February 4 Dateline

Birthdays

1677 - Johann Ludwig Bach (14 February [O.S. 4 February]), German Composer, second (or third?) cousin of Johann S. Bach. He wrote a large amount of music and regularly oversaw performances, both at Meiningen and neighbouring courts. JS Bach made copies of several of his cantatas and performed them at Leipzig. The cantata Denn du wirst meine Seele nicht in der Hölle lassen, BWV 15, once thought to be by JS Bach's, and listed as BWV 15 in Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue of his works, is now thought to be by Johann Ludwig Bach.

1902 - Charles Augustus Lindbergh, American Pioneeer Aviator, Military Officer, Author, Inventor, and Activist. At age 25 in 1927, he went from obscurity as a U.S. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame by winning the Orteig Prize for making a nonstop flight from New York to Paris. Lindbergh covered the ​33 ¹⁄₂-hour, 3,600-statute-mile (5,800 km) flight alone in a single-engine purpose-built Ryan monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis. Although not the first non-stop transatlantic flight, this was the first solo transatlantic flight, the first transatlantic flight between two major city hubs, and the longest transatlantic flight by almost 2,000 miles, thus it is widely known as a turning point in the trajectory of aviation history and advancement. (Charles Lindbergh Flight. Uploaded by Antonio Diaz de la Serna. Accessed February 4, 2018. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957 Film) - Building the Spirit of St. Louis. Uploaded by WarnerArchive. Accessed February4, 2020.)

1918 - Ida Lupino, English-American Actress, Singer, Director, and Producer. She is widely regarded as one of the most prominent female filmmakers working during the 1950s in Hollywood. With her independent production company, she co-wrote and co-produced several social-message films and became the first woman to direct a film noir with The Hitch-Hiker in 1953.

1921 - Betty Friedan, American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century.

1975 - Natalie Jane Imbruglia, Australian Singer-Songwriter, Model and Actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. After leaving the programme, she began a singing career with her chart-topping cover of Ednaswap's song "Torn". Her album, Left of the Middle, sold 7 million copies worldwide and her five subsequent albums have combined sales of 3 million copies. Her accolades include eight ARIA Awards, two Brit Awards, one Billboard Music Award, and three Grammy nominations. Imbruglia has appeared in several films. She has modelled for several brands, such as L'Oreal, Gap, and Kailis.
 
Lefties:
None known

More birthdays and historical events, February 4 - On This Day

 

 

Featured: Conductor Fritz Reiner

Richard Strauss's Salome (Final Scene), op. 54: Final Scene “Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht deinen Mund” with Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Inge Borkh as Salome. Brilliantly performed!  (YouTube, uploaded by violim. Accessed February 4, 2018.)

For a background of Strauss's final scene of Salome, here's a link from The Kennedy Centre / Artist / Composition. Accessed February 4, 2018.) 

Historical Events

1789 - George Washington is elected the first U.S. President, and three years later on this day same day, is elected to a second term.

1862 - Bacardi is founded as a small rum distillery in Santiago de Cuba in eastern Cuba.

1948 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.

1949 - Conductor Fritz Reiner makes his Metropolitan Opera debut, conducting Richard Strauss's Salome. 

1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California

1997 - O.J. Simpson is found to be civilly liable for the deaths of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

2003 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia officially becomes two republics called Serbia and Montenegro, and adopts a new constitution.




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 February 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.