthur’s work … Continue reading →

Today we lament the tragically early death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, drowned when his schooner sank in a sudden violent storm in the Gulf of Spezia. He was twenty-nine years old. Ten days later, his body washed ashore and, in … Continue reading →

Today we pay tribute to the legendary Syd Barrett, erstwhile leader of the Pink Floyd and Psychedelic Frontiersman # 1, who quit this planet six years ago after decades of reclusive living and battles with mental illness.

On June 12th 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in the driveway of his home while his wife and young children watched in horror as he bled to death on the doorstep. Lynchings were still an ugly fact … Continue reading →

In his lifetime, Thomas Paine contributed profoundly and fundamentally to the American and French Revolutions. His words crystallised and brought to the forefront the struggles of Britain’s Industrial Revolution working class. His ideas permeated the Declaration of Independence. He coined … Continue reading →

Today we raise a fist in tribute to folk singer, anarchist, activist, historian and storyteller extraordinaire, Utah Phillips, who died four years ago on this day aged seventy-three. A Mark Twain-meets-Howard Zinn with a guitar, Phillips dedicated himself to unearthing … Continue reading →

Today we pay our respects to that towering giant of French letters, visionary poet, epic novelist, revolutionary playwright, Romantic, mystic and political activist – Victor Hugo. An unqualified hero to his countrymen, when he died on this day in 1885 … Continue reading →

Today we pay tribute to author, naturalist, abolitionist, poet, prophet and unrepentant individual – Henry David Thoreau. When he died on this day in 1862 from tuberculosis aged 44, this giant in the American pantheon was still virtually unknown. Indeed, … Continue reading →