Birthdays
1803 - Hector Berlioz, French Romantic composer. His output includes orchestral works such as the Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy, choral pieces including the Requiem and L'Enfance du Christ, his three operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, and works of hybrid genres such as the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette and the "dramatic legend" La Damnation de Faust. Berlioz completed three operas: Benvenuto Cellini, outright failure; the huge epic Les Troyens (The Trojans), so large in scale; and Béatrice et Bénédict – based on Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing – was a success at its premiere but did not enter the regular operatic repertoire. Meeting only occasional success as a composer, Berlioz turned to conducting, in which he gained an international reputation. (Berlioz : Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastical Symphony). YouTube, uploaded by France Musique. The Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Myung-Whun Chung performs Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique”. Live recording on September 13th 2013 at the Salle Pleyel (Paris) Accessed December 12, 2020.)
1918 - Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer, famous for Gulag Archipelago. Russian novelist, philosopher, historian, short story writer and political prisoner. Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union and Communism and helped to raise global awareness of the Soviet Gulag forced-labor camp system. After serving in the Red Army during World War II, he was sentenced to spend eight years in a labour camp and then internal exile for criticizing Josef Stalin in a private letter. He was allowed to publish only one work in the Soviet Union, the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Although the reforms brought by Nikita Khrushchev freed him from exile in 1956, the publication of Cancer Ward (1968), August 1914 (1971), and The Gulag Archipelago (1973) angered the Soviet Union authorities, and Solzhenitsyn lost his Soviet citizenship in 1974. He was flown to West Germany, and in 1976 he moved with his family to the United States, where he continued to write. In 1990, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, his citizenship was restored, and four years later he returned to Russia, where he remained until his death in 2008. He was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature". His The Gulag Archipelago was a highly influential work that "amounted to a head-on challenge to the Soviet state". (Great Writers: A. Solzhenitsyn, uploaded by Solzhenitsyn Center. Accessed Dec 11, 2018) and A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch.)
1944 - Teri Ann Garr, American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She appeared in comedic roles which includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accolades include one Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award nomination, and one National Board of Review Award. She was regular guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman. In the 1990s, she appeared in two films by Robert Altman: The Player (1992) and Prêt-à-Porter (1994). She appeared on TV as Phoebe Abbott in three episodes of the sitcom Friends. In 2002, Garr announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the symptoms of which had affected her ability to perform.
Leftie:
Actress Teri Garr
More birthdays and historical events, December 11 - On This Day
Historical Events
1894 - The world's first auto show opens in Paris, showcasing four makes of vehicle.
1908 - Frederick Delius's symphonic poem In a Summer Garden is first performed, with London Philharmonic Orchestra.
1936 - England's King Edward VIII abdicates the British throne to marry an American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Part of his speech is drafted by Winston Churchill. George VI, his brother, a shy man with a stammer, had never expected to become king. He rules throughout World War II, refusing to leave London during the Blitz. His eldest daughter, Princess Elizabeth, is eventually crowned Queen Elizabeth II. King George VI dies in 1952 and is buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
1941 - Following U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's announcement that U.S. is at war with Japan (after the Pearl Harbour Attack), Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.
1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
1997 - At the Kyoto conference on global warming in Japan, 38 industrialized nations agree to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
Video Credit:
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (Mariss Jansons conducts, Proms 2013), YouTube, uploaded by MartialVidz. Accessed December 11, 2016.
Resources:
1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)
2. Britannica. www.britannica.com
3. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 19th Ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011
4. Dateline. Sydney: Millennium House, (2006)
5. Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org
(c) June 2007. Updated December 11, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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