Today is the day of the year, in 1446AD, when the Hongul alphabet, created by Sejong the Great, was first published, as the Hunminjeong’eum. In South Korea, October 9 is known as Hongul Day.
The introduction of Hongul remains perhaps the most radical and effective use of literacy to level the economic playing field for an entire society. Its creation was a very rare instance when someone at the top of an economically stratified society did something effective to make their society more just and less stratified.
Today is also John Lennon’s birthday. I suspect he would be very pleased to know that he was born on Hongul Day.