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25 Bits of Historical Trivia and Hot Takes: July 2025

25 Bits of Historical Trivia and Hot Takes: July 2025

Last updated on: July 11, 2025 at 4:01 am by Mark Wilson

25 Bits of Historical Trivia and Hot Takes: July 2025 2025-07-11T04:01:09-05:00 Mark Wilson

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Intro To Historical Trivia

1. When you have no other ideas of what to write about in your blog you can always write about historical trivia. You can tweet short or blog long about it. Historical Trivia is a way to remember the interesting tidbits of life without having to invest too much time you may not have into reading about it but yet giving you fascinating highlights you can reflect on and inspiration to find out more if your curiosity and interests are peaked enough to do so.

Recent History

2. A friend of mind from college naved Susun Davenport died recently from Cancer. As I continue to age so will all the people I have ever known. And they will pass on to their reward. My ex-boss Lisa at St. Elizabeth’s where I work just lost her husband to another form of cancer. I probably won’t be able to go to Susan’s celebration of life because I’m working that day. I’ve missed several funerals, wakes and celebration of lives because of having to work. I was able to Lisa’s husbands celebration of life which was given by an ecumenical Chaplin who I believe may have been Catholic who did some Catholic liturgical things and mentioned pope Francis.

Some funerals, wakes and celebrations of life I will attend and others I will miss. I will hear of some people’s deaths I’ve known and other I won’t. I wonder who will attend my funeral and wake.

Who will attend yours?

3. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch@FrUgochukwu (July 7, 2025)

PRIESTS ARE NOT SUPERHUMAN

Last Saturday, July 5, 2025, Fr. Matteo Balzano, a Catholic priest of the diocese of Novara in Italy was found lifeless in the parish rectory where he was working as an associate priest. He was 35 years old and just 8 years in the priesthood. That morning, his parishioners had come for Mass as usual but when they could not see their priest (which was unusual), they went and found him dead in his room. He had taken his own life.

Priestly ministry is beautiful, but it is hard. Really hard. Many priests carry griefs they cannot name, disappointments they cannot share, and expectations they cannot meet. Yet they show up – for us. Let us also show up – for them.

To every priest reading this: You are not alone. You are allowed to be human. Your worth is not in your performance. Even Christ fell under the weight of the Cross – and he got help. Do not be afraid to ask for help too. Do not be afraid to speak up. Reach out. Do not carry the burden alone and in silence. You are not a superhuman.

May the soul of Fr Matteo find rest in the Lord

PRIESTS ARE NOT SUPERHUMAN X

4. Lila Rose@LilaGraceRose (July 8, 2025)Blair and Brooke Harber were found with their hands interlaced & a rosary entwined in their fingers �

At 3:30am, as flood waters filled their cabin, they texted their parents: “I love you.”

They were just 11 & 13, with extraordinary faith

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord

5. Sr. Dorcee, beloved@SrDorcee July 9, 2025) My home parish just buried a 14 year old boy who was hit by a car, and now this 18 year old drowned. We’ve also just lost Archbishop Mike Byrnes, the mother of one of our priests, and our founding music director. Pease pray for us and especially for Xavier’s family.

SAINTS

6. Nate Tinner-Williams@natemup (July 9, 2025) Happy feast of Venerable Augustus Tolton! Born into slavery, escaped to freedom, and denied entry into U.S. Catholic seminaries because of his race, he was ordained in Rome in 1886 and served faithfully in America until his death in 1897. Holy Black model of Christ crucified, pray for us!

7. Fr Matthew P. Schneider, LC@FrMatthewLC (July 9, 2025) St. Anna Wang is a Chinese Catholic Martyr. Before being hacked to death, she told her captors, “I am a Catholic. I will never deny God. It is better for me to die.” r/Catholicism

On This Date in History

8. The New Yorker@NewYorker (July 9, 2025) The first advice columns appeared in an Ovid-quoting London broadsheet in the late 17th century. Centuries later, there are more forums than ever for observing strangers’ revelations. The History of Advice Columns Is a History of Eavesdropping and Judging | The New Yorker

9. ABC News**@ABC** (July 10, 2025) The Scopes “Monkey Trial” began 100 years ago today. Teacher John T. Scopes was convicted of violating the state’s Butler act — a law that prevented the teaching of “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of a man as taught in the Bible.” – ABC News

Spencer Tracy (left) as Darrow surrogate Henry Drummond, and Fredric March (right) as Bryan surrogate Matthew Harrison Brady in the trailer for the film Inherit the Wind; Harry Morgan (in the background) plays the judge.

10. Random History Facts‬ ‪@randomhistory.bsky.social‬ July 10, 2025)

July 10th is the day in 1938 that Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.

Hughes in 1938

11. Gray Connolly@GrayConnolly (July 10, 2025) Good morning all & OTD in 1924, [On July 11] the British runner and Christian missionary, Eric Liddell, won the gold medal in the 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after he refused to participate in his favourite event, the 100m, as it was on a Sunday. He died as a missionary in China in WW2.

“I believe that God made me for a purpose—for China. But He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure. To give it up would be to hold Him in contempt. You were right. It’s not just fun. To win is to honor Him.” –Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire (1981)

Liddell at the British Empire versus U.S.A. relays meet held at Stamford Bridge in July 1924

12. ‪Cinefeast33 ��‬ ‪@cinefeast33.bsky.social‬ OTD 7/11/1960: Harper Lee’s magnificent TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is published. Atticus, Scout & Jem are forever a part of my family. Book won Pulitzer Prize for its candid portrait of a town in crisis & a family putting it all on line to be decent amidst hatred & inequity.

13. Patrick Stewart is Star Trek The Next Generations Jean-Luc Picard (1940) and Harrison Ford is Star Wars Han Solo (1942) and they were both born on July 13 marking the birthdays of two of the most important characters in two of the most lucrative science fiction franchises of all time.

Intro to Hot Takes

14. The Cambridge Dictionary describes a Hot Take (noun ) as a piece of writing or speech, especially on the internet, giving someone’s personal opinions about a topic, usually strong opinions that have not been carefully thought about and that many people are likely to disagree with: EXAMPLE

�� Vic ψ@faikittyy (Jul 7, 2023) HOTTEST of hot takes: you’re allowed to just enjoy the things you enjoy. you don’t have to be critical of things. you can just like things.

15. Scott Barber@thescottbarber (June 9, 2025) Can I just note how Orwellian it is for the President of the United States to have his own social media platform called Truth Social where posts are called “truths.”

Hot Takes on Writing and Entertainment

16. Dirt Sheet Radio@DirtSheetRadio (July 7, 2025) After almost a century of existence, Fox News discovers Superman is an immigrant and they’re not happy. ‘Superwoke’ displayed on the screen as Jesse Watters joked that ‘MS-13’ is written on Superman‘s cape.

The people behind James Gunn’s Superman are definitely familiar with All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s celebrated 2005–2008 serial graphic novel. Smart, silly, and sincere, All-Star Superman is far and away my favorite interpretation of Superman and his mythology. David Corenswet’s shambling Clark Kent may remind some of the comic awkwardness that Christopher Reeve brilliantly brought to the mild-mannered reporter, but Reeve’s performance also went into Morrison and Quitely’s take on Clark as an overgrown, out-of-place farm boy who “writes like a poet, but moves like a landslide,” as Lois Lane puts it. And that is what Corenswet is playing. The second half, anyway. Deacon Steven D. Greydanus –Gunn’s Superman is silly and sincere, and that’s good. It could be smarter. – Decent Films

17. Nathanael Stottlemyer@nkstottlemyer (July 5, 2025) Hot take: While the internet is useful for authors to look stuff up , I prefer using physical books. It’s a lot easier to find what horse you want your character to ride in a book on horses than having to craft a search query and sift through the results. Or asking AI even.

18. Boze the Library Owl ��‍♀️@SketchesbyBoze (July 9, 2025) I hate to say it but brain rot didn’t begin with ChatGPT. Short-form videos are designed to be addictive, and too much exposure can destroy your focus, curiosity, and joy in living. You need to be ingesting long-form content: novels, essays, educational books and videos.

19. Joy Marie Clarkson ☀️@joynessthebrave (July 9, 2025) to make yourself meet a deadline you just gotta work in a coffee shop with no outlets on a laptop with low battery. create a crisis. manipulate yourself.

Hot Takes on Catholic Faith

20. William Cardinal Goh@will_cardi (July 5, 2025) The danger with traditionalists is that in their desire to remain true to the past, they forget that fidelity to the past requires #change. The irony is that not changing is being unfaithful to our past. Simply sticking to past practices by merely repeating them would be a sign of infidelity. Instead, #fidelity to the past means fidelity to the original principles that led to certain practices and rules. While the expression must #change according to the times, the core truth remains. The essence and the truth itself cannot change, but the way we express this #truth must adapt to our times. 05 July 2025, Saturday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time – Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore

21. Catholic Christian@RealEricMcCabe (July 5, 2025) Each day, Protestants are making Christianity look more attractive by their charitable dialogue, while Catholics are making Christianity look unattractive by their narcissistic and uncharitable dialogue.

22. Fr. Peter Totleben, O.P.@FrTotleben92742 (Jul 8, 2025) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Pope Francis was at his best when he was preaching. If he was preaching a retreat, I would actually go to the conferences and listen — and not just because he was the pope. This really is a great quote.

“The Lord never tires of forgiving. It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.” – Pope Francis

23. Mike Lewis@mfjlewis (July 3, 2025) A recently leaked Vatican report on the Latin Mass has led to new (unfounded) accusations by traditionalists against Pope Francis and has motivated some to apply pressure on Pope Leo to wade into the liturgy wars.

Just For Fun

24. Fr. Joseph Krupp@Joeinblack (July 9, 2025) We have a guest at the rectory and they locked themselves out of their bedroom. It’s a door to which we don’t have a key. After a number of failed attempts, they called me in and I popped it in less than 20 seconds. I told them I would rather there were no follow up questions.

25.Theresa Zoe Williams@TheresaZoe (July 10, 2025) Ringing in 40 doing all the things I love: researching my genealogy, watching Disney parks videos, having a good candle burning, and letting the moonlight shine in through the windows.

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