Petroc has just informed us that Barbara Strozzi was baptized in Venice 400 years ago today.
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He must have been reading #951.Originally posted by LMcD View Post
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August 7th
On This Date: Henry Tudor arrives in Wales [at "t'haven caulyd Milford"] gathering support for his battle against Richard III (1485); the Russian Imperial Navy, first formed just 18 years earlier, secures its first ever victory in the Battle of Gangut, against the Swedish navy (1714); George Washington orders the issuing of an official Badge of Military Merit, to be awarded to soldiers who "not only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way" (1782 - originally made of purple cloth [to be sewn onto a soldier's uniform] in the shape of a heart, it becomes known as "The Purple Heart", and is replaced during the First World War by a metal medal); Simon de Bolivar's forces [which includes British soldiers] defeat those of the Spanish Monarchy at the Battle of Boyaca - the first decisive victory in his campaign to liberate New Granada (1819 - the date is still celebrated in Colombia); Alice Huyler becomes the first woman to complete a transcontinental car journey when she arrives with her 3 female passengers, in San Francisco after a 59-day, 3,800 mile trip from New York (1909); Prokofiev is the soloist in the premiere of his own 1st Piano Concerto, conducted by Konstantin Saradzhev (1912); Thomas Shipp & Abram Smith are murdered by a white mob who take them from their cells in Indiana and lynch them - the spectacle is photographed and appears in newspapers around the world, and is seen by Jewish schoolteacher Abel Meerpol, who is so disgusted by the image that he is compelled to write his poem Strange Fruit (1930); legislation is passed to issue a commemorative half-dollar coin honouring Booker T Washington - the first such coin dedicated to an African-American (1946 - 500,000 coins are minted); Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition comes to an end when, after 101 days travelling across 4,300 miles of the Pacific Ocean, the balsa wood craft crashes into a reef at the Raro-nuku atoll (1947); Alice Coachman becomes the first black woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal (1948 - her medal [for the High Jump] is presented to her at the London Games by George VI); Explorer-6, the first satellite to take photographs of the Earth, is launched (1959); Frances Oldham Kelsey receives the US President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service from President Kennedy for refusing to bow to pressure and permit Thalidomide to be licensed in the US without more stringent testing results, thus preventing the birth defects in America that happened in Europe (1962 - 53 years less one day later, she receives the Order of Canada for her lifetime achievement, and dies within 24 hours of the award at the age of 101; she should be the Patron Saint of the Bloody-Minded); High-Wire performer Philippe Petit makes an unauthorised crossing - well, 8 of them in a 45-minute display - of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York (1974 - he is arrested, but charges are dropped [possibly not the most sensitive verb to use] on condition that he gives a show in Central Park for a children's charity); Berio's "azione musicale" Un Re in Ascolto is premiered at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Lorin Maazel (1984); ... and, this time last year, the authorities in China refuse to release the film Christopher Robin because of ongoing Social Media posts linking images of Winnie-the-Pooh with President Xi Jinping.
Birthdays Today include: Carl Ritter (1779); Henri Charles Litolff (1818 - he died 2 days before his 73rd birthday); Granville Bantock (1868); Mata Hari (1876);Louis Leakey (1903); Kenneth Kendall (1924); James Randi (1928); Veljo Tormis (1930); Edward Hardwicke (1932); Jane Fortune & Garrison Keillor (both 1942); Alexei Sayle (1952); ... and it is the Centenary of the birth of Kim Borg.
Final Days for: Vincenzo Scamozzi (1616); Friedrich Spee (1635); Joseph Marie Jacquard (1834); Alfredo Catalani (1893); Konstantin Stanislavski (1938); Rabindranath Tagore (1941); Oliver Hardy (1957); Eddie Calvert (1978); Brigid Brophy (1995); Red Adair (2004); Mike Seeger (2009); Frances Oldham Kelsey (2015 - aged 101).
And the Radio 3 Schedules for the morning of Tuesday, 7th August, 1979 were:
Overture: J. C. Bach Sinfonietta Op 6 #1; Rossini Duetto for cello and double-bass; Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence; Berkeley/Brttten Mont Juic: a Catalan suite; arr Casals Song of the Birds; Stanford The Blue Bird; Finzi Grand Fantasy and Toccata, Op 38; RVW Silence & Music; Falla "Interlude & Dance" (from La Vida Breve).
This Week's Composer: Schutz (Psalms of David; Seven Last Words)
Coull S4tet: Steptoe S4tet (premiere broadcast); Smetana S4tet #1
Soprano & Violin performed by Janet Price & Yfrah Neaman: Holst 4 Songs Op 35; Ridout Morgenstern Lieder; Seiber 4 Hungarian Folk Songs.
Piano Recital by Norma Fisher: Brahms Variations Op 21 (sets 1 & 2); Debussy Etudes.[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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August 8th
The Feast Day of St Dominic, the late 12th-early 13th Century Castillean founder of the Domenican order of mendicant monks. His childless mother, praying for a miracle, dreamt that she gave birth to a dog, carrying a burning torch in its mouth - and suggesting a pun that the order that her son initiated was Domini Canis (dog of the lord); which is perhaps ironic, given that Dominic himself was a vegetarian. He is, for some reason [?dog star?] the patron Saint of Astronomers.
And it's International Cat Day, initiated in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare to raise awareness of the needs of cats, and to share knowledge about the best way to protect and and help them. Cat Lovers will therefore think it tautologous that today is also Happiness Happens Day - inaugurated in 1999 as "Admit You're Happy Day" by the Secret Society of Happy People (Yorkshire Membership = 0). It's basically a "Count Your Blessings" day - and very useful, no doubt: get it out of the way and carry on as normal the rest of the year.
Also on This Date: the Marriage Ceremony of James IV of Scotland, and Margaret Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII of England, is held at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh (1503 - they'd been married since January, but had only met for the first time on 1st August; the event is celebrated in William Dunbar's poem The Thistle & the Rose); John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will Keith fail in their attempt to create long strips of wheat dough, and accidentally create Corn Flakes as a result (1894 - their new product is put on the market in the hope that it would help reduce dyspepsia, masturbation, and excessive sexual intercouse); to answer sceptical reports in French newspapers about their claims to have made powered flights, the Wright brothers make their first public demonstration at a horse racing track near Le Mans - during the flight [which lasts less than 2 minutes] Wilbur demonstrates banking turns and circular steering which silence the critics (1908 - chief sceptic, Ernest Archdeacon, founder of the Aero-Club de France publicly admits that his previous comments had been unjust); the 3-day-long Battle of Armiens begins (1918 - the beginnings of the "100 Day Offensive" leading to Allied victory in the War); up to 50,000 members of the KuKluxKlan march through the streets of Washington DC (1925 - the first public demonstration of the white supremacist hate group); funded by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, airship Graf Zeppelin begins a round-the-world flight (1929 - it completes the journey exactly three weeks later); the Quit India Movement is launched by Mahatma Gandhi calling for an "orderly withdrawal from India" by the British rulers (1942); the European Advisory Committee issues the Charter of the International Military Tribunal – Annex to the Agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis, establishing the rules and procedures of the Nuremberg Trials (1945); the Great Train Robbery occurs at 2:30 am at a railway bridge in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire - the thieves get away with £2.6million [around £54million today] (1963 - on the same day, the Zimbabwe African National Union is formed in the then Rhodesia, splitting from the Zimbabwe African People's Union); photographer Iain Macmillan takes a photograph of the four Beatles using a zebra crossing outside the Abbey Road recording studio (1969 - on the same day, 4 of Charles Manson's followers murder actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends at her home in Los Angeles); Richard Nixon makes a TV appearance, announcing that he will resign as President the next day (1974); thousands of people throughout Myanmar take to the streets to demand an end to the one-party rule of the military Burma Socialist Programme Party (1988 - the date is 8/8/88 [or, in America, 8/8/88] so the Pro-Democracy protests are called the 8888 Uprising); the 2,121 foot tall Warsaw Radio mast - then the tallest artificial structure in the world - collapses (1991); the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games is held in Beijing (2008); the Ebola virus epidemic is declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (2014).
Birthdays Today include: Frances Hutcheson (1694); Cecile Chaminade (1857); William Henry Squire (1871); Adolf Busch (1891); Paul Dirac (1902); André Jolivet (1905); Benny Carter (1907); Don Burrows (1928); Terry Nation (1930); Roger penrose (1931); Dustin Hoffman (1937); Nigel Mansell (1953); Chris Eubank (1966); Roger Federer (1981);
Final Days for: Emperor Trajan (117); Lucas van Leyden (1533); Christoph Ludwig Agricola (1719); Carl Heinrich Graun (1759); Jacob Burckhardt (1897); Eugene Boudin (1898); Edmond de Polignac (1901); James Tissot (1902); Jaromir Weinberger (1967); Elisabeth Abegg (1974); Cannonball Adderley (1975); Nicholas Montsarrat (1979); Louise Brooks (1985); Alan Napier (1988); Fay Wray (2004); Michael Hurd (2006); Patricia Neal (2010); Regina Resnik (2013); Peter Sculthorpe (2014); Glen Campbell (2017).
And the Radio 3 Schedules for the Morning of Tuesday, 8th August, 1989 were:
Morning Concert: Elgar Cockaigne Ovt; Britten Fancie; Poulenc Fancy; Saint-Saens Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs, Op 79; Mahler Hans and Grete, Winterlied, Im Lenz; Mozart Rondo in C K373; Dvorak Piano 5tet; RVW My Pretty Bess.
Composer of the Week: Handel (Sing Unto God; Sonata in e, Op 1 #1; Organ Concerto in F, Op4 #5; Athalia [Act 3]).
Scenes from Russia: Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival Ovt; Borodin Polovtsian March; Balakirev Islamey; Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia.
Bournemouth Sinfonietta conducted by Richard Hickox: Holst Fugal Concerto Op 40 (with Howard Nelson & Sian Davies); Finzi Dies Natalis (with Martyn Hill); Cowell Hymn & Fuguing Tune #10.
Piano Recital by Kathryn Stott (Mozart Adagio in b K540; Brahms 4 Pieces Op 119; Berg Piano Sonata).
Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Peter Eotvos (Haydn Symph #88; Dvorak Vln Concerto [with Gyorgy Pauk]; Bartok Miraculous Mandarin Suite).[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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That's easy for you to say.Originally posted by LezLee View Post[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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August 11th
The Feast Day of St Fiacre, the 7th Century hermit, who left his native Ireland to found a hermitage in Meaux, France. There he cultivated a large garden, growing vegetables and herbs to treat the sick, and thereby becoming Patron Saint of Gardeners, Herbalists, and sufferers of haemorrhoids, and/or venereal diseases.
And, considering the effort he put in his life to disputing the legitimacy of Anglicanism, nice to know that the Church of England sets this day aside to commemorate Cardinal Newman (who died on this day in 1890) - his fellow Roman Catholics have to wait until 9th October.
Also on This Date: the Mayan Long Count Calendar begins (3114 BCE); the English forces led by Earl Brythnoth are defeated by Viking invaders at the Battle of Maldon, leading to the death of Brythnoth, and the first payment of Danegeld by Aethelred the Unready (991 - Aethelred is advised to pay 3300 kgs of Silver as Protection Money: worth about £1.5million at today's values); the Battle of Dupplin Moor results in the defeat of the Scottish forces loyal to the infant son of Robert the Bruce by the English-supported Edward Balliol (1332 - the first victory involving English troops in Scotland since their defeat at Bannockburn, 28 years earlier); Irish mountaineer Charles Barrington together with Swiss coleagues Christian Almer & Peter Bohren, make the first successful ascent to the summit of the Eiger (1858); Henry S Parmalee, President of the Mathusek piano Works, recieves US patent #154076 for his invention of an automatic fire extinguishing sprinkler head (1874); a new Constitution, written by a National Assemby convened in Weimar, is adopted, marking the beginning of the Weimar Republic (1919); the first 137 prisoners, mostly bank robbers and murderers, arrive at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (1934); Sergei Rachmaninov gives his final performance in Europe at the Lucerne Festival (1939); actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil patent a Frequency-Hopping spread spectrum communication system [I understand all those words individually] - still in use in wiFi & wireless technologies (1942); Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto #2 in Eb is premiered at the Salzburg Festival with soloist Gottfried von Freiberg, and the VPO conducted by Böhm (1943 - Strauss himself wasn't present: he'd featured at the Festival conducting Mozart, - and rehearsing the new Concerto - but had left for home 2 days earlier); citizens of the Polish city of Krakow and Soviet Security Officers violently attack the city's Jewish inhabitants throughout the day - the single [offical - photographs suggest that another 4 deaths may have also been caused in the violence] casualty was a 54-year-old who had been liberated from Auschwitz Extermination Camp by other Soviet soldiers 8 months earlier (1945 - the usual lies have sparked the attacks: rumours that Jews have murdered babies, and the usual sadistic frenzy results); Hindemith's Opera Die Harmonie der Welt is premiered at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, conducted by the composer (1957); six days of rioting breaks out in the Watts neighbourhood of Los Angeles after a roadside argument over a speeding violation between white policemen and black citizens escalates into a fight (1965); the last ever mainline steam-driven train in Britain chuffs its way from Liverpool Lime Street station to Manchester Victoria and back again (1968); the three Apollo 11 astronauts emerge from their post-lunar quarantine (1960); President Ronald Reagan makes a joke during microphone test before his weekly radio broadcast to the nation - he "announces" that he has "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever: we begin bombing in 5 minutes" (1984); a meeting between Osama Bin-Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and leaders of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization results in an agreement to establish a base (al-Qaeda) to continue the jihadist cause after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan (1988); the first total solar eclipse observable from the UK occurs (1999); a 19-year-old Las Vegas resident attempts to enter the cockpit of a Boeing 737 aircraft - he is so powerfully restrained by his fellow-passengers that he is strangled to death (2000); "I've been waiting for you all this time", Chinese crime novelist Liu Yongbiao tells police as they arrest him for a series of murders dating back over 20 years (2017 - he has used details that could only have been known to the murderer in his detective novels).
Birthdays Today include: Richard Mead (1673); Richard Brocklesby (1722); Hugh MacDiarmid (1892); Enid Blyton (1897); Alexander Mosolov (1900); Ron Grainer (1922); Alun Hoddinott (1929); Tamas Vasary & Justin Connolly (both 1933); Jonathan Spence (1937); Anna Massey (1937); ... and Ian McDiarmid is 75, Joe Jackson 65 and Raymond Leppard 92 today
Final Days for: William Waynfleete (1486); Hamnet Shakespeare (1596 - aged 11); Lavinia Fortuna (1614); Laurenz Oken (1851); Lowell Mason (1872); Edith Wharton (1937); Jackson Pollock (1956); JG Farrell (1979); Alfred A Knopf (1984); Helmut Walcha (1991); Peter Cushing (1994 - twenty-five years!); Phil Harris (1995); Rafael Kubelik (1996); Eunice Kennedy Shriver (2009); Yisrael Kristal (2017 - Auschwitz survivor, aged 113); ... and it is the centenary of the death of Andrew Carnegie; five years since the death of Robin Williams; and, this time last year, VS Naipaul.
And the Radio 3 Schedules for the Morning of day, 11th August, 1969 were:
Bach & Haydn (including the S4tet in g Op20 #3)
Morning Concert: BBCSSO/Loughran (no other details given)
This Week's Composers: Lassus & Victoria
Galliard Harpsichord Trio (Stephen Preston, Anthony Pleeth, & Trevor Pinnock)
Organ Recital by Robert Joyce, from Llandaff Cathedral.
Prokofiev: Vln Conc #2 in g minor (Heifetz/BSO/Munch)
then over 7 hours of cricket.[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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Talking about prescient, I've been wondering why quite often your birthdays and special days are the day before the Guardian's announcements. For instance, today you have Ian McDiarmid while the Guardian says tomorrow, and you announced International Cats' Day on the 7th August, when it was actually the 8th. I looked a bit silly as I'd already told my friends on another forum!Comment
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I am always "entertaining"!Originally posted by Pulcinella View PostWe know you've been 'entertaining'!
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See #946Originally posted by LezLee View Post
Would it be helpful to readers if I wrote, say, "11th August" in the Heading rather than "August 11th"?[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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Er, how is that different?Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View PostSee #946
Would it be helpful to readers if I wrote, say, "11th August" in the Heading rather than "August 11th"?
(Sorry I must have missed #946)Comment
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Just say ‘yes, that would be helpful ferney!’Originally posted by LezLee View PostEr, how is that different?
(Sorry I must have missed #946)Comment
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