February 27

February 27, 1861: Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was born. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and self-described clairvoyant. Steiner first came to prominence as a literary critic at the close of the nineteenth century, when he also published The Philosophy of Freedom. He established the esoteric spiritual movement known as anthroposophy at the start of the 20th century. The movement has its roots in Theosophy and German idealism philosophy. In the 1920s, Steiner laid down the principles that are used to manage biodynamic wine production to date. As a social reformer, he viewed farming as a nearly mystical activity that was completely in sync with the cycles of nature. His rules serve as the foundation for the Demeter Biodynamic® Farm Standard, which outlines the procedure for obtaining biodynamic certification.

February 27, 1998: the poet Jack Micheline died of a heart attack while traveling on a train to Orinda. His first collection was titled “River of Red Wine.” Jack Kerouac wrote the introduction.

February 27, 2010: A devastating earthquake hit Chile. After a terrible earthquake struck Chile, which claimed 800 lives, many wineries had to stop making wine due to damage to their facilities and stock. The largest wine producer in Chile, Concha y Toro, was one of the producers to halt operations for at least a week after some of its wineries, which are situated in one of the worst-affected regions hundreds of miles south of the capital Santiago, experienced significant damage. Concha y Toro CEO Eduardo Guilisasti described it as a “catastrophe” that had hit the “heartland” of Chile’s wine industry. 100 million wine bottles, or approximately a sixth of Chile’s yearly exports worth US$300 million, were thought to have been lost after the 8.8 earthquakes tore through large portions of the Central Valley of Chile. Estimates place the total impact of the earthquake on Chile’s economy at $30 billion.

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Header image: Randy Caparoso — via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).