Birthdays
1728 - Captain James Cook, FRS, British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to Australia in particular. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. Most modern references note James Cook’s date of birth as 27th of October 1728, which is the Julian calendar date, and for those who believe the correct date is 7th of November 1728, this is the Gregorian calendar date.
1782 - Niccolo Paganini, Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, a towering figure who left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices for Solo Violin Op. 1 are among the best known of his compositions, and have served as an inspiration for many prominent composers.(The Best of Paganini. Uploaded by Top Classical Music. Accessed October 27, 2014. Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1, beautifully interpreted by young Korean violinist In Mo Yang. Uploaded by SoundProfessional Boston. Accessed October 17, 2016.
1858 - Theodore Roosevelt Jr, 26th U.S. President from 1901 to 1909, referred to as Teddy Roosevelt or his initials T. R., American statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian and writer. He previously served as 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900 and the 25th vice president of the United States from March to September 1901. Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for the anti-trust policy while supporting Progressive Era policies in the early 20th century. His face is depicted on Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.
1872 - Emily Post, American author and socialite famous for writing about etiquette, on how to behave graciously in society and business. She wrote in various styles, including humorous travel books. She published her first etiquette book Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home (1922, frequently referenced as Etiquette) when she was 50; it became a best-seller, with updated versions continued to be popular for decades, and it made her career. After 1931, Post spoke on radio programs and wrote a column on good taste for the Bell Syndicate. It appeared daily in some 200 newspapers after 1932. In 1946, Post founded The Emily Post Institute, which continues her work.
1914 - Dylan Thomas (born Dylan Marlais Thomas), Welsh poet and playwright whose works include the poems "Do not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and "And Death Shall Have No Dominion"; the 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood; and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. One of his most famous and best-loved poems, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" is a villanelle, a poem divided into three-line stanzas where the same two repeated lines of verse comprise the last line of each alternating stanza.
1923 - Roy Fox Lichtenstein, American pop artist. Along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. Inspired by the comic strip, Lichtenstein produced precise compositions that documented while they parodied, often in a tongue-in-cheek manner. His work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style. He described pop art as "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting".
1932 - Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956, and they lived together in the United States and then in England. They had two children, before separating in 1962. Plath was clinically depressed for most of her adult life, and was treated multiple times. She died by suicide in 1963. Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry, best known for two of her published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel, and a semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, published shortly before her death. In 1982, she won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for The Collected Poems. (Sylvia Plath Interview. YouTube, uploaded by nagusd. Accessed October 27, 2013.)
Lefties:
None known
More birthdays and historical events, October 27 - On This Day
Historical Events
1886 - The Night on Bald Mountain of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky is first performed posthumously in St. Petersburg. It is re-orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov.
1904 - One of the biggest subway lines in the world, and the biggest in the U.S., opens in New York.
