This Day in History

I found this on a "This Day in History" website:

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) joins in the squabble between Hume, Voltaire, & Rousseau, suggesting that Rousseau be indentured to work on the plantations.

Johnson kills me. One of the best ever. James Schall wrote in his modern classic, The Unseriousness of Human Affairs, that he tries to read a little bit of Boswell's Life every day. I tried that for awhile, picking up a Penguin abridged version (the unabridged is bulky) and carrying it with me everywhere. It was an enjoyable experience. I especially enjoyed the reaction I got while reading it in the dug-out during my son's little league game. One of the coaches from the opposing side came over from the third base line and peered into the dug-out and said, "Eric, what are you reading?" I said, "Oh, just this biography" and held it up. He looked at me like I had just propositioned him.

I'm not sure how reliable that "This Day in History" site is, by the way. It also claims that Socrates was executed this day back in 399 BC. This strikes me as an awfully questionable assertion, since the Greeks used a different calendar. Actually, they used a bunch of different calendars ("each city-state made its own calendar." Daniel Boorstein, The Discoverers). Do they really know on what day Socrates was executed? If anyone knows the answer, please email me (link on left).