24 August 2018
auto-da-fé
[aw-toh-duh-fey]
noun, plural autos-da-fé.
1. the public declaration of the judgment passed on persons tried in the courts of the the Spanish Inquisition, followed by the execution by the civil authorities of the sentences imposed, especially the burning of condemned heretics at the stake.
Origin of auto-da-fé
1715-1725 Portuguese: act of the faith
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for auto-da-fé
Historical Examples
He had been unable to attend the auto-da-fe at which the heretics were committed to the flames.
Barbara Blomberg, Complete
Georg Ebers
Princes of the Church and magistrates were present at these auto-da-fe.
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Vol 2
J. H. Merle D’Aubign
He must have seen the horizon of the future red with the flames of the auto-da-fe.
The Christian Religion
Robert G. Ingersoll
Today’s quote
Everything – including love, hate, and suffering – needs food to continue. If suffering continues, it’s because we keep feeding our suffering.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
On this day
24 August 79AD – eruption of Mt Vesuvius, Italy, completely destroying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae. The cities were buried under approximately 75m of tephra. The initial eruption produced a cloud of ash and pumice ranging from 15km to 30km high. It is estimated that 16,000 people perished.
24 August 479 – Fall of the Roman Empire as Visigoths conquer Rome.
24 August 1759 – birth of William Wilberforce. English politician, philanthropist and leader of the slave trade abolition movement. In 1785 he became an evangelical Christian, which transformed his life to focus on philanthropy and human rights. For 20 years he pursued the abolition of slavery, eventually culminating in the passage of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807. Died 29 July 1833.
24 August 1936 – establishment of the Australian Antarctic Territory.
24 August 1954 – Communist Party outlawed in the United States with the passing of the Communist Control Act.
24 August 1995 – Microsoft launches Windows 95. Bill Gates is embarrassed during a demonstration of the product, when his audience experiences the infamous ‘blue screen of death’.