On This Day... Nov. 4

CEBU, Philippines – In 1961, Bob Dylan hit the big time with his first “proper” concert at the Carnegie Chapter Hall in New York. Only 53 members of the audience had paid to get in – the rest were friends – and after singing rather poorly for a while, Dylan spent most of the concert talking.

• In 1842, gangling Abraham Lincoln married plump Mary Todd at the home of the bride’s sister in Springfield, Illinois. He’d been going to marry her some months earlier, but he chickened out and became so depressed that friends kept knives and razors out of his reach. The ceremony was finally arranged for a Friday, and it was so sudden that the icing on the wedding cake was still warm. Lincoln had managed to get Mary’s wedding ring engraved “Love is Eternal,” but when asked where he was going a few hours before the wedding, he replied, “To the devil.” Once during their stormy marriage Mary chased him out of the house with a carving knife!

— from Today’s the Day! By Jeremy Beadle

In Christian history

• In 1646, the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law making it a capital offense to deny that the Bible was the Word of God. A person convicted of the offense was liable to death penalty.

— from This Day in Christian History

By William D. Blake

In the Philippines

• In 1896, Carlos P. Garcia, eighth President of the Philippines, was born in Talibon, Bohol. García grew up with politics, with his father serving as a municipal mayor for four terms. He pursued his college education at Silliman University in Dumaguete City and later studied at the Philippine Law School where he earned his law degree in 1923. Known as the ”Father of Filipino First Policy,” Garcia put the rights of Filipinos above those of foreigners, favoring Filipino businessmen over foreign investors. He was famous for his poetry in Bohol, where he earned the nickname “Prince of Visayan Poets” and the ”Bard from Bohol.” Garcia entered politics in 1925, scoring an impressive victory to become Representative of the Third District of Bohol. He was elected for another term in 1928 and served until 1931. He was elected Governor of Bohol in 1933, but served only until 1941 when he successfully ran for Senate, but was unable to serve due to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during the Second World War. He assumed the office when Congress re-convened in 1945 after the end of the war. Garcia was the running mate of Ramon Magsaysay in the 1953 presidential election in which both men won. He was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs by President Magsaysay, and for four years served concurrently as Vice-President. The presidency landed on his lap when President Ramon Magsaysay died in an airplane accident in Cebu. After finishing Magsaysay’s term, Garcia was elected as president in the election in November 1957. He retired to private life after failing in his reelection bid in 1961, defeated by Diosdado Macapagal, living as a private citizen in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. On June 1, 1971, García was elected delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention (Con-Con). However, just days after his election as Con-Con president, Garcia suffered a fatal heart attack on June 14, 1971. He was interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, together with his wife Leonila, who died in 1994.

— www.kahimyang.info

In Cebu

• In 1898, Hilario C. Moncado, founder of the Filipino Federation of America, was born in Pondol, Balamban.

— from Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos