October 2 Dateline

Birthdays

1869 - Mahatma Gandhi, (full name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi), Indian political leader of the Indian Independence Movement in British-ruled India. Indian Lawyer, anti-colonial Nationalist, and Political Ethicist. He employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British Rule, and in turn inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.  (Mahatma - A Great Soul of the 20th Century. Uploaded by Indian Diplomacy. Accessed October 2, 2019.)

1890 - Groucho Marx (born Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx), American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. He is considered a master of quick wit and one of America's greatest comedians. He made 13 feature films as a team with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, notably as the host of the game show You Bet Your Life.  His distinctive appearance included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, spectacles, cigar, a thick greasepaint mustache, and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses: a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, a large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.

1895 - Bud Abbott (born William Alexander Abbott, American comedian, the other half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Groucho Marx declared Abbott "the greatest straight man ever."

1945 - Don McLean, American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1971 hit song "American Pie". His other hit singles include "Vincent" (US #12, UK #1 in 1972), "Dreidel" (US #21 in 1972), a rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying" (US #5, UK #1 in 1980), a rendition of the Skyliners' "Since I Don't Have You" (US #23 in 1980), and "Wonderful Baby" (US AC #1 in 1975). His composition "And I Love You So" has been sung by Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Helen Reddy, Glen Campbell, and others, and in 2000, Madonna had a hit with a rendition of "American Pie".  In 2004, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. (Don McLean - The Meaning of American Pie (Update). Uploaded by lonestarsound. Don McLean - Vincent ( Starry, Starry Night) With Lyrics. Uploaded by wysty67. Accessed October 2, 2014.)

Lefties:
None known

 

 

More birthdays and historical events, October 2 - On This Day

Historical Events

1836 - British naturalist Charles Darwin completes his journey of four years, nine months and five days on H.M.S. Beagle to South America, where he collects data and specimens for research into his evolution theory.

1890 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's comic opera, Bastien und Bastienne (Bastien and Bastienne), K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is known to be first performed this day at Architektenhaus in Berlin. It's a one-act singspiel, a form of German light opera, typically with spoken dialogue, popular especially in the 18th century. It was one of the earliest operas written by Mozart in 1768 when he was only 12 years old.

1913 - Frederick Delius's two orchestral works "Summer Night on the River and "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring" are first performed, in Leipzig.

1950 - The syndicated daily comic strip Peanuts, by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, is first printed in seven U.S. newspapers that continues until the year 2000 (Schulz's death).

1968 - Ten days of demonstrations before the Olympic Dames in Mexico City end in the Tlatelolco Massacre; 300 civilians are killed by army and police personnel.

1974 - American scientists announce that cannabis (plant Cannabis sativa) causes brain damage, after testing monkeys' reactions to the drug.

1991 - Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1987, delivers his first lecture as U.S. poet laureate at the Library of Congress: "By failing to read or listen to poets, society dooms itself to inferior modes of articulation, those of the politician or the salesman or the charlatan."



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 October 2, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.