March 18 Dateline

Birthdays

1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer, and a member of the group of Russian composers known as 'The Russian Five'. A master of orchestration, his best-known orchestral compositions, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade, based on Arabian Nights stories which he composed in 1888, is an example of his frequent use of Russian fairy tale and folk subjects. The intimate setting of the "Our Father", recorded for "Sacred Treasures III: Choral Masterworks from Russia and Beyond", reveals his mastery in composing heartfelt music for Russian cathedrals as well as concert halls. Hearts of Space Records. Performed by St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, directed by Nikolai Korniev. YouTube, uploaded by Valley Entertainment. (Sheherazade, Op. 35. hfmFRANZLISZTweimar. Orchestra of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar Conductor: Nicolás Pasquet.) Accessed March 18, 2015.

1858 -  Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel, German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the Diesel engine. Diesel was the namesake of the 1942 film Diesel. The first successful Diesel engine Motor 250/400 was officially tested in 1897 and is now on display at the German Technical Museum in Munich. Rudolf Diesel obtained patents for his design in Germany and other countries, including the United States.He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1978.

1869 - Arthur Neville Chamberlain, British politician of the Conservative Party, he served as Prime Minister of the UK from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and for his signing of the Munich Agreement on 30 September 1938, conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, which marked the beginning of World War II, Chamberlain announced the declaration of war on Germany two days later and led the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the war until his resignation as prime minister on 10 May 1940.

1905 - Friedrich Robert Donat - English film and stage actor, best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor. In his book, The Age of the Dream Palace, Jeffrey Richards wrote that Donat was "British cinema's one undisputed romantic leading man in the 1930s". The image he projected was that of the romantic idealist, often with a dash of the gentleman adventurer.

1926 - Peter Graves, American film and television actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to 1990 (revival). His elder brother was actor James Arness. Graves was also known for his portrayal of airline pilot Captain Clarence Oveur in the 1980 comedy film Airplane! and its 1982 sequel Airplane II: The Sequel.

1932 - John Hoyer Updike,  American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and Colson Whitehead), Updike published more than twenty novels, more than a dozen short-story collections, as well as poetry, art and literary criticism and children's books during his career. His most famous work is his "Rabbit" series and the novella Rabbit Remembered. Both Rabbit Is Rich (1982) and Rabbit at Rest (1990) were recognized with the Pulitzer Prize. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class", Updike was recognized for his careful craftsmanship, his unique prose style, and his prolific output – he wrote on average a book a year. Updike populated his fiction with characters who "frequently experience personal turmoil and must respond to crises relating to religion, family obligations, and marital infidelity".

1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk, Former South African President, he served as State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party from 1989 to 1997.

1944 - Dick Smith (Richard Harold Smith), Australian entrepreneur, aviator, philanthropist, political activist. He holds a number of aviation world records and is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Australian Geographic and Dick Smith Foods. He was selected as 1986 Australian of the Year. In 2010, he founded the media production company Smith&Nasht with the intention of producing films about global issues. In 2015, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

1964 - Bonnie Kathleen Blair, Retired American speed skater. She is one of the top skaters of her era, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning five gold medals and one bronze medal.

Lefties:
Former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk
Actor Peter Graves

More birthdays and historical events, March 18 - On This Day

 

 

Feature:

Rimsky-Korsakov's Fantasia on Russian Themes. Beautiful melody!

Historical Events

1850 - Henry Wells and William Fargo found American Express. Initially it is a shipping company, but later it becomes a financial institution.

1902 - Tenor Enrico Caruso records 10 arias in Milan from the Gramophone company. He is the first well-known singer to make a record. (Below, Enrico Caruso - O Sole Mio)

March 17 Dateline

Today, 17th of March, is St. Patrick's Day, Patron Saint of Ireland. 

St. Patrick's Day observes of the death of St. Patrick (March 17, 461), the patron saint of Ireland credited for bringing Christianity to its people. The holiday has evolved into a celebration of Irish culture with parades, music, dancing, special foods, drinking and a whole lot of green.

 

This day is also dedicated to Saint Joseph of Arimathea, who laid the body of Jesus in the tomb. Legend has it that he was a tin merchant who traveled to Cornwall and Glastonbury, who knows, perhaps with young Jesus along.  The legend is behind the words of the famous poet William Blake in his hymn "Jerusalem" that begins with: "And did those feet, in ancient time, walk upon England's mountain green?"

Birthdays

1665 - Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, French musician, harpsichordist and composer. Her first published work was her Premier livre de pièces de clavessin, printed in 1687, which includes unmeasured preludes. It was one of the few collections of harpsichord pieces printed in France in the 17th Century, along with those of Chambonnières, Lebègue and d'Anglebert. She composed a ballet, Les Jeux à l'honneur de la victoire (c. 1691). On 15 March 1694, the production of her opera Céphale et Procris at the Académie Royale de Musique was the first of an opera written by a woman in France. The five-act tragédie lyrique was set to a libretto by Duché de Vancy. In 1695 she composed a set of trio sonatas which are among the earliest French examples of the sonata. Her only published opera only had 5 or 6 performances. Cephale et Procris would soon be known as tragedie en musique, a tragedy put into music, and French literary theatre recited musically. 

 
1834 - Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler, German engineer, inventor, industrial designer. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum fueled engine. Daimler and his lifelong business partner Wilhelm Maybach were two inventors whose goal was to create small, high-speed engines to be mounted in any kind of locomotion device. In 1883 they designed a horizontal cylinder layout compressed charge liquid petroleum engine that fulfilled Daimler's desire for a high speed engine which could be throttled, making it useful in transportation applications. This engine was called Daimler's Dream. In 1890, they converted their partnership into a stock company Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG, in English—Daimler Motors Corporation).

1917 - Nat "King" Cole (born Nathaniel Adams Coles), American singer and jazz pianist. He recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Cole also acted in films and on television and performed on Broadway. He was the first African-American man to host an American television series. He was the father of singer-songwriter Natalie Cole. (Nat "King" Cole singing "Stardust." Uploaded by cto10121. Accessed March 17, 2018.)

1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Soviet ballet dancer, and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Named 'Lord of the Dance', Nureyev is widely regarded as the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation. Born on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk, Siberia, Soviet Union to a Tatar Muslim family, he began his early career with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. He defected from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961. This was the first defection of a Soviet artist during the Cold War and it created an international sensation. He went on to dance with The Royal Ballet in London and from 1983 to 1989 he served as director of the Paris Opera Ballet. In addition to his technical prowess, Nureyev was an accomplished horeographer serving as the chief choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet. He produced his own classical interpretations including Swan Lake and Giselle. (Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) Ballet Dancer. Uploaded by George Pollen. Accessed March 17, 2019.  Rudolf Nureyev solo debut on American TV 1963. Uploaded by jkircher314. Accessed March 17, 2019.) 

1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress, singer, and former model. She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. She received further recognition for her performances in the films The Pink Panther Strikes Again, A Little Night Music, The First Great Train Robbery, Hanover Street, among others. She is also known as Madeline Fabray in the miniseries North and South, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1986. In 1990, Down played the role Stephanie Rogers in the CBS drama series Dallas. During 1997–99, she played Olivia Richards in the NBC series Sunset Beach. From April 2003 to February 2012, she portrayed Jackie Marone in the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.

Lefties:
None known

More birthdays and historical events, March 17 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1845 - Stephen Perry patents the first rubber band in England.

1830 - F. Chopin makes his concert debut in Warsaw as soloist in his Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21.