25 th May

735 AD St. Bede died.

1787 First session of the Constitutional Convention convened. 1803 Waldo Emerson was born.

Today is the anniversary of the U. S. Constitutional Convention’s first session. In 1787, the representatives that gathered in Philadelphia eventually adopted a final draft of the nation’s Constitution. But this was not supposed to be the convention’s first session. It had been scheduled to convene on May 14th. But only the representatives of Virginia and Pennsylvania were there on time. A quorum didn’t convene until this day.

This is American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson’s birthday. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1803. It was Emerson, who said: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” That’s not to say that we should all launch ourselves headlong into whatever we do. Emerson also said, “He has not learned the first lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.”

The final act of a great man is often more memorable than any other deed executed during his life. On this day in 735 ad, the Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede awoke in his monk’s cell at the Jarrow monastery. He was ready to dictate the last chapter of his latest translation: the Gospel according to St. John. “Take up your pen and ink and write quickly,” he told his scribe. Upon completion of his translation, Bede knelt down to pray and died.