MASONIC CALENDAR
July
JULY 1
Canada Day celebrates the formation of that Nation. Canada's
first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald was a Freemason.
JULY 2
Pope Leo XIII, who would later write the papal bull, Humanum
Genus, addressed the issue of Brazilian Freemasonry In 1878.
JULY 3
It is claimed that In 1634 Anthony Alexander,
Viscount Canada and Sir Alexander Strachan become members of the Lodge of Mary's
Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland.
JULY 4
Independence Day in the USA. George Washington, the United
States' first President was a well known Freemason.
JULY 5
In 1863, Brigadier General Lewis Addison
Armistead died at the age of 46 at Gettysburg Pennsylvania. He is one of the two
men depicted in the Friend to Friend Masonic civil War monument.
JULY 6
Famous Freemason John Paul Jones was born In 1747
in Arbigland, Kirkbean, Kirkcudbright, Scotland.
Grand Lodge of Florida Formed In 1830.
JULY 7
In 1727 the Viscount Doneraile died. Doneraile
was married to the Honorable Miss Elizabeth St. Leger one of the few women known
to have been initiated into Freemasonry in Ireland.
JULY 8
The order of the United American Mechanics was formed In 1845. Their emblems consisted of the square and compasses, which were
borrowed from Freemasonry.
The Grand Lodge of Connecticut is formed In 1789.
JULY 9
Brother Walt Disney's film, The Fox and the Hound is released
In 1980. Disney died fifteen years earlier.
JULY 10
A newspaper ad in Victoria BC called upon all Masons to meet
In 1858 for the purposes of forming a Masonic Lodge in that city.
Today ( 2005) there are 10 lodges in that city.
Brother Tommy Douglas becomes Premier of Saskatchewan. He is
responsible for Canada's Medicare system.
JULY 11
In 1938 the Great Smokey Mountains Masonic
monument was unveiled in North Carolina.
JULY 12
In 1864, Brother Frank Baldwin, then a Captain,
CoD in the 19th Michigan Infantry captured two Confederate Officers and their
regimental guidon. His act of bravery won him his first Medal of Honor. His
second would be earned in 1874. Brother Baldwin was a member of Siloam Lodge No.
35 in Constantine, Michigan.
JULY 13
The Grand Lodge of Turkey was formed In 1909. The
first Grand Master was Mehmet Talat S. Pasha, the minister of the Interior.
JULY 14
In 1889 that Leo Taxil claimed Albert Pike
gave the following instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World:
"Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the
true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of
Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity
against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."
Of course the claim was nonsense and Taxil later recanted
and admitted to the hoax.
JULY 15
In 1099,
Godfrey de Boullion's First Crusade Takes Jerusalem. Godfrey de Bouillon
(1058-1100), Duke of Lower Lorraine, was one of leaders of the First Crusade. He
was not a Knight Templar. When the Pope issued his summons to the Crusade,
Godfrey joined the French knights leaving for the Holy Land, together with his
brother Baldwin. In order to finance his expenses, he mortgaged his entire
property. His army was made up of Walloons, Flemings, and Germans. On July 15,
1099, his soldiers were the first to break through to Jerusalem, and took part
in the subsequent massacre of the Jewish and Muslim residents of the city. On
July 22, he was named ruler of Jerusalem. This choice, in which Godfrey de
Bouillon was preferred to Raymond de Saint-Giles was the best solution to the
problem faced by the conquerors of Jerusalem, who had to decide the status of
Jerusalem's ruler, and to whom he would be subject. Thus, Godfrey was awarded
the title of "Defender of the Holy Sepulcher." For the rest of the single year
in which he held this title, Godfrey managed to extend the boundaries of the
Crusader state and to lay the foundations of its organization. After his one
year of rule, he died and was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. His
brother Baldwin became King It would not be until 1116 when Hugh de Payens, a
knight of the lower nobility of champagne, approached King Baldwin II, with
eight other Knights who swore to devote their entire lives to the service of the
Holy Land. They were assigned a portion the al-Aqsa Mosque on the site of the
original Temple of Solomon. It was from these headquarters that the group took
the name: Poor Fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, later to be
known as The Knights of the Templar and, finally, the Knights Templar who in the
eyes of many, were to become the forerunners of modern Masonry.
In 1761 a number of Pennsylvania lodges organized
a Grand Lodge and later received a charter from the Antient Grand Lodge, calling
itself the York Grand Lodge.
JULY 16
In 1945, the
atomic bomb was first tested at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The successful test
proved that the US possessed the most destructive weapon ever devised by humans.
The explosion, seen up to 50 miles (80 km) away, created a massive orange and
yellow cloud in the shape of a mushroom that billowed upward. The atomic bomb
was the result of a secret US effort called "The Manhattan Project" ordered into
development earlier by President and Bro. Franklin Delano Roosevelt It was Bro.
Harry S Truman who ordered the bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima Japan less
than a month later( on August 10). Sixteen hours later Bro. Truman called upon
on the Japanese to surrender. Japan did not respond and two days later Nagasaki
suffered the same fate. On September 2, Japan formally surrendered to
representatives of the allied powers led by General and Bro. Douglas MacArthur,
thus ending world War II.
In 1969 Apollo 11 set off for the moon with
Mason, Buzz Aldrin on board.
JULY 17
In 1744 at
Marblehead, MA was born Bro. Elbridge Gerry, the man and Mason who was to become
Governor of Massachusetts, member of the Continental Congress, a Signer of the
Declaration of Independence, fifth Vice President of the US, and whose name
became part of the English language - "gerrymander" - when he signed a
redistricting bill while governor of Massachusetts. The records of his Lodge are
missing but his friends and family recorded him as having been made a member of
Philanthropic Lodge at Marblehead on November 23, 1814.
In 1751 the Antients Grand Lodge was formed,
breaking from the Grand Lodge formed in 1717 and thus starting the rivalry that
would last between the Antients and Moderns. This rivalry existed until the
Union of 1813.
In 1821 Spain
ceded Florida to the United States. President and Bro. James Monroe immediately
appointed Bro. Andrew (Old Hickory) Jackson, "the scourge of the Spanish and the
Seminoles," to receive the territory and take over as Governor. Governor and
Bro. Jackson gave up his general's commission in May to accept the Presidential
appointment.
In 1945, US
President Harry S Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister
Bro. Winston Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of
World War II. The purpose of the meeting was to send a clear message to Japan
demanding unconditional surrender or for Japan to "lay herself open to complete
and utter destruction."
JULY 18
Born - Bro. Red
Skelton, comedian-actor (The Red Skelton Show) in Vincennes, IN. Vaudevillian
and radio performer Red Skelton hosted several popular variety shows on NBC and
CBS in a career that spanned 20 years. He was a gifted comedian, famous for his
looney characters, sight gags, pantomimes and ad libs. His show was also notable
for introducing Johnny Carson and Rolling Stones to a national audience Bro.
Skeleton was raised in Vincennes lodge 1, Vincennes, Indiana in 1939.
Astronaut and Freemason John Glenn was born In
1921.
In 1927
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bro. Ty Cobb hit safely for the 4,000th time in his
baseball career. Considered one of the greatest ball players of all time, Bro.
Cobb was a member of Roylston Lodge No 426, Detroit, MI.
Bro. Harry S.
Truman, then President of the United States, signed an Executive Order
determining the line of succession should the president be temporarily
incapacitated or die in office. The speaker of the House and president pro tem
of the Senate are next in succession after the Vice president. This line of
succession became the 25th Amendment to the Constitution ratified on February
10, 1967.
JULY 19
In 1799, the
Rosetta Stone was discovered near the Nile River. Made out of black basalt, the
odd-shaped stone led to the interpretation and understanding of hieroglyphic
writing. The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and
communicate information about religion and government. Thus, they invented
written scripts that could be used to record this information. The most famous
of all ancient Egyptian scripts is hieroglyphic. However, throughout three
thousand years of ancient Egyptian civilization, at least three other scripts
were used for different purposes. Using these scripts, scribes were able to
preserve the beliefs, history and ideas of ancient Egypt in temple and tomb
walls and on papyrus scrolls.
In 1865 born at
Rochester, MN was the American surgeon, Bro. Charles Horace Mayo later to become
one of the Mayo Brothers who co- founded the world famous Mayo Clinic and Mayo
Foundation. The Clinic began at Rochester's Masonic Temple Building. Bro. Mayo
was a member of Rochester Lodge No. 21. He was also a member of Halcyon Chapter
No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, and Home Commandery No, 5, Knights Templar, both of
Rochester. Bro. Mayo also won the 32º degree AASR (SJ) at Winona, MN, and the
33º in October, 1935. He died May 26, 1939 in Chicago, Il
In 1921, born -
Bro. John Glenn ,U.S. Senator (D-Ohio), first American astronaut to orbit earth,
in Cambridge, Ohio. Bro. John Glenn is an ardent Scottish Rite Mason, too. He
received the 33° with Bros. Joel Berg, Arnold Palmer and Carl J. Smith, now
Grand Master of Masons in New York, in 1998.
JULY 20
In 1810
Colombia gained independence from Spain when Bro. Simon Bolivar (the George
Washington of South America) decisively defeated the Spanish. The beginning of
that nation's independence movement began with an uprising against Spanish
officials at Bogota in 1810. Adds Bro. Juan Alvarez from Australia: "Bro. Simon
Bolivar brought Independence from Spain to Grand Colombia, which was then
Colombia and Venezuela and prior to that Nueva Granada."The Grand Colombia was
actually what today is Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Panama
In 1944,
President and Bro. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented
fourth term at the Democratic convention..He was a member of New York's Holland
Lodge No. 8. Nominated to be his running mate as Vice President was the feisty
Bro. Harry S Truman, former Grand Master of Masons in Missouri..Bro. Roosevelt
was to run against - and beat - former New York Governor Bro. Thomas E. Dewey, a
member of New York City's Karie Lodge No. 454.
In 1969 man's
first landing on the moon. Bro. Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin and Neil Alden Armstrong
landed lunar module Eagle at 4:17pm. Eastern standard time. They remained on the
lunar surface 21 hours, 36 minutes and 16 seconds.
JULY 21
In 1796, at the
early age of 37, Bro. Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland and one of the
foremost poets of the world, died. . He was born January 25, 1759 at Alloway,
near Ayr , and died at Dumfries. Bro. Burns was an enthusiastic Mason from the
day he was initiated into St. David's Lodge No. 174 at Tarbolton, July 4, 1781.
He took membership in several other Lodges including Canongate-kilwinning No. 2
at Edinburgh where he was made Poet Laureate in 1787. One of his most famous
poems, "Auld Lang Syne" has become a worldwide "must" for those celebrating the
incoming New Year. Many of his poems are specifically Masonic.
In 1758 The Grand Lodge of Scotland granted a charter to
Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia. It was this lodge that had
previously conferred the Masonic degrees on George Washington in 1752 and 1753.
In 1831 Bro.
Georges Chretien Frederic became Leopold I, first King of an independent Belgium
on its separation from Holland. He was initiated in the Lodge of Esperance at
Berne, Switzerland in 1813, when 23 years old. After his marriage to Princess
Charlotte of England, he joined an English Lodge and "took an active part in all
its proceedings." One of his first acts as King was to take Masonry under his
official protection. As King he could not attend the Lodges but was always
interested in their workings and successes. At his death in 1865 the Grand
Orient of Belgium said: "Masonry has just suffered a cruel loss in the death of
one of our most illustrious members ...who died with the calm and serenity of a
just man, and with the stoicism of a true Mason...Our noble Brother has left us
a noble example to follow."
In 1875 The Grand Lodge of South Dakota was formed.
In 1961, Bro.
Virgil (Gus) Grissom, 35, became the second American to rocket into a suborbital
pattern around Earth. Navy Commander Alan B. Shepphad, 37, was the first on May
5 . Bro.Grissom's capsule sank after splashdown and the astronaut nearly
drowned. Bro. Grissom, was tragically killed in a launch pad explosion in 1967.
JULY 22
In 1924, King Edward VIII was made Provincial
Grand Master for Surrey.
In 1907 Howard Thurston, the famous Magician was initiated in Manitou
Lodge No. 106 in New York. He is said to have used the name
"Hiram Abif" as a magic word in his stage shows.
In 1923 Born -
Bro. and Sir Knight Robert J. Dole, US Senator (R-Arkansas) at Russell, KS did
not attain the highest office in the land, yet, like the giants of the 19th
century - Clay, Calhoun and Webster - he probably will be remembered by
posterity as they have been. World War II broke out during Bro. Dole's second
year at college. He left to enlist in the United States Army becoming member of
the 10th Mountain Division where he saw extensive duty in Italy.; While leading
an attack on the a German machine gun unit in the Po Valley on April 14, 1945,
he was hit by part of an exploding shell. His right shoulder was virtually gone,
some neck and spinal vertebrae were fractured and several slithers of metal
penetrated his body Three years of hospitalization and three operations
followed. Slowly the wounded soldier recovered the ability to stand, walk and
use his left arm and hand. He fell in love with and married Phyllis Holden, a
young physiotherapist who had helped his recovery. Their marriage ended in 1972.
In 1975 her married again to Elizabeth Hanford of Raleigh,. NC. In 1950 a
27-year-old Dole became a candidate for the Kansas Legislature. The rest is
history. Bro. Dole was initiated into Russell Lodge 177 on April 19, 1955,
passed to Fellowcraft on June 7, and was raised on September 20, 1955. Bro. Dole
completed his Scottish Rite degrees in the Valley of Salina on December 10,
1966, and the York Rite in Aleppo Commandery No. 31 in Hays, Kansas.
JULY 23
In 1847, Bro.
Brigham Young and his Mormon followers arrived at the Valley of Salt Lake, and
there established the center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Young was named president and prophet of the church that same year, This was a
post that had been vacant since the murder of Bro. Joseph Smith in 1844. In 1849
he became first Governor of the Territory of Utah and soon after became
instrumental in securing economic and political rights for Mormons. It was
believed Bro. Young was a member of Milnor Lodge No. 303 in Victor. NY. But this
Lodge warranted in 1818, regularly sent membership returns to NY Grand Lodge
until 1830, and Bro. Young's name was not among them. He died August 29, 1877.
In 1950, CBS
Television premiered the Gene Autry show, a popular western that ran for six
years starring Bro. Gene Autry, movie star, along with side-kicks Pat Buttram.
Bro. .Autry helped bring criminals to justice. Bro. Autry ws raised in Catoosa
Lodge No. 185, Catoosa, OK, in 1927. He became a Life Member of Long Beach, CA
AASR(32º) as well as a Life Member of Malaika Shrine Temple at Los Angeles, CA.
JULY 24
In 1783 born at
Caracas, Venezuela, was Bro. Simon Bolivar, known as "The Libera tor" and as
"the George Washington of South America." Bro. Bolivar in the course of 20 years
of warfare liberated from Spanish tyranny the area which is now Venezuela,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Bro. Bolivar became a Mason at Cadiz, Spain
in 1807. The same year he received the Scottish Rite degrees in Paris and was
knighted in a Commandery of the Knights Templar in France., He was active as a
Freemason during diplomatic mission to London in 1810, In Venezuela he founded
and served as Master of Protectora de las Veritudes Lodge No. 1., in 1824. He
founded the Lodge Order and Liberty No. 2. in 1828. His Scottish Rite collar and
apron are on exhibit at the Grand Lodge of New York. He died at Santa Maria,
Colombia, on December 17, in 1830. Bolivia is named after him.
In 1981 Italy banned all secret societies. This
move by the Italian government was a direct result of the P2 scandal. P2 was an
illegal Masonic Lodge.
JULY 25
In 1949, Time Magazine published a drawing by
R.M. Chaplin, which depicted the different bodies of Freemasonry. This chart,
like so many others of its ilk, incorrectly placed the York and Scottish Degrees
higher than the craft with the Shrine at the top of the ladder.
JULY 26
In 1739 in
Little Britain, NY, was born Bro. George Clinton, the Mason who was to become
America's fourth Vice President. He was Governor of New York from 1777 to 1776
and from 1801 to 1804. He became Vice President of the US from 1805 to 1812. He
appears to have been a member of Warren Lodge No. 17, New York City.
In 1775 Brother Benjamin Franklin becomes the 1st Postmaster General.
In 1863 Brother Sam Houston died.
In 1863,
Confederate Major General and notorious raider Bro. John Hunt Morgan was
captured at New Lisbon, OH by Union forces after harassing those forces in
Tennessee and Ohio throughout the Civil War. He was imprisoned in the Ohio
Penitentiary from which he soon escaped. He then undertook a raid in Greenville,
TN wherein he was surrounded and killed on September 4, 1864. He was a member of
Daviess Lodge No. 22 Lexington, KY. He was buried in Lexington Cemetery with
Masonic honors in 1846.
In 1902 H.
Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker arrived to New York after having crossed the
US from coast to coast for the first time in an automobile. The two adventurers
left San Francisco two months earlier driving a two-cylinder, 20-horsepower
Winton. They carried a 20-gallon emergency gasoline tank, a rifle, pistols, and
canvas clothing. Automobile pioneer Bro. Alexander Winton built their vehicle.
Winton's legacy includes more than 100 patents instrumental in the early designs
of automobiles and diesel engines. He was also generous in passing the
technology along to competitors when safety was an issue. Prior to the Gross
Pointe Race in 1901, Bro. Winton gave Bro. Henry Ford one of his new complete
steering mechanisms with a steering wheel assembly because Bro. Winton said
somebody would get killed with the device Bro. Ford was using. Bro. Ford went on
the win the Gross Pointe Race, but Bro. Winton consoled himself that it was with
his steering gear. Bro. Winton was a member of Lakewood Lodge No 601, Lakewood,
OH. He died June 21, 1932.
In 1947, US
President and Bro. Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, creating
the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central
Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Secretary of State Bro.
George Marshall said the move was needed because weakened nations of Western
Europe lay perilously close to the brink of communism.
In 1948 US
President and Bro. Harry S Truman signed an order officially integrating the
armed forces. This was a post World War II follow-up to July 26, 1944 when the
US Army ordered desegregation to its training camp facilities. African-American
platoons were assigned to white companies later the same year as a tentative
step towards integration of the battlefield.
JULY 27
In 1789,
America's first President Bro. George Washington created the US Department of
Foreign Affairs, the new nation's first Executive Agency. Bro. Washington chose
the experienced Thomas Jefferson to head it because his first choice, Bro.
Benjamin Franklin had grown to ill with age. This agency several months later
changed its name to the Department of State.
In 1784 Brother Robert Burns was elected Deputy Grand Master, 3 years after being initiated into the craft.
In 1818 The Grand Lodge of Mississippi was formed.
In 1861, Union
Gen. and Bro. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac.
Born December 3, 1826 at Philadelphia, PA, he entered the US Military Academy at
West Point at age 15, graduating in 1846. He served in the Mexican-American War
and layer explored the Upper Red River between Texas and Indian territory as
army engineer. In 1864 he was the Democratic candidate for US President , being
defeated by Abraham Lincoln. He received all three degrees of Freemasonry
December 9, 1853 , in Wilamette Lodge No. 2, Portland, OR, by special
dispensation of the Grand Master. He died October 29, 1885.
JULY 28
In 1821 General
Jose de San Martin proclaimed Peru's independence of Spain. But it took an
additional three years for him and Bro. Simon Bolivar and Jose de Sucre to drive
Spanish troops out in the battles of Junin and Ayacucho, respectively, thus
complete independence was not won until 1824. Spain did not recognize Peru's
independence until 1879.
In 1943, Brother FDR ends coffee rationing in the
USA.
In 1951, Brother Walt Disney releases, "Alice in
Wonderland."
JULY 29
In 1588 the
English fleet , commanded by Bro. Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, and
2nd Baron of Effingham, soundly defeated the so-called "invincible" Spanish
Armada in the Battle of Gravelines, France. Of the 130+ Spanish ships engaged
barely half struggled back to home port following the battle. Many of these were
destroyed by fierce storms when they attempted sailing round the northern tip of
Scotland and past the west coast of Ireland. As Lord high Admiral from 1585 to
1618 he held the chief command against the Spanish. Sir Francis Drake was second
in command Bro. Howard was Grand Master of England from 1579-1588.
In 1928, Brother Walt Disney releases, "Steamboat
Willie." This film was the first appearance of Mickey Mouse.
In 1948, Brother George VI opened the 14th Modern
Olympics in London, England.
JULY 30
The oldest existing lodge record is that of Edinburgh Lodge
No. 1, dated this day, 1599.
In 1733, Henry Price formed the Provincial Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts.
In 1863 at
Wayne County, MI, was born Bro. Henry Ford, industrialist, whose assembly line
method of auto-making changed the industry. His Model T made up half the world's
production of cars during its prime years. Bro. Ford started out building racing
cars until 1903 when he and his partners formed the Ford Motor Company, In 1913
Bro. Ford introduced the assembly line for mass production which reduced the
time for building a car from 12 1/2 hours to 1 1/'2. This enabled Bro. Ford to
sell cars for $500, making them available to people of modest income. He also
introduced a revolutionary $5 a day standard wage for auto-makers. Bro. Ford was
raised in Palestine Lodge No. 357, Detroit, MI, on November 28, 1894. He was
made a Life Member of that Lodge on March 7, 1935. On November 21, 1928, he was
made a member of Zion Lodge No. 1, Michigan's oldest Lodge. When he received his
33º AASR (NJ) in September, 1940, he said: :"Masonry is the best balance wheel
America has, for Masons know what to teach their children.." He died at age 83
on April 7, 1847, at Dearborne, MI, headquarters for his motor company.
In 1965,
American President and Bro. Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Medicare Social
Security Bill. The signing took place at the Harry S Truman Library at
Independence, MO. The former US President, hosted the signing. Bro. Truman, then
81 years old, had been the first chief executive to recommend a federal program
that would provide health insurance for the elderly under the auspices of Social
Security, MEDICARE went into effect the following year and would reach19-million
eligible Americans. At the signing Bro. Johnson paid tribute to Bro; Truman with
these words: "The people of the United States loved and voted for Harry Truman,
not because he gave them hell - but because he gave them hope."
JULY 31
In 1777, the
Marquis de Lafayette, Bro. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert de Motier, a
19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American
Continental Army. A beloved of early America he was with Bro. George Washington
at Valley Forge, , stationed at Tappan, NY, he served in Virginia, and was with
Bro. Washington at the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis.
In 1790 the
first US patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins for his method of making potash and
pearlash. The patent was granted a term of 14 years and was signed by President
and Bro. George Washington. Potash (singular for "pot ashes"), a form of
potassium carbonate derived mainly from wood ashes, was used at the time to make
glass and soap.
In 1875 died
Bro. Andrew Johnson, 17th US President at Carter Station, TN. Born December 28,
1808, Bro. Johnson became a Congressman, governor and eventually a US Senator.
After Tennessee seceded in 1861 he remained in the senate to support the
then-President Abraham Lincoln, who made him military governor of Tennessee In
1864 he was running mate to Lincoln on the Union ticket and became President
after Lincoln's assassination. One of his major accomplishments was the
acquisition Alaska in 1867. The House passed a resolution of impeachment against
him in 1868 saying he violated the tenure of Office Act against Secretary of war
Edwin Stanton. The Senate failed to reach a majority vote, and Bro. Johnson was
acquitted and served his remaining term in office. Bro. Johnson was initiated ,
passed and raised in Greenville Lodge 19, at Greenville, TN, in 1851. A Knight
Templar he also was the first to receive the degrees of the Scottish Rite in
which he received the 32nd degree in June, 1867.
In 1923 Harry Houdini received his second degree.
There were only 35 days between his initiation and raising, which must shock
many Modern Day Masons who believe fast track masonry is a modern invention.
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