March 12 Dateline

Birthdays

1710 - Thomas Augustine Arne, English composer, famous for Rule, Britannia!,  which became Britain's national patriotic song. Arne was a leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, working at the West End's Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He wrote many operatic entertainments for the London theatres and pleasure gardens, as well as concertos, sinfonias, and sonatas. YouTube videos of Arne's "Rule, Britannia": British Patriotic Song: Rule, Britannia. Uploaded by Duke of Canada, or Arne's Rule, Britannia, uploaded by TousavecNintendo. Performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.  Accessed March 12, 2018.  It's one of the most popular patriotic British hymns, and some consider it as a 2nd National Anthem for the UK. Arne composed The Masque of Alfred, an opera in three acts, first performed August 1, 1740, Cliveden, revised version May 12, 1753, Covent Garden, London. Libretto: David Mallet and James Thomson. Ode: When Britain first at heav'n's command 'The celebrated ode in honour of Great Britain call'd Rule Britannia'.

1863 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, OMS CMG MVM (General Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince of Montenevoso), Italian poet, playwright, journalist and soldier during WWI. He occupied a prominent place in Italian literature and later political life. He was often referred to under the epithets Il Vate ("the Poet") or Il Profeta ("the Prophet"). He was associated with the Decadent movement in his literary works, which interplayed closely with French Symbolism and British Aestheticism.

1889 - Vaslav Nijinsky, Ukrainian-born Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Born in Kiev to Polish parents, he grew up in Imperial Russia but considered himself to be Polish. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. (Nijinsky, the Legend, from Russian Ballet History. Accessed March 12, 2012. Nijinsky 1912 L'Après midi d'un Faune full version. Uploaded by Mary M. Accessed March 12, 2018. Remembering Nijinsky. Uploaded by Kate nHeather. Accessed March 12, 2019.)

1912 - Edward Albee (born Edward Franklin Albee III), American playwright known for works such as The Zoo Story, The Sandbox, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and A Delicate Balance. Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play.

1922 - Jack Kerouac (born Jean-Louis "Jack" Kerouac, though he called himself Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, American novelist and poet of French-Canadian ancestry, considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his method of spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as Catholic spirituality, jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, and travel. He became an underground celebrity and, with other beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements.

1923 - Wally Schirra (Walter Marty Schirra, Jr.), American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He flew in all 3 space programs Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' first effort to put human beings into space.

1925 - Georges Delerue, French composer of films and television. He studied Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Grieg, and was particularly inspired by Richard Strauss. He composed over 350 scores for cinema and TV and won numerous film music awards, including an Academy Award for A Little Romance, three César Awards, two ASCAP Awards, among others. He was also nominated for four additional Academy Awards for Anne of the Thousand Days, The Day of the Dolphin, Julia, and Agnes of God, four additional César Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Genie Award for Black Robe. The French newspaper Le Figaro named him "the Mozart of cinema." Delerue was the first composer to win three consecutive César Awards for Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, Love on the Run, and The Last Metro. Delerue was named Commander of Arts and Letters, one of France's highest honours. (Man, Woman and Child film soundtrack)

1946 - Liza Minnelli (born Liza May Minelli), American actress and singer, best known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Cabaret (1972). She is famous for her energetic stage presence and her powerful mezzo-soprano singing voice. She is the daughter of famous actress & singer Judy Garland and film director & producer Vincente Minnelli. (Liza Minnelli sings the Ultimate version of New York, New York. Superb! Uploaded by Cabaret Club. Accessed March 12, 2013. Liza Minelli interviewed by Barbara Houer (1985). Uploaded by Elisabet Petersen. Accessed March 12, 2017.)

Leftie:
Astronaut Wally Schirra

More birthdays and historical events, March 12 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1857 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera Simon Boccanegra premieres in Venice.

1894 - Bottled Coca-Cola is sold for the first time. The drink was created in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton, and patented it in 1893.

1923 - Dr. Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm, the first kind with a soundtrack.

1930 - Mahatma Gandhi begins a civil disobedience march from his ashram to the coastal village of Dandi, 240 miles (380 km) away.

1933  - German President Paul von Hindenburg orders the flag of the German Republic to be replaced with the empire banner and the swastika.

1943 - Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, for brass and percussion, premieres in Cincinnati, US. 

1994 - Thirty-three women are the first women ordained as priests in the Church of England. They were ordained as priests in Bristol Cathedral. The Church of England is part of the Anglican Communion of Churches. The Episcopal Church of the U.S. was the first within this group to ordain women in 1974 and others soon followed. In 1989 the Anglican Church of New Zealand ordained the firsts female bishop.



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 Timestables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org

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