Birthdays
100 B.C.E. - Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman statesman. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. An accomplished author and historian, much of his life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns. Other contemporary sources include the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust, and later biographies of him by Suetonius and Plutarch. Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. His cognomen was subsequently adopted as a synonym for "Emperor"; the title "Caesar" was used throughout the Roman Empire, giving rise to modern cognates such as Kaiser and Tsar. His political philosophy, known as Caesarism, inspired politicians into the modern era.
1730 - Josiah Wedgwood, English potter and entrepreneur. He founded the Wedgwood company. Leader in the industrialisation of the manufacture of European pottery, he developed improved pottery bodies by a long process of systematic experimentation.
1817 - Henry David Thoreau, American writer, essayist, poet and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience", an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. (Political Theory - Henry David Thoreau. Uploaded by The School of Life. Accessed July 12, 2016. Thoreau and Civil Disobedience. Uploaded by The School of life. Accessed July 12, 2018.)
1861 - Anton Arensky (born Anton Stepanovich Arensky), Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky's musical compositions. Especially popular are the Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky for string orchestra, Op. 35a - arranged from the slow movement of Arensky's 2nd string quartet, and based on one of Tchaikovsky's Songs for Children, Op. 54. Arensky was perhaps at his best in chamber music, in which genre he wrote two string quartets, two piano trios, and a piano quintet.
1884 - Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, Italian Jewish painter and sculptor, worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by elongation of faces, necks, and figures that were not received well during his lifetime but later found acceptance. (A Collection of Modigliani's 281 Paintings. YouTube, uploaded by LearnFromMasters. Accessed July 12, 2017.)
1885 - George Butterworth, MC (born George Sainton Kaye Butterworth), English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll The Banks of Green Willow and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from A Shropshire Lad, amongst the best known. Butterworth destroyed many works he did not care for, before and during the war. Of those that survive, his collection of poems A Shropshire Lad are among the best known. Many English composers of Butterworth's time set Housman's poetry also, including Ralph Vaughan Williams. (George Butterworth - A Shropshire Lad: Rhapsody for Orchestra (1912). YouTube, uploaded by AntPDC. Accessed July 12, 2018.)
1895 - Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II, American lyricist, librettist, theatrical director and producer, most especially known for his partnership with Richard Rodgers. He was director in the musical theatre for almost 4o years. Hammerstein II is widely considered the most influential lyricist and librettist of the American theater. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose major musicals include Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. He also collaborated with Jerome Kern (with whom he wrote Show Boat), Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml, Richard A. Whiting, and Sigmund Romberg.
1904 - Pablo Neruda (born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto), Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Neruda is often considered the national poet of Chile. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language". (Poetry by Pablo Neruda. Leaning into the Afternoons) YouTube, Poetry in Motion. Accessed July 12, 2020.
1934 - Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr., American concert pianist, first American to win the Tchaikovsky Prize. At the age of 23, he achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, during the Cold War. Cliburn's mother, a piano teacher and an accomplished pianist in her own right, discovered him playing at age three, mimicking one of her students and arranged for him to start taking lessons. Cliburn developed a rich, round tone and a singing-voice-like phrasing, having been taught from the start to sing each piece. One of Cliburn's contributions to society was the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. (1958 Van Cliburn Tchaikovsky Competition Moscow Newsreel. Uploaded by PublicDomainFootage.com. Accessed July12, 2013. 'Russians Conquered My Heart': Pianist Van Cliburn Reflects on 50 Years of Music Making. Uploaded by PBS NewsHour. Accessed July 12, 2018. Finals Round Concerto 4 - 2022 Cliburn Competition. YouTube, uploaded by The Cliburn. Accessed June 19, 2022.)
Lefties:
None known
More birthdays and historical events today, 12 July - On This day.
1543 - King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, who survives him and marries again.
1776 - Captain James Cook sets sail from Plymouth on the Resolution, beginning his third and final voyage of discovery.
Historical Events
1543 - King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, who survives him and marries again.
1776 - Captain James Cook sets sail from Plymouth on the Resolution, beginning his third and final voyage of discovery.
