February 11 Dateline

Birthdays

1847 - Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor and businessman, described as America's greatest inventor. He is credited with developing many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. (Story of Thomas Alva Edison, uploaded by PublicResourceOrg. Accessed February 11, 2011)

1906 - Yves Marie Baudrier, French composer. Along with André Jolivet, Olivier Messiaen and Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, he was a founder of the La jeune France group of composers. Self-taught, Baudrier had advice from Messiaen. He became a romantic and expert film composer. Honneger is the main influence on his few works, which include the orchestral Le musicien dans la cite for orchestra.

1909 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He set a record in Hollywood by winning a pair of writing and directing Academy Awards two years in a row. He won the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for A Letter to Three Wives, and both the Academy Award for Best Director and Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for All About Eve, the latter of which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six.

1917 - Sidney Sheldon, American writer, director and producer. Sheldon was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer which earned him an Oscar in 1948. Working in television, created The Patty Duke Show (1963–66), I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70) and Hart to Hart (1979–84). After turning 50, he began writing best-selling romantic suspense novels, such as Master of the Game, The Other Side of Midnight and Rage of Angels. His 18 novels have sold over 300 million copies in 51 languages. Sheldon is consistently cited as one of the top ten best selling fiction writers of all time.

1919 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She was widely known for her role on the 1965–71 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas.

1934 - Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, DBE, FCSD, RDI, English (of Welsh heritage) fashion designer and icon. She became an instrumental figure in the 1960s London-based Mod and youth fashion movements.

1936 - Burt Leon Reynolds, Jr.,  American actor, director, and producer of film and television, considered a sex symbol and icon of American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in several different television series such as Gunsmoke, Hawk, and Dan August. His breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance. Reynolds was voted the world's number one box office star for five consecutive years (from 1978 to 1982) in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, a record he shares with Bing Crosby.

1969 - Jennifer Joanna Aniston, American actress, producer, and businesswoman. The daughter of actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow, she began working as an actress at an early age with an uncredited role in the 1987 film Mac and Me. Aniston rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, for which she earned Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards. Her character became widely popular and is regarded as one of the greatest female characters in television history.


Leftie:
Thomas Alva Edison

More birthdays and historical events, February 11 - On This Day.

Below video, features the legendary Martha Argerich perform a favourite Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466. She was merely a child of 8 years old, an original broadcast from Buenos Aires "Radio Nacional" in 1950, with Alberto Castellanos and Gran Orquestra Clásica de LR1. YouTube, uploaded by Pedro Taam. Accessed February 11, 2014.

Historical Events

660 B.C.E. - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.

1785 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the soloist in the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor (K. 466) in Vienna, at the Mehlgrube Casino this day in 1785. Having come directly to the concert hall from the copyists, he performs it without rehearsal. Martha Argerich passionately performs Mozart's piano concerto No. 20 - one of the most, if not the most, romantic and often considered the greatest concerto of Mozart. A beautiful interpretation by M. Argerich of this loved piano concerto with a Mozart-inspired Cadenzas by Ludwig van Beethoven. (I. Allegro II. Romance III. Allegro Assai.)Alexandre Rabinovitch, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. Martha Argerich, piano. Palazzo Giusti, Padova, September 1998. YouTube, uploaded by Facconti. Accessed February 11, 2014.

February 10 Dateline

Famous Birthdays

1890 - Boris Leonidvich Pasternak,  Soviet Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator, best known for his novel Doctor Zhivago. His first book of poems, My Sister, Life, was published in Berlin in 1922 became an important collection in the Russian language. Pasternak's translations of stage plays by Goethe, Schiller, Calderón de la Barca and Shakespeare remain very popular with Russian audiences. His novel Dr Zhivago, made into a movie of the same name, takes place between the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the World War II. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, an event that enraged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which forced him to decline the prize, but his descendants were able to accept it in his name in 1988. Doctor Zhivago has been part of the main Russian school curriculum since 2003. Doctor Zhivago (film) Soundtrack - here. A film by Andrei Nekrasov: Pasternak (1990). Uploaded by Rebel-Held Docs. Accessed February 10, 2019.  

1898 - Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht, German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. His themes were often influenced by his Marxist thought. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a playwright in Munich and moved to Berlin in 1924, where he wrote The Threepenny Opera with Kurt Weill and began a lifelong collaboration with the composer Hanns Eisler. Immersed in Marxist thought during this period, he wrote didactic Lehrstücke and became a leading theoretician of epic theatre (which he preferred to call "dialectical theatre"). In East Berlin after the war, he established the theatre company Berliner Ensemble with his wife and long-time collaborator, actress Helene Weigel. 

1927 - Mary Violet Leontyne Price, American soprano, the first African American to become a prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera, and one of the most popular American classical singers of her generation. A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, she is considered well suited to the heroines of Verdi's "middle period" operas. She has a 3-1/2 octave range. Her rock-solid vocal technique, purity and her dramatic flair have been combined to create a mix suitable both for the opera and concert stages. (Leontyne Price sings "Libera me" in Verdi's Requiem. Uploaded by Addiobelpassato. Accessed February 10, 2023.)  She is also noted for her interpretations of leading roles in operas by Puccini and Mozart. Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Spingarn Medal, the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, numerous honorary degrees, and 19 Grammy Awards for operatic and song recitals and full operas, and a Lifetime Achievement Award, more than any other classical singer. (Leontyne Price - Kennedy Center Honors, 1980. Uploaded by John Randolph. Kennedy Center Honors Legend: Leontyne Price (In-Depth Interview). Accessed March 10, 2023.  NEA Opera Honors: Renee Fleming on Leontyne Price. Uploaded by National Endowment for the Arts. Accessed February 10, 2021.)
 

1930 - Robert John Wagner Jr., American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is also known for starring in the television shows It Takes a Thief, Switch, and Hart to Hart. He also had a recurring role as Teddy Leopold in the TV sitcom Two and a Half Men. In films, Wagner is known for his role as Number 2 in the Austin Powers trilogy of films, as well as for A Kiss Before Dying, The Pink Panther and its 1983 sequel, Harper, The Towering Inferno, The Concorde ... Airport '79 and many more.
 

1937 - Roberta Cleopatra Flack, American singer. She is known for her No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like Makin' Love"; and "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of her many duets with Donny Hathaway. Flack is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won at the 1973 Grammys and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" won at the 1974 Grammys.  

 

1944 - Peter Allen (born Peter Richard Woolnough), Australian singer-songwriter, musician and entertainer, known for his flamboyant stage persona, boundless energy, and lavish costumes. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1981. In addition to recording many albums, he enjoyed a cabaret and concert career, including appearances at the Radio City Music Hall riding a camel. His patriotic song "I Still Call Australia Home", has been used extensively in advertising campaigns, and was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013.[
 

1950 - Mark Andrew Spitz, American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, all in world record time. This was an achievement that lasted for 36 years until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Swimming World Magazine named him World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He was the third athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals. 

1952 - Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean politician and former army general who has served as Prime Minister of Singapore and secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) since 2004. He was deputy prime minister to Goh Chok Tong from 1990 to 2004 and finance minister from 2001 to 2007. Lee is the eldest son of Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. From 1971 to 1984, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), where he rose to the rank of brigadier general. Entering civilian politics in 1984, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Teck Ghee SMC and since its dissolution in 1991 has represented Ang Mo Kio GRC. In foreign policy, Lee's government's policy has been to stay neutral in an era of great power competition between China and the United States.

1955 - Gregory John Norman, AO, Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 Official World Golf Rankings ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s. He has won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournaments and two majors: The Open Championships in 1986 and 1993. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001 with the highest percentage of votes (80%) of any golfer to date. Norman's nickname is "The Great White Shark" (often shortened to just "The Shark"), which he earned after his play at the 1981 Masters. During and after his golf playing career, Norman engaged in numerous entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors

Lefties:

Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong

Swimmer Mark Spitz

More birthdays and historical events, February 10 - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1763 - The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War and France cedes Canada to Great Britain, said to be the real World War I, and by far the most successful war ever fought by Britain, as it brought India and Canada into the fold.

1744 - George Frideric Handel's dramatic oratorio Semele was first performed in London. The work actually took shape as an opera but the composer eyed a place for it on the Theatre Royal's Lenten concert series the following February. It can be inferred therefore that Semele was fashioned for presentation "in the manner of an oratorio."