Birthdays
1644 - Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (Baptised this day), Baroque Bohemian-Austrian court violinist and composer. He worked in Graz and Kremsier (now Kroměříž) before he illegally left his Kremsier employer, Prince-Bishop Carl Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, and settled in Salzburg. He was one of the most important composers for the violin in the history of the instrument. He wrote one of the earliest known pieces for solo violin, the monumental 'passacaglia' of the Mystery Sonatas. In the late 18th century he was named the best violin composer of the 17th century by music historian Charles Burney, and in the late 20th century, his music, especially the Mystery Sonatas, enjoyed a renaissance. Biber's "Battle Music" ("Battalia"), is a masterpiece depicting scenes of battle drums, drunken soldiers, blasting canons, the wounded and the dying. It is riveting, poignant, and refreshingly modern in some dissonances. (Biber's Battalia, performed by New York Baroque Incorporated. Uploaded by NY Baroque Incorp. Accessed August 12, 2018.)
1762 - George IV (George Augustus Frederick), King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as regent during his father's final mental illness.
1859 - Katherine Lee Bates, American poet and prolific writer, she was also a college professor, scholar, and social activist. Although she published volumes of poetry, travel books, essays, children's books, books for young adults, today she is primarily remembered as the author of "America the Beautiful". While on the Wellesley College faculty, Bates mentored many young poets (including some, like Robert Frost, not enrolled at Wellesley) and helped establish American literature as a field for college study.
1876 - Mary Roberts Rinehart, American author, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1920.
1881 - Cecil B. DeMille, American filmmaker. Between 1914 and 1958, he made a total of 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. His first biblical epic, The Ten Commandments, was both a critical and commercial success; it held the Paramount revenue record for twenty-five years. He received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director for his circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth, which won both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Nominated for Best Picture Academy Award, The Ten Commandments, is currently the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation. He also received an Academy Honorary Award, the Palme d'Or (posthumously) for Union Pacific, a DGA Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. He was the first recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which was named in his honor. His reputation as a filmmaker has influenced many other films and directors.
1886 - Sir Keith Murdoch, Australian newspaper owner, journalist, businessman. He's the father of Rupert Murdoch, media mogul.
1887 - Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger, Nobel laureate physicist and author of many physics-related books.
1925 - Norris Dewar McWhirter, CBE, British writer, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a TV Presenter. He and his twin brother Ross were known internationally for the founding of Guinness World Records (as The Guinness Book of Records) which they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975. After Ross's assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Norris carried on alone as editor.
1957 - Amanda Redman, MBE, English actress, known for her role as Sandra Pullman in the BBC One series New Tricks (2003–13) and as Dr. Lydia Fonseca in The Good Karma Hospital (2017–18). She gained BAFTA TV Award nominations for At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–03) and Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This (2014). Her film roles include For Queen and Country (1988), Sexy Beast (2000) and Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001).
1971 - Pete Sampras, American tennis player, former professional tennis champion. A right-handed player with a single-handed backhand, his precise and powerful serve earned him the nickname "Pistol Pete".
Lefties:
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More birthdays and historical events today, 12 August - On This Day.
Historical Events
1851 - American Isaac Singer patents the sewing machine.
1908 - The first Model T Ford is built. On this day, the dream of Henry Ford became a reality when this first model rolled off the factory floor in Detroit, Michigan. It revolutionized the motor industry by making cars accessible to the common people.
