May 31 Dateline

Birthdays

1656 - Marin Marais, French composer and viola da gambist. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for six months. (The Best of Marais. Youtube, uploaded by Classical Music Archive. Accessed May 31, 2026)

 

1804 - Louise Farrenc (née Jeanne-Louise Dumont), French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a wide variety of piano music. 

 
1819 - Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism, both views he incorporated in his works.  Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Whitman's own life came under scrutiny for his presumed homosexuality. Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C. and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. Two of his well known poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", were written on the death of Abraham Lincoln. When he died at age 72, his funeral was a public event. Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong.

1838 - Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher and economist. He was the Knightbridge Professor of moral philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1883 until his death, and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise "The Methods of Ethics".

1915 - Judith Arundell Wright, Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. She was a recipient of the Australian National Living Treasure Award in 1998.

1930 - Clint Eastwood, American actor, filmmaker, musician, and politician. After achieving success in the Western TV series Rawhide, he rose to international fame with his role as the 'Man with No Name' in Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of spaghetti Westerns and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films. He directed films, such as the mystery drama Mystic River and the war film Letters from Iwo Jima, for which he received Academy Award nominations. Eastwood was awarded two of France's highest civilian honors: in 1994, he became a recipient of the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2007, was awarded the Legion of Honour medal. In 2000, Eastwood was awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Since 1967, his Malpaso Productions has produced all but four of his American films. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a non-partisan office.

1934 - Jim Hutton (born Dana James Hutton), American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, starting with Where the Boys Are. He is the father of actor Timothy Hutton.

Death:

1809 - Composer Joseph Haydn dies in Vienna, aged 77.  

 

Leftie:
Actor Jim Hutton

 

More birthdays and historical evens today, 31 May - On This Day.
 

 

In memory of Walt Whitman:  
I'm featuring Ralph Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" by which, having selected his main 'instrument' as the choir for this work, chose for his texts sections of the perfectly equated humanist poems by this great American poet and essayist, Walt Whitman.

Historical Events

1279 B.C. - Rameses II ascends the Egyptian throne and reigns as pharaoh for sixty-seven years.

1859 - The "Big Ben," the bell of the Great Clock at Westminster, rings for the first time across  London. The bell was cast in Whitechapel and transported to its new home by teams of horses.

May 30 Dateline

Birthdays

1846 - Peter Carl Fabergé (also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé), Russian master jeweller and goldsmith, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials.

1883 - Riccardo Zandonai, Italian composer. As a young man, he showed such an aptitude for music that he entered the Pesaro Conservatorio in 1899 and completed his studies in 1902. He completed the nine-year curriculum in only three years. Among his teachers was Pietro Mascagni (famous for his masterpiece Cavalleria Rusticana), who regarded him highly. (Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. Uploaded by bel canto. Accessed May 30, 2019.)

1909 - Benny David Goodman, American clarinetist and jazz-band leader, called the "King of Swing". In the mid-1930s, Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in the United States. (Benny Goodman plays Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's famous clarinet music. Pure bliss! Uploaded by Clarinet Clasica. Accessed May 30, 2014.)  

1912 - Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons), British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature.

1977 - Rachael Stirling, English actress on stage, film and television. She has been nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award for her stage work. She played Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet, and Millie in the ITV series The Bletchley Circle, BBC Four sitcom Detectorists. She has also guest starred in episodes of numerous series, such as Agatha Christie's Poirot,  Lewis, and Doctor Who alongside her mother Dame Diana Rigg.


Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 30 - On This Day

Historical Events

1431 - Joan of Arc is burned at the stake in Rouen, France. Her ashes is thrown into the Seine by the English so no relics could be taken. This was the time called The Hundred Years War, when France was at war against England. 

1962 - Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, for soli, chorus, and orchestra, is first performed in the Coventry Cathedral, England. (Here's a relished performance - Britten's War Requiem, himself conducting and Meredith Davies.)