November 21, 1555 Death of Georgius Agricola (original name, Georg Bauer) in Chemnitz, Germany. Agricola was a humanist, physician and scientist who is often called "the father of mineralogy". He was one of the first to base his science on the observation of nature rather than speculation. The American president Herbert Hoover (himself a mining … [Read more...]

November 20, 1602 Birth of Otto von Guericke in Magdeburg, Germany. Von Guericke invented an air pump in 1650. That is not very remarkable, but what he did with it is. He pumped out vacuums. He was the first to learn that light travels through a vacuum, but sound does not. He was also the first to demonstrate that a vacuum can, in fact, exist … [Read more...]

November 19, 1299 Death of St. Mechtilde von Hackeborn (ca. 1241-1298) Mechthilde was born near Halle, Germany in about 1241. At her own insistence she entered the cloister at Rodardsdorf at age 7. She is known as the mentor of St. Gertrud the Great. She is also known as having a wondrous voice and was a lifelong singer of sacred music at … [Read more...]

November 18, 1786 Birth of Carl Maria von Weber in Eutin, Germany. The composer is known primarily for his operas Der Freischütz (1821), Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon (1826). His operas greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in Germany. Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German "nationalist" opera, Euryanthe … [Read more...]

November 17, 1231 Death of St. Elisabeth von Thüringen (1207 - 1231). St. Elisabeth was born in 1207 in Hungary. At the age of 4 Elisabeth was engaged to the 11 year old son of the duke of Thuringia. She was sent to Thuringia to be educated as a German in preparation for the wedding to follow one day. But Hermann, her intended husband, died in … [Read more...]

November 16, 759 Death of St. Othmar (? - 759) St. Othmar was a monk in St. Gallen where he united the monks in the area into a monastery of the rule first of St. Columban and later of St. Benedict. He was noted for his ministry to the poor. After refusing to allow the monastery to fall into secular hands, he was imprisoned and died in prison on … [Read more...]

November 15, 1136 Death of St. Leopold III (ca. 1073 – 1136) Leopold was of the noble family of the Babenberger. He was born in Melk, Austria. He was the duke of Austria from 1095 until his death. He founded three monasteries. In the investiture controversies he took the side of the popes. He was canonized in 1485 by Pope Innocent VIII. His … [Read more...]

November 14, 1716 Death of Gottfried Leibniz in Hannover. Leibniz is the inventor of differential and integral calculus. Newton also invented calculus independently at about the same time but Leibniz was the first one to publish. November 14, 1719 Birth of Leopold Mozart in Augsburg, Germany. He was the father of Wolfgang Amadeus … [Read more...]

November 12, 1802 Birth of Gustav Friedrich Klemm in Chemnitz, Germany. Klemm was an anthropologist and director of the royal library at Dresden. He developed a concept of culture involving social organization, technology and belief in his 10 volume work, Allgemeine Kulturgeschichte der Menschheit. November 12, 1806 Death of Josef Gottlieb … [Read more...]

November 11 - St. Martin's Day (Martinstag) This festival was originally celebrated in memory of St Martin of Tours (b. 316 AD) and marked the 40 day fasting period before Christmas. When the fasting period was made shorter and renamed Advent (see below), the tradition came to be associated with Martin Luther, who was born on this day in 1546. … [Read more...]