Today, in addition to being the Day of the Dead, was the date in 1265 when Thomas of Celano died. This Franciscan monk authored the "Dies Irae", or Day of Wrath, a poem on Judgment Day which was later adopted as a Gregorian chant and incorporated into the Roman Requiem Mass.
The "Dies Irae" melody has made a number of noteworthy cameos in classical music, including in the work of Berlioz ("Symphonie Fantastique") and Liszt ("Totentanz"). A more modern appearance was in the opening titles of the horror film The Shining:
On a lighter note, November 1 also saw the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, killing as many as 100,000 people - but inspiring Voltaire's rollicking paen to pessimism Candide.
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