On this Day... December 2

CEBU, Philippines – In 1814, the original sadist, the Marquis de Sade, died locked up in a lunatic asylum. Nine years earlier he left a will giving strict instructions that his body be buried on his estate at Malmaison and sown over with acorns, so that it would subsequently disappear beneath the growing oaks. His instructions were ignored, and this fervent atheist was given a Christian burial, complete with a cross for a tombstone. Shortly afterwards, however, the grave was robbed, and de Sade's skull ended up in the hands of the phrenologist Gall. On examining it, he announced that it was "small and well shaped," and especially prominent were "the bumps of tenderness and love of children!"

• In 1942, the first atomic energy was produced in a disused racket-ball court at the University of Chicago. Led by Enrico Fermi, a team of scientists from Princeton and Columbia had constructed a "pile" - a lattice arrangement of uranium and graphite - calculated to produce the controlled chain reaction of nuclear fission. For nearly a year nothing happened - then the reaction started. At first it produced only half a watt, but within days it was producing hundreds, and soon its output was being measured in kilowatts. The scientists rejoiced. They'd produced pure energy and ushered in the atomic age. What they'd also done, of course, was to pave the way for the atomic bomb, giving the world the means to destroy itself.

- from Today's the Day! By Jeremy Beadle

In Christian history

• In 1960, the archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher met with the Pope John XXIII in Vatican. It is the first meeting between leaders of the Anglican and Roman Catholic faiths since the founding of the Church of England in 1534.

- from This Day in Christian History By William D. Blake

In the Philippines

• In 1899, the Battle of Tirad Pass between 60 Filipino soldiers under General Gregorio del Pilar and more than 300 American soldiers under General Peyton C. March took place. General Del Pilar, confidante and right-hand man of General Emilio Aguinaldo, was ordered to block the Yankees' advance into Tirad Pass, a mountain gap in the Cordillera Mountains of Northern Luzon. He followed the order of General Aguinaldo to defend the pass to stop the Americans so the revolutionary leader could build a guerrilla force in Isabela beyond the Cordilleras. Del Pilar asked his 60 men to position themselves on top of the mountain where, from their vantage point, they could see a whole battalion of 300 American soldiers advancing. Del Pilar gave encouragement to his men while watching the Americans coming within the range. "This is the most glorious moment in our lives," he said. "We are fighting for our motherland." However, unknown to Del Pilar and his men, a Filipino was leading a group of American soldiers to their rear. As he heard a volley of fire coming from the back, Del Pilar saw many of his soldiers fall one by one. Standing alone, he took out his diary from his breast pocket and wrote the following words: "What I am doing now is for my beloved land." After returning his diary to his pocket, he mounted his horse once more with saber in hand, but a single shot claimed the life of the young, brave general. The American soldiers rushed to the spot where the fallen general was. One of them got his diary, another one took the spurs from Del Pilar's boots, one other got the boots, another followed and took his shirt off, someone collected his buttons, tore off the bloody collar and pants.

- www.kahimyang.info

In Cebu -

• In 1866, Bishop Martin Alcocer, the last of the Spanish bishops of Cebu, took formal possession of the diocese of Cebu.

• In 1928, "Progress," an English magazine published in Cebu by Vicente Rama, came off the press.

- from Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos