Three SC well doers

Bonny and Blythe

The old nursery rhyme says, “The child that is born on the Sabbath day is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.” Throughout history, several figures born on a Sunday have embodied this “bright” reputation, though their lives often involved a bit more grit than the poem suggests.Here are three significant figures born on a Sunday, their achievements, and the rhetoric that defined them.

Sunday childs

1. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809)

The 16th President of the United States was born on a Sunday in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky. * How he did well: Lincoln navigated the U.S. through its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis: the American Civil War. He successfully preserved the Union, abolished slavery via the Emancipation Proclamation, and strengthened the federal government.

* The Rhetoric:

During his life, his critics used harsh, populist rhetoric, calling him “The Illinois Ape” or a “Sectional President.” However, the rhetoric shifted dramatically after his assassination toward that of a secular saint or the “Great Emancipator.” He is often described with the rhetoric of the “Self-Made Man,” emphasizing his rise from frontier poverty to the White House.

2. Marie Curie (November 7, 1867)

The pioneering physicist and chemist was born Maria Skłodowska on a Sunday in Warsaw, Poland. * How she did well: She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields (Physics and Chemistry). She discovered polonium and radium and championed the use of portable X-ray units in WWI.

* The Rhetoric:

The rhetoric surrounding Curie often focused on her “martyrdom for science.” Because she died from radiation exposure, she was framed as a selfless seeker of truth. In a male-dominated era, she was also frequently characterized by the rhetoric of “transcendent genius,” being the “exception” that proved women were capable of the highest levels of intellectual rigor.

3. David Bowie

(January 8, 1947)

The legendary musician and cultural icon was born David Robert Jones on a Sunday in Brixton, London. * How he did well: Bowie reinvented the concept of the “rock star.” With a career spanning over five decades, he sold over 100 million records and pioneered genres from glam rock to soul to electronic music. He was a master of visual presentation and character-driven performance. *

The Rhetoric:

The rhetoric used for Bowie almost always centers on “reinvention” and “alienation.” He was the “Starman” or the “Chameleon of Rock.” Critics and fans alike spoke of him as a figure who was perpetually ahead of his time, using his music to make it “okay” for people to be outsiders. He was framed as a bridge between the avant-garde and the mainstream.

Comparison of Legacies

Sunday Trait (The Rhetoric)

Abraham Lincoln Politics

The “Honest” Martyr

Marie Curie

Science

The “Dutiful” Pioneer

David Bowie

Arts |

The “Blithe” Visionary

Culture Sabbath

It is widely believed that a child born on a Sunday was immune to the “Evil Eye” and could not be harmed by malevolent spirits or witchcraft.Seeing the Unseen: In some regions, folklore suggested they could see ghosts or hidden treasures that were invisible to those born on “workdays.”The “Lucky” Aura: Because Sunday is the Sabbath (the day of rest and divinity), the child was thought to be under a special layer of divine protection, leading to a life of inherent good fortune.

Curative

This folklore in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sunday’s children were sometimes sought out as natural healers.In some rural communities, it was thought that a “Sunday-born” person could cure minor ailments just by touch or by offering a blessing.They were seen as having a “sunny” disposition that wasn’t just a personality trait, but a physical vitality that could ward off illness.

Religious secular divid…

Some stricter religious circles, the “gay” and “blithe” description was actually seen as a warning. Critics argued that being born on a day of rest might lead to a life of idleness or vanity.

The “Wise” interpretation: However, the prevailing folk-logic won out: because they were born on the Lord’s Day, they were gifted with a natural wisdom and a “moral compass” that functioned without effort.