July 18 Dateline

Famous Birthdays

 1635 - Robert Hooke,  FRS, English polymath, architect and natural philosopher. He was financially impoverished scientific inquirer as a young adult but came into wealth and good reputation following his actions as Surveyor to the City of London after the great fire of 1666 (in which he appears to have performed more than half of all the surveys after the fire). At that time, he was also the curator of experiments of the Royal Society, and a member of its council, Gresham Professor of Geometry. He was an important architect of his time and was instrumental in devising a set of planning controls for London, the influence of which remains. 

1670 - Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini), Italian opera composer. Here's his Baroque music:  Baroque mementos ~ Giovanni Bononcini ~ La nemica d'Amore fatta amante (1693) ~ "Pur ti riveggio." Accessed July 18, 2017.

1811 - William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society. (William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair. Uploaded by Eric Masters, accessed July 18, 2017.)

1821 - Pauline Viardot-Garcia, French mezzo-soprano (She was a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue, and composer of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms. Here are two songs by Pauline Viardot: 'Aimez-moi ma mignonne' (from Six chansons du XVe siècle, published 1886) sung by Françoise Masset accompanied by Françoise Tillard (on an 1843 Erard piano) and 'Hai luli!' (from Six mélodies et une havanaise, published 1880) sung by Cecilia Bartoli accompanied by Myung-Whung Chung. )

1902 - (Mary) Jessamyn West, American author of short stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945). She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D) degree from Whittier College in 1946, and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1975.

1918 - Nelson Mandela (born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela), South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

1921 - John Glenn, Astronaut (5th man in space) and former US Senator. By 2007, he is still the oldest man to have gone into space, reaching the orbit in 1998 at the age of 77.

1947 - Steve Forbes (born Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes Jr.), American publishing executive. He was a candidate in the 1996 and 2000 Republican Presidential primaries. Forbes is the Editor-in-Chief of Forbes, a business magazine.

1950 - Sir Richard (Charles Nicholas) Branson, British business magnate, author and former philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group in the 1970s, which controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age.

Lefties:
Businessman/Politician Steve Forbes
Author Jessamyn West

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 18 July - On This Day.

Historical Events

1814 - Matthew Flinders' book A Voyage to Terra Australis is published, in which he advocates using the name "Australia" for  the southern continent. He dies the following day.   

1898 - Marie Curie and husband Pierre Curie announce they have discovered a new, highly unstable chemical element, which they call polonium after Marie's homeland, Poland. It is the first element discovered by radioactive analysis.

July 17 Dateline

Birthdays

1889 - Erle Stanley Gardner,  American writer and lawyer, famous as creator of Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico. The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray and Robert Parr.

1899 - James Cagney, American actor (James Cagney - "Yankee Doodle" Medley. Cagney shows his versatility in these two song and dance numbers from George M. Cohan's life-story.  'Give my Regards to Broadway' &'Yankee Doodle Dandy' scenes from the 1942 film 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'. Uploaded by MinstrelSurfer. Accessed July 17, 2018.)

1902 - Christina Stead, Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. She was a committed Marxist, although she was never a member of the Communist Party. She was awards the patrick White Award.  Notable work: The Man Who Loved Children.(The Late Great: Christina Stead. Uploaded by WheelerCentre. Accessed July 17, 2018).

1935 - Donald (McNichol) Sutherland, CC, Canadian actor whose film career spans more than seven decades. He has been nominated for eight Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films Citizen X and Path to War; the former also earned him a Primetime Emmy Award.

1935 - Peter Schickele, American composer, arranger, musical educator, and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, but which he presents as being composed by the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. He also hosted a long-running weekly radio program called Schickele Mix. From 1990 to 1993, Schickele's P.D.Q. Bach recordings earned him four consecutive wins for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

1947 - Queen Camilla, GCVO, CSM, PC (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles; 17 July 1947). She is consort to King Charles III and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, and member of the British Royal family. She is the second wife of King Charles III. Queen Camilla carries out public engagements representing the monarchy, often alongside her husband. She is the patron, the president, and a member of numerous charities and organisations. Since 1994, Camilla has campaigned to raise awareness of osteoporosis, which has earned her several honours and awards. She has also campaigned to raise awareness of issues such as rape, sexual abuse, illiteracy, animal welfare, and poverty.

1952 - Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub), American singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues" and her credited guest vocals backing Paul Simon on "Gone at Last". She was described by The New York Times as a "contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves." Snow also sang numerous commercial jingles for many U.S. products during 1980s and 1990s including General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, and Stouffer's. In 2003, Snow released her album Natural Wonder on Eagle Records, containing 10 original tracks, her first original material in 14 years.

1954 - Angela Dorothea Merkel (née Kasner), German former politician and scientist who served as chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her chancellorship, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world. Beginning in 2016, she was often described as the leader of the free world. She obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989. Merkel entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As the protégée of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel was appointed as Minister for Women and Youth in 1991, later becoming Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in 1994. In 2014 she became the longest-serving incumbent head of government in the European Union. 

 
Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 17 July - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1717 - George Frideric Handel's Water Music is performed on a barge at an aquatic fete on the Thames River for King George I. (Here's a video of Water Music performed by the English Baroque Soloists, with John Eliot Gardiner. Youtube, uploaded by jmymusik, accessed July 17, 2017)

1762 - Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia nine days after her husband, Tsar Peter III, is strangled in his bedroom in a prison fortress.