1. Clerics who live a semi-monastic life, but who are also involved in the community; 2. General rules or principles by which something is judged; 3. A collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine.
Canons
Fact of the Day
In the Middle Ages, land could be held from the monarch in return for a service, such as holding the king's head as he crossed the Channel by boat.
Quote of the Day
"London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.
"
~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
On This Day
1715 The French monk Dom Pérignon died, aged 76. It is wrongly claimed that he invented sparkling wine.
1752 Wednesday 2 September was followed by Thursday 14 September when the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into Britain.
1812 Following victory at the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon's vanguard entered Moscow. Perhaps as a result of Russian resistance, the city was set on fire and when the fire eventually burnt out four days later, only a small portion of the city, and 12,000 charred bodies, remained.
1852 Military hero and politician Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, died due to the aftereffects of a stroke, aged 83.
1901 US President William McKinley died of the gunshot wounds he'd received from an assassin eight days previously.
1932 Paul Gorguloff, the assassin of French president Paul Doumer, was guillotined. He'd killed Doumer because of a hypnotic vision.
1975 Catholic convert, mother, and founder of Catholic schools, Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first American to be canonized, by Pope Paul VI.