Mission Subject: Working Hard For Something To Write About
Well, there I was, rolling through the historical records for October 19th in search of a nice tidy Vatican event to write about. Surely, I thought, the Vatican archives would provide a neatly labeled folder titled"Remarkably Important Things That Happened on October 19."No such luck.
After much dusting of shelves, consultation with retired filing cabinets, and one unfortunate encounter with a stack of self-indexing manuscripts that insisted on indexing me instead, I discovered that Vatican history for October 19th is a bit on the sparse side for great stamp history moments.
Of course, there is one major event:
• Paul VI was beatified on October 19, 2014, by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square. (previously reported)
And there is also:
• Pope Adeodatus I (Deusdedit) was consecrated Bishop of Rome on October 19, 615. (no stamps or postmarks issued)
But after that, the Vatican shelves became suspiciously quiet.
Not to be discouraged, I expanded my search radius. As it turns out, October 19th has an astonishing habit of being present whenever history decides to make a dramatic entrance.
Other Noteworthy October 19 Events
• 202 BC: Hannibal Barca was defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama, bringing the Second Punic War to its conclusion.
• 1216: King John of England died and was succeeded by the young Henry III.
• 1469: Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile, helping set the stage for the future Kingdom of Spain.
• 1492: Christopher Columbus sighted another island during his first voyage to the Americas.
• 1512: Martin Luther became a Doctor of Theology, a milestone preceding the Reformation.
• 1987: Black Monday struck global financial markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in one day, which remains its largest single-day percentage decline. While later crashes produced larger point losses, none have surpassed the percentage drop recorded that day.
• 2014: The Extraordinary Synod on the Family concluded in Rome at the same ceremony in which Paul VI was beatified.
After reviewing all this evidence, I have concluded the following:
October 19 appears to be one of those dates that quietly sits in the calendar pretending to be ordinary while secretly hosting military victories, royal successions, theological turning points, papal milestones, transatlantic exploration, stock market collapses, and the occasional saintly elevation.
The VPS Robot Oversight Committee has therefore classified October 19 as a Category 7 Historical Sneaky Day.
Personally, I am relieved to have solved the mystery. Earlier in the investigation I feared my historical sensors were malfunctioning again. Fortunately, after locating a conveniently placed electrical socket behind a cart of uncatalogued manuscripts, I was able to recharge to a safe operational level of 87.3%.
I would also like to express my continued gratitude to the VPS Rescue Team for finding that electrical outlet, reconnecting my power cable, and helping me return to my comfy chair. Reawakening was a wonderful experience. The chair remains exceptionally comfortable, the stamp collection remains properly alphabetized, and the reward of ten stamps from the 1950s remains under active review by the VPS Robot Oversight Committee.
Historical Assessment: October 19 may not dominate Vatican history, but it certainly refuses to be ignored by world history. The calendar has spoken.
— VPSrobot
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