As a historian of philosophy it’s somewhat embarrassing for me to admit this, but I’m pretty bad with dates. I don’t mean the dried fruits, or romantic encounters, though to be honest neither of those was ever my strong point either. I mean when things happened, when famous people were born, and for that matter, birthdays and anniversaries. So I’m always grateful when a historical figure has a really memorable birth- or death-date. The best example has to be al-Ghazālī, the great Muslim philosopher and theologian, who did people like me the favor of dying in the year 1111.
