September 1 Dateline

Birthdays

1653 - Johann Pachelbel, German composer, organist, and teacher, famous for Canon in D major. (Video of Canon in D, YouTube, uploaded by Voices of Music. Accessed September 1, 2018.)

1854 - Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer best known for his opera Hänsel and Gretel based on the familiar fairy tale.(Video: Hänsel and Gretel Opera: "Evening Prayer" YouTube, uploaded by Libera Official. Provided by Wrner Classics. Accessed September 1, 2025.)

1875 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, American speculative fiction writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction and fantasy genres. Among his most well-known creations include Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars (Barsoom series) and Carson Napier of Venus (Amtor series). He is also known for the hollow Earth-themed Pellucidar series, beginning with At the Earth's Core; and the lost world-themed Caspak trilogy, beginning with The Land that Time Forgot.  Burroughs' California ranch is now the center of the Tarzana neighborhood in Los Angeles.

1935 - Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor, known for his advocacy of modern composers and for his work with the San Francisco Symphony, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra where he served as music director for 29 years. He is the recipient of numerous international awards. Following his cancer diagnosis, Ozawa and the novelist Haruki Murakami embarked on a series of six conversations about classical music that form the basis for the book Absolutely on Music.  In 2015, Ozawa was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors. (Khachaturian: Sabre Dance / Ozawa · Berliner Philharmoniker. YouTube, accessed September 1, 2019.)

1939 - Lily Tomlin (born Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin), American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. Her breakout role was on the variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1969 until 1973. She currently stars as Frankie Bergstein on the Netflix series Grace and Frankie, which debuted in 2015 and has earned her nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

1946 - Barry Gibb CBE (born Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb), British-American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, co-founder of the Bee Gees group, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popular music. With his younger brothers, twins Robin and Maurice Gibb, he formed a songwriting partnership. In 1994, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with his brothers. In 1997, as a member of the Bee Gees, Barry Gibb is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. In 2007, Q magazine ranked him number 38 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers". Gibb was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to music and entertainment and a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music and charity. (Barry Gibb - Woman in Love. YouTube, uploaded by Gabriel Fialho. Accessed September 1, 2019.)

1957 - Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García), Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. A contralto, she started her career as the lead singer in the Miami Latin Boys group, later became known as Miami Sound Machine. She had worldwide success with "Conga". The song became Estefan's signature song. She has won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2015) and the Kennedy Center Honors (2017) for her contributions to American music and American Culture Life, and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She is on the Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time lists of VH1 and Billboard.

Lefties:
None known

More birthdays and historical events, September 1 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

 

1804 - Juno, one of the largest main-belt asteroids, is discovered by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding. He also discovers three comets and catalogs 120,000 stars. A crater on the moon is named after him.

1939 - Germany attacks Poland, beginning World War 2. The German battleship Schleswig-Holstein bombards the Polish coast at Westerplatte. The German troops also broke down the turnpike at the German-Polish border. Within two days, UK and France declared war on Hitler's Germany, battling the British Empire, France and others. Japan and Italy joined Germany. Attacked by Japan in 1941, the U.S. joined the Allies. The war raged until 1945.

August 31 Dateline

Birthdays

  1741 - Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, also known as Jean-Paul-Gilles Martini , French composer of German birth during the classical period. His birth name was Johann Paul Aegidius Scwartzendorf in 1741. Often confused with the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Martini, Jean Martini is sometimes known as Martini Il Tedesco ("Martini The German"). Today, he is best known for the vocal romance "Plaisir d'amour," a classical French love song  he wrote in 1784, based from a poem by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, which appears in his novel Célestine. The 1961 Elvis Presley pop standard "Can't Help Falling in Love" is based from "Plaisir dÁmour". (Janet Baker - Martini's Plaisir d'amour. TV recital, 1982. Youtube, uploade by Gabba02. Accessed August 31, 2021.)

 

1834 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian opera composer, famous for La Gioconda. (Opera La Gioconda,  Conductor Donato Renzetti, in Catania Teatro Massimo, 2006. Uploaded by Pierrot Boccanegra. Accessed August 31, 2018.) The opera's title translates as The Happy Woman, but is usually given in English as The Ballad Singer. However, as this fails to convey the irony inherent in the original, the Italian is usually used. Each act of La Gioconda has a title. Place & time: 17th century Venice. The story revolves around a woman, Gioconda, who so loves her mother that when Laura, her rival in love for the heart of Enzo, saves her mother's life, Gioconda puts aside her own romantic love to repay her. The villain Barnaba tries to seduce Gioconda, but she prefers death.

1870 - Maria Montessori (Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori), Italian physician and educator, best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. (Maria Montessori: Learn about her teachings, life and lasting legacy. Uploaded by Davidson Film, Inc. Accessed August 31, 2011.)

1879 - Alma Mahler (Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel, born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler), Viennese-born composer, author, editor and socialite. Musically active from her early years, she was the composer of nearly 50 songs for voice and piano, and works in other genres as well. Only seventeen songs are known to survive. She became the wife of composer Gustav Mahler, who insisted (as a condition of their marriage) that she give up composing. She fell into depression from being artistically stifled. While her marriage was struggling, she had an affair with Walter Gropius. Gustav started to encourage her composing and helped prepare some of her compositions for publication, but he died soon after this attempted reconciliation in 1911.(Alma Mahler (1879-1964) - Complete Songs. YouTube, uploaded by Singer Joy. Accessed August 31, 2020. Alma Mahler's "Sämtliche Lieder" performed by Charlotte Margiono (soprano) and members of the Brabant Orchestra. Conducting and orchestral arrangements by Julian Reynolds. Alma Mahler. YouTube, uploaded by Thomas Little aka Classical Nerd. Accessed August 31, 2020)

1928 - James Coburn (born James Harrison Coburn III), American actor. He was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career, ultimately winning an Academy Award in 1999 for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction. His toothy grin and lanky physique made him a perfect tough guy in leading and supporting roles in westerns and action films, such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Charade, Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, and more. He received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries nomination for producing The Mists of Avalon. Coburn cultivated an image synonymous with "cool"  and, along with such contemporaries as Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood, became one of the prominent "tough-guy" actors of his day.

1945 - Itzhak Perlman, Israeli-American violinist. Itzhak Perlman and conductor James Levine collaborate for an outstanding rendition of Sarasate's virtuosic fiddle showpiece, "Sigeunerweisen." Uploaded by Nodame2006. Accessed August 30, 2018.)

1949 - Richard Gere (born Richard Tiffany Gere), American actor and producer. He began in films playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence with his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. His other in many well-received films, include An Officer and a Gentleman, The Cotton Club, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, Runaway Bride, and more... For portraying Billy Flynn in the Academy Award-winning musical Chicago, he won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the cast.

Lefties:
None known

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, August 31 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

 

1888 - Jack the Ripper, London's serial killer, murders his first victim, Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols. She was found mutilated in Whitechapel, London. At least five other victims follow and the grisly murders become famous worldwide. Despite various theories as to his identity, the murderer is never caught. 

1994 - After 25 years of fighting to force the British out of Northern Ireland, the IRA announces a ceasefire and its willingness to enter into peace talks.