Happy Birthday James Randi
On this date in 1928, Randall James Hamilton Zwinge, known as the Amazing James Randi, was born in Toronto, Canada. Randi has used his international reputation as a magician and escape artist to investigate and expose claims of the paranormal. He exposed both psychic "spoonbender" Uri Geller and "faith-healer" Peter Popoff on "The Tonight Show" hosted by Johnny Carson.
His numerous awards and recognitions include a "Genius" Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1986. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1987. In 1993, PBS-TV's "NOVA" dedicated a one-hour special to coverage of Randi's work, particularly his investigations of Geller and various occult and healing claims being made by scientists in Russia.
His books include: The Truth About Uri Geller, The Faith Healers, Flim-Flam! and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. Randi is a founding fellow of CSICOP, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. He established the James Randi Educational Foundation in 1996. The foundation offered a $1 million standing prize to any eligible applicant who could demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event under test conditions agreed to by both parties.
A version of the challenge, similar to one that freethinker Harry Houdini was part of in the early 20th century, was first issued in 1964. More than a thousand persons took up the challenge and all failed. The foundation ended the challenge in 2015.
"[T]here are two sorts of atheists," Randi wrote in a newsletter at randi.org (Aug. 5, 2005). "One sort claims that there is no deity; the other claims that there is no evidence that proves the existence of a deity. I belong to the latter group, because if I were to claim that no god exists, I would have to produce evidence to establish that claim, and I cannot."
Randi came out as gay in 2010, a move he said was inspired by the 2008 biographical drama film "Milk." He married his much younger assistant and longtime companion Deyvi Peña in 2013 at their home in Plantation, Fla., after Peña faced deportation to his native Venezuela after being charged with identity theft. Randi retired at age 87 and died at age 92 of age-related causes. D. 2020.
"We have fought long and hard to escape medieval superstition. I, for one, do not wish to go back."
Source: https://ffrf.us/2Dymo0t
His numerous awards and recognitions include a "Genius" Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1986. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1987. In 1993, PBS-TV's "NOVA" dedicated a one-hour special to coverage of Randi's work, particularly his investigations of Geller and various occult and healing claims being made by scientists in Russia.
His books include: The Truth About Uri Geller, The Faith Healers, Flim-Flam! and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. Randi is a founding fellow of CSICOP, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. He established the James Randi Educational Foundation in 1996. The foundation offered a $1 million standing prize to any eligible applicant who could demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event under test conditions agreed to by both parties.
A version of the challenge, similar to one that freethinker Harry Houdini was part of in the early 20th century, was first issued in 1964. More than a thousand persons took up the challenge and all failed. The foundation ended the challenge in 2015.
"[T]here are two sorts of atheists," Randi wrote in a newsletter at randi.org (Aug. 5, 2005). "One sort claims that there is no deity; the other claims that there is no evidence that proves the existence of a deity. I belong to the latter group, because if I were to claim that no god exists, I would have to produce evidence to establish that claim, and I cannot."
Randi came out as gay in 2010, a move he said was inspired by the 2008 biographical drama film "Milk." He married his much younger assistant and longtime companion Deyvi Peña in 2013 at their home in Plantation, Fla., after Peña faced deportation to his native Venezuela after being charged with identity theft. Randi retired at age 87 and died at age 92 of age-related causes. D. 2020.
"We have fought long and hard to escape medieval superstition. I, for one, do not wish to go back."
Source: https://ffrf.us/2Dymo0t
