June 12 Dateline

Famous Birthdays

1519 - Cosimo I de Medici, the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. A large bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I by Giambologna, erected in 1598, still stands today in the Piazza della Signoria, the main square of Florence. Cosimo was also an enthusiast of alchemy, a passion he inherited from his grandmother Caterina Sforza.
 

1802 - Harriet Martineau, English social theorist and Whig writer often seen as the first female sociologist. She wrote many books and essays from a sociological, holistic, religious, domestic and feminine perspective, translated works by Auguste Comte. The young Princess Victoria enjoyed reading her and invited her to her coronation in 1838. Martineau believed thorough analysis was needed to understand women's status under men. 

 
1827 - Johanna Spyri, Swiss-born novelist, notably children's stories. She is best known for her famous classic book Heidi. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers near Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later used in her novels. (Johanna Spyri. Uploaded by Linda Harris. Accessed June 12, 2018. Heide, the 1937 film starring Shirley Temple as Heide, is based on Spyri's book of the same name. Uploaded by Free Mind. Accessed June 12, 2019.  Heide is a heart-warming story based on the real-life adventures of Heide Schwaller, 92, who grew up near Chur in the Swiss Alps. It's elegant yet down-to-earth. Schwaller recalled how she met Spyri when the writer spent summers near the village of Maienfeld in eastern Switzerland more than 80 years ago.)

1890 - Egon Schiele, Austrian painter and graphic artist, a protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and the many self-portraits the produced, including naked self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize his paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism.

1924 - George H.W. Bush, American politician and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Bush also served in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as Director of Central Intelligence, and as the 43rd vice president. He's father of George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States.

1929 - Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank, German-Jewish diarist, famous for her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl, and one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. In her diary she documents her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War. She died February 1945, in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Germany. (Here's "Anne Frank (The Whole Story)" film based on Melissa Muehler's biography of Anne Frank and original research and interviews by Kirk Ellis. YouTube, uploaded by Rajkamal. Accessed June 12, 2016.)

Leftie:
Former President George H.W. Bush 

More birthdays and historical events today, 12 June - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1778 - Mozart's Symphony No. 31 "Paris Symphony"  premieres in a private performance in the home of Count Karl Heinrich Joseph von Sickingen, the ambassador of the Electorate of the Palatinate.

1897 - The Swiss Officer's knife (or Army knife) is patented, becoming a staple of all camping trips and the like, though most people who use one have a story of the blade closing on their fingers.

June 11 Dateline

Birthdays

1572 - Ben Jonson, English playwright and poet, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. ... "He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I." ("The Life and Trials of Ben Jonson", uploaded by Brian Telestai. Accessed June 11, 2016. Ben Jonson's Volpone (English). Uploaded by Vitya-mitra, for English Literature, 1590-1798. Accessed June 11, 2018.)

1776 - John Constable, English landscape painter in the naturalistic tradition, known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection.  (John Constable - 19th Century English Landscape Artist. Uploaded by maple1255. Accessed June 11, 2018. A Collection of 248 Paintings (HD). Uploaded by LearnFromMasters. Accessed June 11, 2019.)

1864 - Richard Strauss, leading German composer and conductor of the late Romantic and early modern eras. No relations with the Austrian Strauss family famous for waltzes. Strauss was a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. His operas include Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; his tone poems, including Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia Domestica, and An Alpine Symphony; and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen and his Oboe Concerto. Along with Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner.

1910 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, AC, French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie française. Cousteau described his underwater world research in a series of books, the most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure. He directed films, most notably the documentary adaptation of the book, The Silent World, which won a Palme d'or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. He remained the only person to win a Palme d'Or for a documentary film, until Michael Moore won the award in 2004 for Fahrenheit 9/11.

1932 - Athol Fugard, FRSL OIS, South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director regarded as “South Africa’s greatest playwright.” He is best known for his political plays opposing the system of apartheid and for the 2005 Oscar-winning film of his novel Tsotsi. He was acclaimed as “the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world” by Time Magazine in 1985. Fugard was an adjunct professor of playwriting, acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego. He is the recipient of many awards, honours, and honorary degrees. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was honoured in Cape Town with the opening of the Fugard Theatre in District Six in 2010, and received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2011.

1933 - Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silverman), American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, singer-songwriter and author. Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks. Wilder is known for his iconic portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Another You, as well as starring in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). Wilder directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red. After his last acting performance in 2003, Wilder turned his attention to writing.

1959 - Hugh Laurie, CBE (born James Hugh Calum Laurie), English actor, director, singer, musician, comedian and author. Laurie is known for portraying the title character on the Fox medical drama series House, for which he received two Golden Globe Awards. He was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 ($409,000) per episode of House. His other television credits include arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper in the miniseries The Night Manager, for which he won his third Golden Globe Award, and Senator Tom James in the HBO sitcom Veep (2012–2019), for which he received his 10th Emmy Award nomination.

Leftie:
None known

More birthdays today, 11 June - On This Day.

Feature:
Richard Strauss's  Der Rosenkavalier Suite (Proms 2012).  Danielle Gatti conducting.  YouTube, uploaded by Mandetriens.  Accessed 11 June 2018. Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Royal Albert Hall, 26 August 2012

Historical Events

1509 - King Henry VIII of England marries Katherine of Aragon, his first wife. She was a Spanish princess who had previously been married to Henry's older brother Arthur until his untimely death. Apparently, when no male heir is forthcoming, it's been deduced that the king's divorce from Katherine that leads to the Protestant Reformation in England and war between Catholics and Protestants for generations.

1901 - New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands, later returning them to self-government.