February 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1732 - George Washington, First U.S. President, American Political Leader, Military General, Statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Previously, he led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War for Independence. He presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which established the U.S. Constitution and a federal government. Washington has been called the "Father of His Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation.

1817 - Niels Gade, Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. He is considered the most important Danish musician of his day. Among Gade's works are eight symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, organ and piano pieces and a number of large-scale cantatas, Comala and Elverskud among them, which he called "concert pieces" (koncertstykker). Gade's music works, embraced post-1848 as works of Romantic nationalism, are sometimes based on Danish folklore. Apparently Gade never rated "The Bridal Waltz" (Brudevalsen). It was rescued by August Bournonville in his ballet A Folk Tale (Et folkesagn) and became an essential part of Danish weddings. (Niels Wilhelm Gade - Frühlings-Phantasie, Op.23 (1852). Uploaded by KuhlauDilfeng4. Accessed February 22, 2021.)     

1857 - Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell), OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB, KStJ, DL), British Army Officer, writer, founder and First Chief Scout of the world-wide Scout Movement, with his sister Agnes, of the world-wide Girl Guide / Girl Scout Movement. Baden-Powell authored the first editions of the seminal work Scouting for Boys, which was an inspiration for the Scout Movement.  

 

1908 - Sir John Mills, CBE, (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills), English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Ryan's Daughter in 1970.  Sir Mill's climb to stardom began with his lead role in We Dive at Dawn, a film about submariners. He was top billed in This Happy Breed, directed by David Lean and adapted from a Noël Coward play. Also popular was Waterloo Road, in which Mills played a man who goes AWOL to retrieve his wife from a draft-dodger (played by Stewart Granger). Mills played a pilot in The Way to the Stars, directed by Asquith from a script by Terence Rattigan, and another big hit in Britain. He did Duet for Two Hands (1945) on stage. Considered his greatest was his role as the adult Pip in Great Expectations, directed by David Lean. It was the third biggest hit at the British box office that year and Mills was voted the sixth most popular star. (Great Expectations Official Trailer #1 - John Mills Movie (1946) HD. MovieClips Classic Thrillers. Accessed February 22, 2016.)  

1916 - Henri Dutilleux, French composer. whose works represent a link between the worlds of Debussy and Messiaen. He won the Prix de Rome in 1938. His first music suggests influences from Debusy, Ravel, Roussel and Honegger. He combines modernist and neo-Romantic trends in his worksbut developed as an isolated and independent figure predominantly instrumental music. His orchestral writing with a poetic subtitle has dominated his compositions. 
 

1950 - Dame Julie Walters, DBE (Julia Mary Walters), English actress, comedian, and author. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Fellowship, and a Golden Globe. Walters has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, once for Best Actress and once for Best Supporting Actress. She rose to prominence for playing the title role in Educating Rita. On stage, she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress for the 2001 production of All My Sons. On television, Walters collaborated with Victoria Wood; they appeared together on several television shows. She has won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress four times, more than any other actress. Walters and Helen Mirren are the only actresses to have won this award three consecutive times, and Walters is tied with Judi Dench for the most nominations in the category with seven. In 2006, the British public voted Walters fourth in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars as part of ITV's 50th anniversary celebrations. She starred in A Short Stay in Switzerland, which won her an International Emmy for Best Actress. Walters was made a Dame (DBE) in 2017 for services to drama.

1962 - Steve Robert Irwin, Australian herpetologist, zookeeper, television personality, environmentalist, and conservationist. He achieved worldwide fame from the TV series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series that he co-hosted with his wife Terri. The couple also hosted the series Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and New Breed Vets. They also co-owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents in Beerwah, Queensland. Irwin died in 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Numerous parks, zoos, streets, and an asteroid have been named in his honour. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society named its island-class patrol vessel MY Steve Irwin after Irwin. His widow Terri Irwin, with whom he had two children, continues to operate Australia Zoo.

1975 - Drew Blythe Barrymore, American actress, film producer and director, talk show host and entrepreneur, recipient of awards, including a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA nomination. She is a member of the Barrymore family of actors, and the granddaughter of John Barrymore. Barrymore achieved fame as a child actress with her role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. In 1995, Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen formed the production company Flower Films. Barrymore also launched a range of cosmetics under the Flower banner, which has grown to include lines in makeup, perfume and eyewear. Her other business ventures include a range of wines and a clothing line. In 2015, Dutton published a collection of Barrymore's autobiographical essays in a book titled, Wildflower. Barrymore received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.

 

Leftie:
Boy Scouts Founder Lord Baden-Powell

More birthdays and historical events, February 22 - On This Day

 

 

Feature:

 
The work of Danish composer Niels Wilhelm Gade - Symphony No.1 in C-minor, Op.5 "On Sjoland's Fair Plains" (1842). Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890). Gade is considered the most important Danish musician of his day. Work: Symphony No.1 in C-minor, Op.5 "Paa Sjølunds fagre Sletter" / "On Sjoland's Fair Plains" (1842).  Scored for Piccolo, Flutes, oboes, clarinets in B♭, bassoons, horns in E♭ and C, trumpets in C, trombones (alto, tenor, bass), bass tuba or contrabassoon, timpani, strings 

Mov.I: Moderato con moto - Allegro energico - Con più moto 00:00​ 

Mov.II: Scherzo: Allegro risoluto quasi presto 09:32​ 

Mov.III: Andantino grazioso 15:09​ 

Mov.IV: Finale: Molto allegro ma con fuoco - Molto marcato 23:54​ 

Performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Hogwood
(YouTube, uploaded by KuhlauDilfeng4. Accessed February 22, 2021.)

Historical Events

1879 - In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many five-and-ten-cent Woolworth stores.

1940 - Five-year-old Tenzin Gyatso is enthroned in Tibet as His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.

February 21 Dateline

Birthdays

1801 - Johann W. Kalliwoda, composer, conductor and violinist. (Alternative Names/Transliterations: Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda, Johannes Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda, Jan Kalivoda. He is the father of Wilhelm Kalliwoda, who followed in his father's music career footsteps. Listening pleasure: Concertino for Oboe.)

1836 - Léo Delibes, French composer of operas and ballets, whose works include the ballets Coppelia and Sylvia, and the opera Lakme. After composing light comic opérettes in the 1850s and 1860s, while also serving as a church organist, Delibes achieved public recognition for his music for the ballet La Source in 1866. His later ballets Coppélia and Sylvia were key works in the development of modern ballet, giving the music much greater importance than previously. He composed a small number of mélodies, some of which are still performed frequently. Coppélia and Sylvia remain core works in the international ballet repertoire, and from on occasion, Lakmé is revived in opera houses. (Léo Delibes Ballet Coppélia (1. partie). Uploaded by Volodimir Valik. Accessed February 22, 2019.)
 
1893 - Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña, Virtuoso Spanish Classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia, or students of his students. His contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire not only included commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style. (Andrés Segovia - Recital 1962 (rare video live !). Uploaded by Daniel Magli. Accessed February 22, 2019.)

1903 - Anaïs Nin (Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell), French-American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Nin was the daughter of composer Joaquín Nin and Rosa Culmell, a classically trained singer. Nin spent her early years in Spain and Cuba, about 16 years in Paris, and the remaining half of her life in the U.S., where she became an author. She wrote journals prolifically that detail her private thoughts and personal relationships. Her journals describe her marriages to Hugh Parker Guiler and Rupert Pole, and her numerous affairs, including those with psychoanalyst Otto Rank and writer Henry Miller, both of whom profoundly influenced Nin and her writing. Nin also wrote novels, critical studies, essays, short stories, and volumes of erotica. Much of her work was published posthumously amid renewed critical interest in her life and work.1907 - W.H. Auden, (Wystan Hugh Auden), English-American poet. His poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, and its variety in tone, form and content. He is best known for poems about love such as "Funeral Blues"; poems on political and social themes such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; poems on cultural and psychological themes such as The Age of Anxiety; and poems on religious themes such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae". Auden was a prolific writer of prose essays and reviews on literary, political, psychological, and religious subjects, and he worked at various times on documentary films, poetic plays, and other forms of performance. (W.H. Auden - Tell Me The Truth About Love (Documentary). Uploaded by BuyKurious. Accessed February 21, 2020.)

1927 - Erma Louise Bombeck (née Fiste), American humourist who achieved great popularity for her syndicated newspaper humor column describing suburban home life. She also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers. Between 1965 and April 17, 1996 – five days before her death – Bombeck wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read semi-weekly by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.

1927 - Hubert de Givenchy (Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy), French fashion designer who founded the house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn and clothing for Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970.

1933 - Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon), American singer & songwriter. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She chose to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.

1946 - Alan Rickman (born Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman), English actor and film director. Known for his languid tone and delivery, Rickman's signature sound was the result of a speech impediment when he could not move his lower jaw properly as a child. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), performing in modern and classical theatre productions. He played the Vicomte de Valmont in the RSC stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985, and after the production transferred to the West End in 1986 and Broadway in 1987 he was nominated for a Tony Award. His final film roles were as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky, and reprising his role as the voice of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland in Alice Through the Looking Glass.

1961 - Christopher Atkins, American actor, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon. He was a sailing instructor with no acting experience when he was cast in the film.  In 2009, Atkins appeared on VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol, a reality show featuring former teen idols. He was ranked no. 76 on VH1's list of 100 Greatest Teen Stars. Atkins became a luxury pool builder and co-developed the Christopher Atkins Strike Jacket E.F.L. (Extreme Fishing Lure)--"a rubbery slipcovering for traditional baits."

1979 - Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress, film producer, and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated. She had her breakthrough as Sarah Reeves Merrin on the Fox teen drama Party of Five (1995–1999) and rose to fame as a teen star for her role as Julie James in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer and its 1998 sequel, as well as Amanda Beckett in the teen comedy film Can't Hardly Wait. She has other notable films. In music, she has also released some studio albums.

1983 - Melanie Laurent,  French actress, filmmaker, singer, and pianist. The recipient of two César Awards and a Lumières Award, she has established herself as an accomplished actress in the French film industry. Laurent has appeared in stage productions in France. She made her theatre debut in 2010 in Nicolas Bedos's Promenade de santé. The short film De moins en moins marked her debut as a filmmaker. Her feature film directorial debut is The Adopted. Respire, her second production as a director, was screened at the International Critics' Week section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. She made her singing debut with a studio album En t'attendant in May 2011; the album contains twelve songs, five of which are co-written and co-produced by Irish folk musician Damien Rice.

Leftie:
Actress Melanie Laurent

More birthdays and historical events, February 21 - On This Day

 

 

 

In Memoriam:  
Rev. Billy Graham, American Christian evangelist who passed, Feb 21, 2018, aged 99. Arguably, he was the most influential preacher of the 20th century.  Billy Graham Documentary: Leadership and Legacy in History (Accessed Feb. 21, 2018),  Billy Graham, America's Pastor has Died (USA Today, Accessed Feb. 21, 2018)

 

Historical Events

1431 - The trial of Joan of Arc begins.   

1842 - John J. Greenough patents his sewing machine invention.