Readers can quickly recall what happened in recent years on January 6 (2021), and October 7 (2023). But historically? Historically, these dates are also very significant—one for the United States, the other for Europe—but unfortunately not often remembered. 

On January 6, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his famous speech to the nation in which he talked about the “Four Freedoms”: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. This message was the centerpiece of his State of the Union Address that year, when World War II was already raging abroad, and Americans, feeling a sense of insecurity, needed solace from their commander-in-chief. 

The mainstream media exhibited historical amnesia in failing to contrast the 2021 assault on the US Capitol building with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Roosevelt’s reassuring words at a time of national stress.   

Would being reminded of the January 6, 1941, speech on that same date in 2021 have made a difference in the events of that day? Could its recollection early that morning by the press and perhaps later in the day by the president himself have averted the deleterious behavior of so many?  

Back in 1571, on October 7, a naval fleet organized by the Vatican, which included dozens of Venetian and Spanish galleys as well as other European forces, confronted and defeated the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto, ending the advance of Islam on the European continent. The fierce and bloody contest turned the Mediterranean into a sea of red, full of floating bodies from both sides, now united in death. Pope (Saint) Pius V, who had urged public praying of the rosary, rejoiced when he received word of the victory and commemorated it by instituting the Feast of Our Lady of Victory on Oct. 7 (later changed to the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary).  

Last year’s shocking October 7 massacre incited religious warfare as well. As in 1571, Islam was involved, with Hamas brutally attacking Jewish residents in Israel, a country located on the far side of the Mediterranean. The victims of this massacre were on land, not sea, as invaders sought to destroy the Jewish state. Once again, the invaders were not successful, this time in the face of a massive Israeli military response.  

Recent events that have taken place on historically significant dates have some aspects of history repeating itself. But perhaps more importantly, they should remind us of the necessity for teaching, learning, and remembering history … so that history can perhaps repeat itself less often.