March 16 Dateline

Birthdays

1774 - Matthew Flinders, English explorer, navigator and cartographer who led the first circumnavigation of Australia and identified it as a continent. He made three voyages to the southern ocean between 1791 and 1810. In the second voyage, with George Bass,  they confirmed that Van Diemen's Land was an island.

1787 - Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist and mathematician. As a school teacher, Ohm began his research with the new electrochemical cell, invented by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta. Using equipment of his own creation, Ohm found that there is a direct proportionality between the potential difference (voltage) applied across a conductor and the resultant electric current. This relationship is known as Ohm's law.

1920 - Reginald "Leo" McKern, Australian actor, who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in stage roles. Notable roles he portrayed include Clang in Help!, Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons, Tom Ryan in Ryan's Daughter, Paddy Button in The Blue Lagoon, Dr. Grogan in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke, and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second installments of The Omen series.

1935 - Teresa Berganza, Spanish mezzo-soprano, who is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence, and beguiling stage presence. (T. Berganza sings "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen. Uploaded by BravaBerganza01. Accessed March 16, 2019.)

1941 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty and The Dreamers. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d'Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. From 1979 until his death in 2018, he was married to screenwriter Clare Peploe.

1947 - Robin McLaurin Williams, American comedian and actor, credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. Known for his improvisational skills and a wide variety of voices, he is often regarded as one of the best comedians of all time. Williams rose to fame playing the alien Mork in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy. After his first starring film role in Popeye, Williams starred in several critically and commercially successful films including The World According to Garp, Moscow on the Hudson, Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, among others. He also starred in box office successes such as Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, The Birdcage, Good Will Hunting, and the Night at the Museum trilogy. He was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Best Supporting Actor for Good Will Hunting. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards.
 
1949 - Victor Joseph Garber, Canadian actor and singer, in television, film, and theatre. He started his career on the stage. He would later go on to earn four Tony Award nominations for his performances in Deathtrap, Little Me, Lend Me a Tenor, and Damn Yankees. He is also known for his film in Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Club, Legally Blonde, and Happiest Season. Garber earned three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performances in the historical drama films Titanic, Milk, and Argo. Garber is known for the role of Jack Bristow in the television series Alias as well as his appearances in Law & Order, Frasier, Modern Family, among others. He was a series regular on Legends of Tomorrow as Dr. Martin Stein.

Leftie:
Actor and singer Victor Garber
 

More birthdays and historical events, March 16 - On This Day


Featured Music:  
Violin interpretation by Fritz Kreisler of  this ever popular Massenet "Meditation of Thais" (YouTube, accessed March 16, 2017.)

 

Historical Events

1521 - Ferdinand Magellan, Spanish explorer, reaches islands in the Pacific Ocean, which he named the Philippines in honor of the Spanish king.

1850 - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is published.

1872 - The Wanderers defeat the Royal Engineers in the first FA Cup, the world's oldest football competition.

1894 - Jules Massenet's favourite opera Thais opens at the Paris Opera

1912 - Into a blizzard near the South Pole, Captain Lawrence Oates steps out with these words: "I'm going out, I may be some time." He somehow knew he had reached such a state of physical collapse that he might only be a hindrance to the others in his team and lessen their chance to survive. His body has never been found.  

1917 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates from the throne after the "February Revolution."

1971 - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel  win the Grammy Award for Best Album for Bridge Over Troubled Water, and the Grammy for Best Single for the title song. 

1976 - Labour Prime Minister of Britain, Harold Wilson, resigns during his eight year in the job.

1978 - Gunmen from the Red Brigade kidnap the former Prime Minister of Italy, Aldo Moro, in Rome. His bullet-riddled body is found in the trunk of a car in Rome on May 10.




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


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