October 3 Dateline

Birthdays

1900 - Thomas Clayton Wolfe, American novelist of the early 20th century. He wrote four lengthy novels as well as many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing. Wolfe's influence extends to the writings of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac, and of authors Ray Bradbury and Philip Roth, among others. He remains an important writer in modern American literature, as one of the first masters of autobiographical fiction, and is considered North Carolina's most famous writer.

1916 - James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS, known by the pen name 'James Herriot', British veterinary surgeon and writer. He used his many years of experiences as a veterinary surgeon to write a series of books consisting of stories about animals and their owners. He wrote humourous books. Best known for It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet and If Only They Could Talk.

1925 - Gore Vidal, American writer, political commentator and essayist, a public intellectual known for his patrician manner, epigrammatic wit, and polished style of writing. As a public intellectual, Gore Vidal's topical debates delve on sex, politics, and religion. Vidal thought all men and women are potentially bisexual. As a novelist, Vidal explored the nature of corruption in public and private life. His third novel, The City and the Pillar, offended the literary, political, and moral sensibilities of conservative book reviewers, the plot being about a dispassionately presented male homosexual relationship.  In the historical novel genre, he re-created the imperial world of Julian the Apostate (r. AD 361–63) in Julian, Julian, the Roman emperor who used general religious toleration to re-establish pagan polytheism to counter the political subversion of Christian monotheism. In social satire, Myra Breckinridge explores the mutability of gender role and sexual orientation as being social constructs established by social mores. In Burr and Lincoln, the protagonist is presented as "A Man of the People" and as "A Man" in a narrative exploration of how the facets of personality affect the U.S. national politics.

1936 - Steve Reich, American composer who, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, pioneered minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. (Steve Reich: Variations for Winds, Strings, Keyboards. A complete recording by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edo De Waart in 1983. Uploaded by R D Jazzboy. Accessed October 3, 2019.)

Lefties:
None known

 

 

More birthdays and historical events, October 3 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1789 - U.S. President George Washington proclaims the first Thanksgiving Day, setting aside November 26 as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.

1895 - Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage is published in book form. 

1900 - Sir Edward Elgar's oratorio The Dream of Gerontius is first performed, conducted by Hans Richter at Birmingham Festival. It is regarded as Elgar's masterpiece.

1962 - Spacecraft Sigma 7, manned by astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra, completes six Earth orbits, a part of NASA's Mercury 8 Project.

1990 - Reunification of Germany. East Germany and West Germany reunite to become the Federal Republic of Germany.The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

2004 - The movie "Desperate Housewives" premieres in the U.S. with phenomenal success. It stars Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Nicollette Sheridan, and Marcia Cross.




Resources:

1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)

2. Bitannica. 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 3, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.