A punishment for religious crimes, where the guilty person is not allowed to participate in any Church activities.
Excommunication
Fact of the Day
James Garfield, the 20th president of the USA, could write in Greek with one hand and at the same time write in Latin with the other.
Quote of the Day
"Grant that we may from henceforth show ourselves neither bastards nor dastards.
"
~ Peter Wentworth on the House of Commons' freedom of speech, 1576
On This Day
1537 Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, died of a fever following the birth of her son.
1648 The Treaty of Westphalia marked the end of the Thirty Years War. The first six months of the peace conference was spent arguing about protocol.
1901 Annie Edson Taylor, a 63 year old schoolteacher was the first person to plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
1945 The United Nations was founded.
2003 Concorde completed its final commercial passenger flight.