June 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1898 - Erich Maria Remarque, German novelist, best known for his landmark anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front, about the German military experience of World War I, was an international best-seller which created a new literary genre, and was subsequently made into the film of the same name.

1906 - Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and artist, regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmaker of the Golden Age cinema of Hollywood.  Famous for The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard, and Stalag 17. (Stalag 17 Full Movie. Uploaded by Afeem Charas. Accessed June 22, 2015. Sunset Boulevard Explained: The Hollywood Nightmare. Uploaded by The Take. Accessed June 22, 2019).

1910 - Sir Peter Pears, English tenor and co-founder with Benjamin Britten, of the Aldeburgh Festival. Listen to Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten discuss Schubert's great cycle "Die Winterreise," D.911 (1968), including "Frühlingstraum", "Im Dorfe", and "Der Leiermann". Indeed, this admirable brilliant couple brought much understanding to everything they approached.

1949 - Meryl Streep (born Mary Louise Streep), American actress. Often described as the "best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accents. Nominated for a record 21 Academy Awards, she has won three.

1953 - Cyndi Lauper (born Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper), American singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Her album She's So Unusual was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies and her second record True Colors.

1964 - Dan Gerhard Brown, American author best known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno and Origin. His novels feature recurring themes of cryptography, art, and conspiracy theories. Someof them have been adapted into films. The Robert Langdon novels are deeply engaged with Christian themes and historical fact, generating controversy as a result. Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a "constant spiritual journey" himself. He claims that his book The Da Vinci Code is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that it may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."

1973 - Carson Jones Daly, American television and radio personality.  He has been involved at NBC, such as becoming host for its reality music competition The Voice in 2011, and joining NBC's morning show Today, with his role increasing in subsequent years becoming a co-host. Daly has served as a radio DJ. He also hosts a weekly top 30 countdown show The Daly Download with Carson Daly which is produced by Entercom (formerly CBS Radio and is the parent of KAMP-FM) and syndicated though Westwood One.

Lefties:
None known

More birthdays and historical events today, 22 June - On This Day.

Historical Events

1377 - Richard II becomes King of England on the death of Edward III. He is ten years old. He is formally crowned in Westminster Abbey on July 16, 1377.

1633 - Rome's Vatican Holy Office forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Earth rotates around the sun, on pain of torture.

June 21 Dateline

***Midsummer's Day***

The longest day of the year in Britain. In Australia, this is the shortest day of the year.  The solstice falls within one day either side of June 21,  therefore marking the longest or shortest day of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere this makes it the summer solstice, and in the Southern Hemisphere it is the winter solstice.

Birthdays

1732 - Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer, 9th son of J.S. Bach (He should not be confused with other similarly named members of the Bach family. Listen to his Sonata in D major for piano & violoncello.)

1905 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, playwright, novelist, political activist, and biographer. He was a key figure in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, and one of the leading figures in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. His work influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies, and continues to influence these disciplines. Sartre had an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher and writer Simone de Beauvoir. Together, they challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyle and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, "bad faith") and an "authentic" way of "being" became the dominant theme of Sartre's early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work Being and Nothingness (L'Être et le Néant, 1943). Sartre's introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism Is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme, 1946). (Sartre in Ten Minutes. Uploaded by Eric Dodson. Accessed June 21, 2015. (PHILOSOPHY - Sartre. Uploaded by The School of Life. Accessed June 21, 2015.)

1921 - Jane Russell (born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell), American film actress and one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She moved from the Midwestern United States to California, where she had her first film role in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw. In 1947, Russell delved into music before returning to films.

1932 - Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin, Argentine-American composer, pianist, arranger and jazz-band leader. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, including the "Theme from Mission: Impossible", Bullitt, and Enter the Dragon. (Mission: Impossible / Music From The Original Television Soundtrack / (DIGITAL AUDIO). Performed by Lalo Schifrin & the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. Uploaded El papa_upa!. Accessed June 21, 2019)

1948 - Ian McEwan, English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, The Times featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 19 in its list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". “When it's gone, you'll know what a gift love was. You'll suffer like this. So go back and fight to keep it.” - Ian McEwan, Enduring Love

1953 - Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani politician who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim majority nation and the youngest elected leader in the Islamic world. She was the world's youngest Prime Minister, the youngest female Prime Minister ever elected. 

1982 - William, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, PC, ADC (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was made Duke of Cambridge prior to his wedding to Catherine Middleton in April 2011. The couple have three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. He became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay following his father's accession to the throne on 8 September 2022. The following day he was made Prince of Wales, the traditional title for the heir apparent to the British monarch.

 
Leftie:
 William, Prince of Wales

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 21 June - On This Day.    

Historical Events

1675 - Christopher Wren begins work on rebuilding London's St. Paul's Cathedral after it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.

1813 - The Battle of Vitoria is fought in Spain between Wellington's forces and those of Marshal Jourdan and Napoleon's brother Joseph. It is a resounding victory for Wellington and effectively ends Napooleon Bonaparte's power in Spain.