July 6 Dateline

Birthdays

1781 - Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS, founder of Singapore, British statesman, Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies (1811–1816) and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen (1818–1824), best known for his founding of modern Singapore and the Straits Settlements. He was heavily involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars and the running of day-to-day operations on Singapore. He also wrote The History of Java (1817).

1865 - Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Austrian-Swiss composer, creator of a system of rhythmic movements. This system, 'eurythmics,' contributed to modern ballet development

1898 - Hanns Eisler, Austrian composer, became Hollywood assistant to Charlie Chaplin. (Eisler's father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" is named after him.

1907 - Frida Kahlo (born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón), Surrealist Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, post-colonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society. Her paintings had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist. (F. Kahlo (film) Soundtrack)

1927 - Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison), American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leigh had her first formal foray into acting, appearing in radio programs before making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947).  She also wrote four books between 1984 and 2002, two of which were novels.

1935 - 14th Dalai Lama, Spiritual Leader of Tibet, His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. Awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize; born Lhamo Dhondrub, renamed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom) upon being officially recognized as the Dalai Lama. Tibetans often refer to him as Yeshe Norbu, the "Wishfulfilling Gem" or just Kundun - "The Presence."

1937 - Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian pianist and conductor, internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He has held Icelandic citizenship since 1972 and lived in Switzerland since 1978. Aside from collaboring with well-known orchestras and soloists, he has recorded classical and romantic works. His recordings have earned him five Grammy awards plus Iceland's Order of the Falcon. (Vladimir Ashkenazy: Chopin - Two Nocturnes Opus No. 1 & 3 / Polonaise. Uploaded by allegrofilms. Accessed July 6, 2019.  Ashkenazy Observed (Documentary of 1987 about Vladimir Ashkenazy). Uploaded by AllegroFilms. Accessed April 2, 2020.) 

1946 - George W. Bush, 43rd U.S. President from 2001 to 2009. American politician and businessman, George Walker Bush is a member of the Republican Party and had previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He is the second president to have been the son of a former president, the first having been John Quincy Adams.

1951 - Geoffrey Rush, AC (born Geoffrey Roy Rush), Australian actor. He is amongst 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting: an Academy Award for film, a Primetime Emmy Award for television, and a Tony Award for theatre.  In film, he won an Academy Award for Shine, and was nominated for his performances in Shakespeare in Love, Quills, and The King's Speech. He is particularly known for his role as Captain Barbossa in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and has appeared in films including Elizabeth, Les Miserables, Frida, Munich, and The Book Thief.

1958 - Jennifer Jane Saunders, English comedian, screenwriter, actress,  screenwriter and singer. She first found attention in the 1980s when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with her best friend and comedy partner, Dawn French. With French, she co-wrote and starred in their eponymous sketch show, French and Saunders, for which they jointly received a BAFTA Fellowship in 2009. Saunders later received acclaim in the 1990s for writing and playing her character Edina Monsoon in her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

Lefties:
Jennifer Saunders, actress

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 6 July - On This Day. 

Historical Events

1535 - Sir Thomas More, advisor to King Henry VIII of England, is beheaded in the Tower of London for treason. He had refused to accept Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England or the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn. More was made a saint in 1886, and later canonised in 1935 on the 400th anniversary of his martyrdom. A play A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt is a great examination of the characters and arguments involved in Thomas More's political and religious convictions.

1885 - Louis Pasteur tests his vaccine for rabies on Joseph Meister, a nine year old boy who had been beaten by a rabid dog. Joseph is saved and later becomes the director of the Pasteur Institute.

July 5 Dateline

Birthdays

1810 - P.T. Barnum (born Phineas Taylor Barnum), American showman, circus operator, politician, author, publisher, philanthropist and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is widely credited with coining the adage "There's a sucker born every minute", although no proof can be found of him saying this.

1879 - Dwight F. Davis, (born Dwight Filley Davis, Sr.), American tennis player. He is best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition. He was the Assistant Secretary of War from 1923 to 1925 and Secretary of War from 1925 to 1929.

1879 - Wanda Aleksandra Landowska, Polish-French harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings, and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century. She was the first person to record Johann Sebastian Bach's "Goldberg Variations" on the harpsichord. (J.S.Bach, Wanda Landowska, Harpsichord Goldberg Theme & Variations BWV 988. Uploaded by Poesia & Musica por Xavier-Perez. Accessed July 5, 2016. Wanda Landowska Plays Mozart Sonata KV332 in F Major, Recorded 1939. Accessed July 5, 2017.)

1880 - Jan Kubelik, Czech violinist, father of conductor Rafael Kubelik. Around the turn of the century, considered the greatest violinists were Ysaye, Kubelik, Joachim, Sarasate, and Kreisler. This times were before Heifetz, Huberman, and Prihoda. (Listen to Jan Kubelic play his cadenza to Paganini's Concerto No. 1. Uploaded by rareviolintreasures. Accessed July 5, 2013.)

1889 - Jean Cocteau, French writer, poet, playwright, designer, visual artist, filmmaker and critic. He is best known for his novels Le Grand Écart, Le Livre Blanc, and Les Enfants Terribles; the stage plays Le Voix Humaine (1930), La Machine Infernale (1934), Les Parents terribles, La Machine à écrire, and L'Aigle à deux têtes; and the films The Blood of a Poet, Les Parents Terribles, from his own eponymous piéce, Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus, and Testament of Orpheus, which alongside Blood of a Poet and Orpheus constitute the so-called Orphic Trilogy. He was described as "one of [the] avant-garde's most successful and influential filmmakers" by AllMovie. (J.Cocteau Documentary #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6. YouTube, uploaded by Hershel Layton. Accessed July 5, 2018.)

1891 - John Howard Northrop, American biochemist, Nobel laureate. He shared with James Batcheller Sumner and Wendell Meredith Stanley the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The award was given for these scientists' isolation, crystallization, and study of enzymes, proteins, and viruses. Northrop was was a Professor of Bacteriology and Medical Physics, Emeritus, at University of California, Berkeley. For his 1939 book, Crystalline Enzymes: The Chemistry of Pepsin, Trypsin, and Bacteriophage, Northrop was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1949.

1914 - Annie Fischer, Hungarian Classical Pianist, born into a Jewish family and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Ernő Dohnányi and Arnold Székely. She began her career as a concert pianist in 1924 at age ten, making her debut performance with Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1. At 12 years old, she appeared with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 and Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto. In 1933, Fischer won the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in her native city with a performance of Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor. She was seldom heard in the United States until late in her lifetime, giving only two concerts there by that time.  (Annie Fisher plays two Mozart piano concertos: Piano Concerto K467 "Andante" in F Major and Piano Concerto No 22 in E flat Major (K482). YouTube, uploaded by Roger Bridgland. Accessed July 5, 2025). 

 

1929 - Katherine Marie Helmond, American actress. Over her five decades of television acting, she was known for her starring role as ditzy matriarch Jessica Tate on the sitcom Soap and her co-starring role as feisty mother Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss?. She also played Doris Sherman on Coach and Lois Whelan (the mother of Debra Barone) on Everybody Loves Raymond.

Lefties:
Founder of the Davis Cup Dwight Davis
Actress Katherine Helmond

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 5 July - On This Day.
 

 

Featuring: Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)

Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) is best known for his novel Les Enfants Terribles, and the films The Blood of a Poet, Les Parents Terribles, Beauty and the Beast and Orpheus. His circle of friends and associates included:  Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Gertrude Stein, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Yul Brynner, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, Edith Piaf, Colette, Jean Genet, Raymond Radiguet, and other famous people from the arts, classical music, literary and film industry.

Durey: Le Printemps au Fond de la Mer - Poeme of Cocteau (1920). Composer: Louis Durey (1920). Librettist: Jean Cocteau.  (Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises. Durey: Le Printemps au Fond de la Mer - Poeme Of Cocteau (1920) · Louis Durey · Jean Cocteau & Les Six.) Accessed July 5, 2018.

Historical Events

1865 - William Booth holds the first meeting of the East London Christian Mission in a tent in London's Whitechapel. In May 1878, he changes the mission's name to what is now famously known as the Salvation Army.

1946 - The Bikini is first shown at a fashion show at a Paris swimming pool. Louis Reard, its creator stated that it would cause a stir as big as an atomic bomb explosion and named it the "bikini" coined after the Pacific atoll where the U.S. detonated an atoamic bomb previously.