Charles Cutler Torrey was born on this day in 1863 in East Hardwick. He would go on to become a leading Semitist. A Semitist is a scholar that studies Semitic languages, cultures or histories. Semites include Jews and Arabs, and in ancient times also included the Babylonians, Assyrians, Aramaeans, Canaanites and Phoenicians.

Torrey taught Semitic languages at Andover Theological Seminary and Yale. Semitic languages include Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic.

Torrey gathered evidence regarding Christianity and Islam, and he founded the American School of Archaeology at Jerusalem in Israel.

The Vermont Book Of Days photo.