July 11 Dateline

Birthdays

1274 - Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. He didn't do well against Edward I, but won the Battle of Bannockburn against the English king's son, Edward II.

1561 - Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora), Spanish Baroque Lyric Poet, best known for The Solitudes. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent Spanish poets of all time. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorismo. This style existed in stark contrast to Quevedo's conceptismo.

1767 - John Quincy Adams, American Statesman, Diplomat, Lawyer, and Diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States Secretary of State from 1817 to 1825.

1834 - James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American Artist, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He was averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake".  (The Complete Works of James Abbott McNeill Whistler. 1st Art Gallery com. Accessed July 11, 2011.)

1857 - Alfred Binet, French Psychologist, Inventor of the first practical IQ test, the Binet–Simon Scale/Test. (Alfred Binet and the Origin of Intelligence Testing. Uploaded by Not So Obvious. Accessed  July 11, 2019.)  

1899 - E.B. White (born Elwyn Brooks White), American Writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan. In a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, Charlotte's Web came in first in their poll of the top one hundred children's novels. He was also a contributor to The New Yorker magazine, and a co-author of the English language style guide The Elements of Style.

1916 - Gough Edward Whitlam AC QC, 21st Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. He led the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to power for the first time in 23 years at the 1972 election. He won the 1974 election before being controversially dismissed by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office in this manner.

1934 - Giorgio Armani, Fashion Designer, Italian fashion designer. He first came to notice, working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually diversified into music, sport and luxury hotels. By 2001 Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion.

1939 - Louise Marie Lasser, American Actress, TV Writer, Performing Arts Teacher and Director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was married to Woody Allen and appeared in several of his early films. She is also a life member of The Actors Studio.

1958 - Mark Lester (born Mark A. Letzer), English former Child Actor, and later, as Osteopath and Acupuncturist. He starred in a number of British and European films in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968 he played the title role in the blockbuster film Oliver!, a musical version of the Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. Lester also made several appearances in a number of British television series. In 1977, after appearing in the all-star international action adventure film The Prince and the Pauper, he retired from acting. In the 1980s, he trained as an osteopath specialising in sport injuries. (Tribute to Lionel Bart/Carol Reed's OLIVER! 1968. Mark Lester, Oliver Reed, Shani Wallis. YouTube, uploaded by CARSONART. Accessed July 11, 2013. Black Beauty (1971). Mark Lester. Youtube, uploaded by Now Playing. Accessed July 11, 2026.)

Lefties:
Actress Louise Lasser

 

 

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

Historical Events

1786 - Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf's opera Doktor und Apotheker is first performed, in Vienna. 
Doktor und Apotheker (Doctor and Apothecary) is a German-language two-act singspiel by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, with a libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on the anonymous French comedy L'apothicaire de Murcie (The Apothecary of Murcie). It is considered the composer's masterpiece and premiered on 11 July 1786 at the k.u.k. National-Theater in Vienna. (Doktor & Apotheker. Youtube video uploaded by Musikacademie Rheinsberb. Accessed July 11, 2020.)  

1893 - Kokichi Mikimoto extracts the first cultured pearl at his pearl farm. The pearl was imperfect and took another 10 years a spherical one.

1960 - Harper Lee publishes her all-time bestseller novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a book on racism in the Southern U.S.  It went on to win a Pulitzer Prize, becoming one of the best-selling books in history. (Theme music: here) 

July 10 Dateline

Birthdays

1509 - John Calvin,  French religious leader, theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, aspects of which include the doctrines of predestination and of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation, in which doctrines Calvin was influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. In addition to his seminal Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents, and various other theological treatises. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.

1830 -  Camille Pissarro, Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter. His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Pissarro studied from great forerunners, including Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

1835 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violin virtuoso and composer. At the invitation of Anton Rubinstein, Wieniawski moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived from 1860 to 1872, taught many violin students, and led the Russian Musical Society's orchestra and string quartet. He replaced Henri Vieuxtemps as violin professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in 1875. In London, he was player in the Beethoven Quartet Society, and also performed on viola. (Henryk Winiawski's Polonaise in D major, Op 4. Uploaded by Akademia filmu i Telewizji. Accessed March 24, 2020. 

1856 - Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. His work fell into relative obscurity following his death, until 1960, when the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density 'the tesla' in his honor. There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s. (The Amazing Life of Nikola Testa (Documentary). YouTube, uploaded by Integza. Accessed July 10, 2025) 

 

1871 - Marcel Proust,  French novelist, critic and essayist, best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (translated in English by C.K. Scott Moncrieff as In Search of Lost Time; earlier rendered as Remembrance of Things Past), published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927. Proust is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. (Literature - Marcel Proust. Uploaded by The School of Life. Accessed July 10, 2017.)

1895 - Carl Orff, German composer and music educator. He is best known for his cantata Carmina Burana (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. The Orff Schulwerk, or simply the Orff Approach, is a developmental approach used in music education. It combines music, movement, drama, and speech into lessons that are similar to child's world of play. It was developed by Carl Orff and colleague Gunild Keetman during the 1920s.

1903 - John Wyndham (born John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris), English science fiction writer. Aside from his pen name as John Wyndham, he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos, the latter filmed twice as Village of the Damned. His writings examined the human struggle for survival when catastrophic natural phenomena suddenly invade a comfortable English setting.

1931 - Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer and Nobel Prize Laureate. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as having revolutionized the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move forward and backward in time, and with integrated short fiction cycles. Her stories explore human complexities in an uncomplicated prose style. Her writing established her reputation as a great author in the vein of Anton Chekhov. Munro received the Man Booker International Prize in 2009 for her lifetime body of work. A three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for Fiction, she also received the Writers' Trust of Canada's 1996 Marian Engel Award and the 2004 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for Runaway. She mostly stopped writing around 2013 and died at her home in 2024. 

 
1931 - Gerald Sheldon "Jerry" Herman, American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He was nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. (Barbra Streisand - Hello, Dolly! and Barbra Streisand - "I'd Rather Be Blue". Uploaded by oweena29. Accessed July 10, 2011.)  

1943 - Arthur Robert Ashe Jr., American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked world No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine in 1975. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.

1958 - Béla Anton Leoš Fleck, American banjo player. An innovative and technically proficient banjo player, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck has won 15 Grammy Awards and been nominated 33 times.

Leftie:
Musician Bela Fleck

 

 

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

 

 

Featured Celebrity: 

 

MARCEL PROUST (10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922), French novelist, critic, and essayist who is considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. He wrote the monumental novel 'In Search of Lost Time' (À la recherche du temps perdu; with the previous English title translation of Remembrance of Things Past), originally published in French in a 7-volume book between 1913 and 1927. 

 

First translated into English as 'Remembrance of Things Past', 'In Search of Lost Time' is known both for its length and its theme of involuntary memory. The most famous example of this is the "episode of the madeleine", which occurs early in the first volume. The novel gained fame in English in translations by C. K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin as 'Remembrance of Things Past', first published in 1989, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a literal rendering of the French, became ascendant after D. J. Enright adopted it for his revised translation published in 1992. 

 

'In Search of Lost Time' remains to be one of the most impactful novels I've read. I plan to reread it the seven volumes; this time not in paperback but in Kindle. It's long, and like any literary masterpiece, 'In Search of Lost Time' is a quest whose structure resembles that of a symphony for throughout the book, the novel's major themes - love, art, memory, and time - are carefully and brilliantly captured like a harmonious orchestra.

 

Volume One: Swann's Way (see notes from video below). The narrator's thoughts about his own life lead him to the past of the character, Charles Swann, a family friend the narrator knew as a child. By remembering and imaginatively inhabiting Swann's love affair with the coquette Odette, the narrator gains insight into his life and the nature of love itself. 

Swann's Way - Sparknotes' Swann's Way  

Also, Reading Proust / Swann's way

Volume Two: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower

Volume Three: The Guermantes Way

Volume Four: Sodom and Gomorrah

Volume Five: The Prisoner

Volume Six: The Fugitive

Volume Seven: Time Regained (Finding Time Again). This final volume chronicles the years of World War I, when, as M. de Charlus reflects on a moonlit walk, Paris threatens to become another Pompeii. The Past Recaptured. 

 

Historical Events

1553 - Lady Jane Grey, at the age of 15, is proclaimed Queen of England after the death of Edward VI. The attempt to take the crown is arranged by the Duke of Northumberland, whose son, Lord dudley, is married to Lady Jane Grey. She was deposed 9 days later by Mary Tudor, and executed for treason on February 12, 1554, alongside her husband. Lady Jane Grey is the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister.

1929- Charles Kingsford Smith and his aircrew arrive in England in the Southern Cross after flying from Australia in 12 days, 21 hours, and 18 minutes - a record time.