Birthdays
1491 - Henry VIII, King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. He is famous for his six wives, with their fates remembered in divorces, beheading, and survival. However, he was well educated, fluent in several languages, an athlete, a soldier, and a writer. Henry VIII was a lso passionately devoted to music. He both played and collected musical instruments, and he composed masses (likely lost now) and more than thirty-five ballads, including "Pastime with Good Company", also known as "The King's Ballad" ("The Kynges Balade"), and "Departure is My Chief Pain" (King Henry VIII of England), Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature.
1577 - Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish artist, considered the most influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition. His highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, color, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. Rubens was a prolific artist.
1703 - John Wesley, (refer to June 17 Dateline for Old Style date). English founder of Methodism.
1712 - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss social philosopher, music critic, composer, and contributor to Diderot's Encyclopedie. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic and educational thought. Jean-Jacques Rousseau strongly believed in the innate goodness of man and in basic human rights founded upon universal natural law; in addition, he believed that both rulers and the citizens have natural human rights as well as obligations to each other which should be bound in a social contract.
1867 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. His works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre."
He was an Italian nationalist and supported Fascism in a moderate way,
at one point giving his Nobel Prize medal to the Fascist government to
be melted down as part of the 1935 Oro alla Patria ("Gold to the Fatherland") campaign during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
1902 - Richard Rodgers, American composer of music, with over 900 songs and 43 Broadway musicals, leaving a legacy as one of the most significant composers of 20th-century American music. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. His compositions have had a significant impact on popular music. Rodgers was the first person to win what are considered the top American entertainment awards in television, recording, movies and Broadway – an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award — now known collectively as an EGOT. In addition, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of only two people to receive all five awards (Marvin Hamlisch is the other). Composer (The Rodgers-Hammerstein duo is considered the greatest musical partnership including The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, and more hits. (Richard Rodgers - Kennedy Center Honors. 1978. Uploaded by John Randolph. Accessed June 28, 2017.)
1909 - Eric Ambler, OBE, influential English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels and Screenwriter, who introduced a new realism to the genre of spy novels. Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.
1926 - Mel Brooks (born Melvyn Kaminsky), American director, writer, actor, comedian, producer and composer. He is known as a creator of broad film farces and comedic parodies. Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for Sid Caesar's variety show Your Show of Shows alongside Woody Allen, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. Together with Carl Reiner, he created the comic character The 2000 Year Old Man. He wrote, with Buck Henry, the hit television comedy series Get Smart. Brooks became one of the most successful film directors of the 1970s, with many of his films being among the top 10 moneymakers of the year they were released.
1948 - Kathy Doyle Bates, American actress and director, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Her performance as Annie Wilkes in the horror film Misery, marked her Hollywood breakthrough, winning her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her TV work has resulted in 14 Emmy Award nominations, including two for her leading role on the NBC series Harry's Law. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance on the ninth season of Two and a Half Men and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her portrayal of Delphine LaLaurie on the third season of American Horror Story. Her directing credits include several episodes of the HBO television series Six Feet Under and the television film Ambulance Girl.
1966 - John Cusack, American actor, producer, screenwriter and activist. He began acting in films during the 1980s and has since starred in more than 85 movies, including Better Off Dead (1985), Say Anything..., Bullets over Broadway, Grosse Pointe Blank, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, 1408, Igor, 2012, The Raven and Love & Mercy.
1966 - Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress. She has starred in the films At Close Range, Some Kind of Wonderful, Chances Are, Fried Green Tomatoes and Benny & Joon. She won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1989 film Immediate Family, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the 2003 Broadway revival of Nine.
Lefties:
Actress Mary Stuart Masterson
Artist Peter Paul Rubens
1902 - Richard Rodgers, American composer of music, with over 900 songs and 43 Broadway musicals, leaving a legacy as one of the most significant composers of 20th-century American music. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. His compositions have had a significant impact on popular music. Rodgers was the first person to win what are considered the top American entertainment awards in television, recording, movies and Broadway – an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award — now known collectively as an EGOT. In addition, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of only two people to receive all five awards (Marvin Hamlisch is the other). Composer (The Rodgers-Hammerstein duo is considered the greatest musical partnership including The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, and more hits. (Richard Rodgers - Kennedy Center Honors. 1978. Uploaded by John Randolph. Accessed June 28, 2017.)
1909 - Eric Ambler, OBE, influential English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels and Screenwriter, who introduced a new realism to the genre of spy novels. Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.
1926 - Mel Brooks (born Melvyn Kaminsky), American director, writer, actor, comedian, producer and composer. He is known as a creator of broad film farces and comedic parodies. Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for Sid Caesar's variety show Your Show of Shows alongside Woody Allen, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. Together with Carl Reiner, he created the comic character The 2000 Year Old Man. He wrote, with Buck Henry, the hit television comedy series Get Smart. Brooks became one of the most successful film directors of the 1970s, with many of his films being among the top 10 moneymakers of the year they were released.
1948 - Kathy Doyle Bates, American actress and director, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Her performance as Annie Wilkes in the horror film Misery, marked her Hollywood breakthrough, winning her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her TV work has resulted in 14 Emmy Award nominations, including two for her leading role on the NBC series Harry's Law. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance on the ninth season of Two and a Half Men and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her portrayal of Delphine LaLaurie on the third season of American Horror Story. Her directing credits include several episodes of the HBO television series Six Feet Under and the television film Ambulance Girl.
1966 - John Cusack, American actor, producer, screenwriter and activist. He began acting in films during the 1980s and has since starred in more than 85 movies, including Better Off Dead (1985), Say Anything..., Bullets over Broadway, Grosse Pointe Blank, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, 1408, Igor, 2012, The Raven and Love & Mercy.
1966 - Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress. She has starred in the films At Close Range, Some Kind of Wonderful, Chances Are, Fried Green Tomatoes and Benny & Joon. She won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1989 film Immediate Family, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the 2003 Broadway revival of Nine.
Lefties:
Actress Mary Stuart Masterson
Artist Peter Paul Rubens
More birthdays aand historical events today, 28 June - On This Day.
Historical Events
1914 - The Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophia, are killed in Sarajevo by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The beginning of WWI in Sarajevo. The archduke was relatively unpopular in Bosnia, Herzegovina, which had been annexed by Austria-hungary in 1908. This displeased the large Serbian community who wantaed to be unified with Serbia. When Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited this day in 1914, a plan was hatched to assassinate him.
1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed ending World War I with Germany, but imposes harsch sanctions. Germany's economy is destroyed, setting the ground for the rise of Nationalism which will see the Nazis rise to power in 1933.
