February 12 Dateline

Birthdays

1567 - Thomas Campion (sometimes called Campian), English Renaissance composer, poet and physician. He wrote over a hundred lute songs, masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music.

1809 - Charles Thomas Darwin, English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science.

1809 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President, American Statesman and Lawyer. He served as the 16th President of tthe U.S. from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led his country through the American Civil War, considered its bloodiest war.

1818 - Otto Ludwig, German dramatist, novelist and critic. He was one of Germany's first modern realists and one of the most notable dramatists of the period.

1828 - George Meredith, English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. Before his death, Meredith was honoured from many quarters: he succeeded Alfred Lord Tennyson as president of the Society of Authors; in 1905 he was appointed to the Order of Merit by King Edward VII.

1881 - Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina  of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognized for the creation of the role The Dying Swan and with her own company, she became the first ballerina to tour ballet around the world.  (Anna Pavlova dancing "The Dying Swan", famous short ballet choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to the music of Saint-Saens in 1905. Uploaded by DarkDancer06, Accessed February 12, 2019.)

Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events, Febraury 12 - On This Day.

 

Feature:

Countertenor Alfred Deller sings an Elizabethan song, "Shall I Come, Sweet Love, to Thee," composed by Thomas Campion. Lute played by Robert Spencer. YouTube, uploaded by kadoguy. Accessed February 12, 2018.

"SHALL I come, sweet Love, to thee
When the evening sun is set?
Shall I not excluded be?
Will you find no feignèd let?
Let me not, for pity, anymore
Tell the long hours at your door."

Historical Events

1541 - Santiago, Chile is founded by Spanish conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia.  

1879 - The first artificial ice rink in North America opens at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

1912 - China adopts the Gregorian calendar.

1924 -  George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" premiered in an afternoon concert on Tuesday, this day, held by Paul Whiteman and his band, the Palais Royal Orchestra, titled An Experiment in Modern Music, which took place in Aeolian Hall in New York City.

1973 - The first American POWs are released by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

1999 - U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the U.S. Senate in his impeachment trial.




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)5.
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org


 

(c) June 2007. Updated February 12, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.