June 17 Dateline

Birthdays

1703 - John Wesley, English cleric, theologian and evangelist, founder of Methodism. He was leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day. He is the older brother of Charles Wesley, also English leader of the Methodist movement, but most widely known for writing about 6,500 hymns. 

1818 - Charles Gounod, French composer, best known for his Ave Maria, based on a work by J.S. Bach, as well as his opera Faust. Another opera by Gounod still performed is Roméo et Juliette. Gounod's father was a painter, and his mother was a capable pianist who gave Gounod his early training in music. (Cellist Yo-Yo Ma & Pianist Kathryn Stott - Gounod's Ave Maria. Accessed June 17, 2017.  Tenor Luciano Pavarotti - Gounod's Ave Maria. Uploaded by Rodrigo Primeiro. Accessed June 17, 2018.)  

1882 - Igor Stravinsky, Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor, who is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. His compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Serge Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913). The Rite of Spring transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure, and was largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design.(Sir Simon Rattle conducts The Rite of Spring with the London Symphony Orchestra, uploaded by LSO, recorded live at the Barbican Centre on Sunday 24 September 2017. Accessed June 17, 2019.) 

1898 - M.C. Escher, (born Maurits Cornelis Escher), Dutch graphic artist, who made mathematically-inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for long somewhat neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition of his work was held. (M.C. Escher Official Website)

1914 - John (Richard) Hersey, American writer and journalist, Pulitzer Prize-Winner, considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to non-fiction reportage.

1943 - Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus), American singer-songwriter, arranger, musician, producer and actor with a career that has spanned more than 50 years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)". (Barry Manilow - Mandy (from Live on Broadway). YouTube, Uploaded by TopPop. Could It Be Magic. Uploaded by Steve Mtloff.  Accessed June 17, 2020.)

1980 - Venus Williams (born Venus Ebony Starr Williams), American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1, Along with younger sister Serena Williams, Venus is credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three occasions for a total of 11 weeks, she first reached the No. 1 ranking on February 25, 2002, the first African American woman to do so in the Open Era, and the second all time since Althea Gibson.
  

Leftie:
Artist M.C. Escher

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 17 June - On This Day.  

 

Historical Events

1923 - Enrico Ferrari wins his first race at Circuito del Savio in Ravenna, Italy.He meets Countess Paolina Baracca after the race who suggests he adopt her late son's emblem of the prancing horse.

1950 - Surgeon Richard Lawler performs the first kidney transplant operation at the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Chicago. Ruth Tucker, the recipient, lives for five years. 

June 16 Dateline

 Birthdays

1313 - Giovanni Boccaccio,  Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio is best known for The Decameron. He wrote his literature mostly in the Italian vernacular, and other works in Latin. (Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron and Bawdy Medieval Literature - Fabian Alfie. Uploaded by Humanities Seminars Program. Accessed June 16, 2018.)

1858 - John Peter Russell, Australian Impressionist painter (Of great interest is Russell's painting of his famous friend, Vincent van Gogh, credit: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation). Although V. van Gogh had been painted by other fellow artists, including Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec, this one by Russell remains a personal favourite. A healthier looking Vincent, with eyes purposeful, intent.)

1890 - Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson), English actor, writer, and film director who was part of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles.

1917 - Katharine Graham, American publisher and the second female publisher of a major American newspaper, following Eliza Jane Nicholson's ownership of the New Orleans Daily Picayune.  She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period: the Watergate coverage that eventually led to the resignation of former President Richard Nixon. Her memoir, Personal History, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

1934 - Dame Eileen (June) Atkins, CBE, DBE, English actress and occasional screenwriter. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Cranford. She is a three-time Olivier Award winner, winning Best Supporting Performance in 1988 (for Multiple roles) and Best Actress for The Unexpected Man (1999) and Honour (2004). She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2001.

1937 - Erich Segal, American author, screenwriter and educator. He was best known for writing the novel Love Story, a best-seller, and writing the motion picture of the same name, which was a major hit. (Scenes from the movie Love Story (1970), starring Ali Macgraw and Ryan O'Neal. Uploaded by Samuel. Accessed June 16, 2019. Famous quote from Love Story: "Love is never having to say you're sorry".) 

1938 - Joyce Carol Oates, American writer and University professor. Oates has published numerous novels, as well as a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel them, two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal and the Jerusalem Prize. Her novels Black Water, What I Lived For, and Blonde, and short story collections The Wheel of Love and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.

Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 16 June - On This Day.  

Historical Events

1904 - Writer James Joyce meets Nora, his future wife. Leopold Bloom, his fictional character in Ulysses, spends this day wandering around Dublin.    

1956 - English poet Ted Hughes marries American poet Sylvia Plath.