07 February

February 7 1497 – The Largest Bonfire of the Vanities Occurs in Florence, Italy

February 7 1497 – The Largest Bonfire of the Vanities Occurs in Florence, Italy5 (100%) 1 vote Decades after St. Bernardino di Siena opened the practice of burning “temptation-inducing” items to turn Catholic adherents back toward the faith, parishioners of Friar Girolamo Savonarola launched one of the largest bonfires of the vanities on February 7, 1497. Set in the capital of the Italian Renaissance, Florence, historians wonder to this day what priceless works of art or literature may have been destroyed as “frivolous, sinful pursuits.” Throughout the 1400s, the cities of Europe engaged in a slow process of awakening from the Middle Ages. New ideas blossomed all over the continent, […]

February 7 1979 – Nazi ‘Angel of Death’ Dr. Josef Mengele dies

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February 7 1979 – Nazi ‘Angel of Death’ Dr. Josef Mengele dies5 (100%) 1 vote Dr. Josef, the SS physician who gained notoriety for his inhumane medical experimentation upon the inmates of the concentration camp at Auschwitz, died on February 7, 1979. Popularly known as the Angel of Death or White Angel, Mengele died of a stroke in Brazil. His death was verified much later, though, in 1985. Josef Mengele was born in Gunzburg, Germany, on March 16, 1911, the eldest among the three sons of Karl and Walburga Mengele. In Bavaria, Karl had founded Frima Karl Mengele & Sohne, a manufacturing plant that designed and produced farm implements. When […]