Portal:Atheism/Selected anniversaries

13 January 2006 - Edwin Kagin named national legal director for American Atheists
15 January 1664 - Birth of Jean Meslier (pictured), a Catholic priest who was discovered, upon his death, to have written a book-length philosophical essay promoting atheism
17 January 1945 - Birth of Javed Akhtar, Urdu and Hindi (Hindustani) poet, lyricist and scriptwriter from India
23 January 1932 - Death of Marion Phillips, a Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament in England

13 February 2007 - Kansas State Board of Education votes 6 to 4 to reject the amended science standards enacted in 2005
26 February 2005 - Javed Akhtar (pictured) gives speech "Spirituality, Halo or Hoax", revealing he is an atheist
27-28 February 1963 - Abington School District v. Schempp argued before Supreme Court of the United States
29 February 2008 - Owner of Atheist.ie registers domain name Catholic.ie, using it for parody

9 March 1957 - Birth of PZ Myers, American biology professor with a focus in the field of evolutionary developmental biology
24 March 2004 - Supreme Court of the United States agrees to hear the case Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow
25 March 1811 - Percy Bysshe Shelley (pictured) expelled from University College, Oxford after publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism
28 March 2006 - Publication of the book The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

6 April 1928 - Birth of American molecular biologist James D. Watson
6 April 1992 - Death of Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry Isaac Asimov
12 April 1957 - Birth of Dutch biologist, columnist, and politician Ronald Plasterk (pictured), Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the fourth Balkenende cabinet for the Labour Party
13 April 1949 - Birth of the English-American author and journalist Christopher Hitchens
13 April 1962 - Death of Culbert Olson, twenty-ninth Governor of California from 1939 to 1943

1 May 2007 - Publication of the book God Is Not Great
5 May 2007 - Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron debate Brian Sapient (pictured) and Kelly O'Connor of Rational Response Squad on the existence of God
7 May 2008 - Ellen Johnson removed from position as president of American Atheists
16 May 2006 - Ayaan Hirsi Ali resigns from Dutch Parliament

13 June 2008 - Premiere of Letting Go of God performance by Julia Sweeney (pictured), at Seattle International Film Festival
13 June 2004 - Foundation of Atheist and Agnostic Group
14 June 2004 - Decision in Supreme Court of the United States case Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow
17 June 1963 - Decision in Supreme Court of the United States case Abington School District v. Schempp

3 July 2002 - Original airing of South Park episode "Red Hot Catholic Love"
7 July 1990 - Earliest known reference to the Invisible Pink Unicorn, on a Usenet discussion group
19 July 1982 - Death of American physicist Hugh Everett III
24 July 2007 - Death of Albert Ellis (pictured), American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

14 September 1611 - Play The Atheist's Tragedy entered into the Stationers' Register
15 September 2006 - Death of Italian journalist, author, and political interviewer Oriana Fallaci
19 September 1955 - Pastafarians celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19
20 September 2007 - American politician Pete Stark (pictured) reaffirms his atheism by making a public announcement in front of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University

3 October 2008 - Release of Bill Maher's film Religulous
7 October 2007 - Catholic League (U.S.) calls for a boycott of the film The Golden Compass
10 October 2007 - Christopher Hitchens (pictured) nominated for a National Book Award for his book God Is Not Great
12 October 2007 - 30th annual conference of Freedom From Religion Foundation held in Madison, Wisconsin

3 December 2008 - Kathy Griffin nominated for a Grammy award for Best Comedy Album
4 December 2007 - Michael Newdow (pictured) argues before a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit to remove both "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance (Roe v. Rio Linda Union School District), and "In God We Trust" from US currency
27 December 1946 - Birth of Polly Toynbee, a journalist and writer in the United Kingdom; she was appointed President of the British Humanist Association in July 2007
28 December 1902 - Birth of Mortimer Adler, American Aristotelian philosopher and author

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