Birthdays
1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist, he received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. He was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s. He was an advisor to Republican President Ronald Reagan and Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His political philosophy extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal intervention, based on rational expectations.
1919 - Primo Levi (born Primo Michele Levi), Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, novels, collections of short stories, essays, and poems. His notable works include: The Periodic Table (short story collection) and If This Is a Man, and The Drowned and the Saved. (Primo Levi... Uploaded by Eranocento. Accessed July 31, 2018. An English translation has been provided by one of the commenters, Dan L.)
1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, English-American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with fourth wife Oona O'Neill. She made made her English-language acting debut (and came to prominence in what would be a Golden Globe-nominated role) in her portrayal of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago. She made her Broadway acting debut in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes in 1967, and received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). She played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin in the biopic, Chaplin (1992) for which she received her third Golden Globe nomination.
1951 - Barry Van Dyke, American actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke and Margie Willett, and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke. He has often worked with his father. He is best known to audiences as Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan, a homicide detective and the son of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke) on Diagnosis: Murder.
1965 - J.K. Rowling, CH, OBE, HonFRSE, FRCPE, FRSL (born Joanne Rowling), British author writing under the pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith. She is a novelist, philanthropist, film producer, television producer and screen writer, best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have won multiple awards, and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. They have also been the basis for a film series, over which she had overall approval on the scripts and a producer on the final films in the series.(J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement. Uploaded by Harvard Magazine. Accessed July 31, 2013.)
Leftie:
Actor Barry Van Dyke
In memoriam: Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist who passed away this day in 1886. Here's Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, interpreted by the piano child prodigy Martha Argerich in her younger years. A rather turbulent nevertheless splendid interpretation by her of one of Liszt's many rhapsodies, and her apparent getting carried away in the final octaves nearing the finale. Right, it seems that Martha can get the
better of Martha. What an inspired performance! (In Munich, 1966)
1703 - Writer Daniel Defoe is out in pillory for publishing a satirical political pamphlet but instead of being thrown with rotten fruit and vegetables, flowers are thrown at him. He is famous for his classic novels Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe.
1845 - The French Army successfully introduces the saxophone to its band. The saxophone was invented by a Belgian, Adolphe Sax, patented by him in 1846.
Historical Events
1703 - Writer Daniel Defoe is out in pillory for publishing a satirical political pamphlet but instead of being thrown with rotten fruit and vegetables, flowers are thrown at him. He is famous for his classic novels Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe.
1845 - The French Army successfully introduces the saxophone to its band. The saxophone was invented by a Belgian, Adolphe Sax, patented by him in 1846.
