Birthdays
1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer, and a member of the group of Russian composers known as 'The Russian Five'. A master of orchestration, his best-known orchestral compositions, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade, based on Arabian Nights stories which he composed in 1888, is an example of his frequent use of Russian fairy tale and folk subjects. The intimate setting of the "Our Father", recorded for "Sacred Treasures III: Choral Masterworks from Russia and Beyond", reveals his mastery in composing heartfelt music for Russian cathedrals as well as concert halls. Hearts of Space Records. Performed by St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, directed by Nikolai Korniev. YouTube, uploaded by Valley Entertainment. (Sheherazade, Op. 35. hfmFRANZLISZTweimar. Orchestra of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar Conductor: Nicolás Pasquet.) Accessed March 18, 2015.
1858 - Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel, German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the Diesel engine. Diesel was the namesake of the 1942 film Diesel. The first successful Diesel engine Motor 250/400 was officially tested in 1897 and is now on display at the German Technical Museum in Munich. Rudolf Diesel obtained patents for his design in Germany and other countries, including the United States.He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1978.
1869 - Arthur Neville Chamberlain, British politician of the Conservative Party, he served as Prime Minister of the UK from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and for his signing of the Munich Agreement on 30 September 1938, conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, which marked the beginning of World War II, Chamberlain announced the declaration of war on Germany two days later and led the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the war until his resignation as prime minister on 10 May 1940.
1905 - Friedrich Robert Donat - English film and stage actor, best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor. In his book, The Age of the Dream Palace, Jeffrey Richards wrote that Donat was "British cinema's one undisputed romantic leading man in the 1930s". The image he projected was that of the romantic idealist, often with a dash of the gentleman adventurer.
1926 - Peter Graves, American film and television actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to 1990 (revival). His elder brother was actor James Arness. Graves was also known for his portrayal of airline pilot Captain Clarence Oveur in the 1980 comedy film Airplane! and its 1982 sequel Airplane II: The Sequel.
1932 - John Hoyer Updike, American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and Colson Whitehead), Updike published more than twenty novels, more than a dozen short-story collections, as well as poetry, art and literary criticism and children's books during his career. His most famous work is his "Rabbit" series and the novella Rabbit Remembered. Both Rabbit Is Rich (1982) and Rabbit at Rest (1990) were recognized with the Pulitzer Prize. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class", Updike was recognized for his careful craftsmanship, his unique prose style, and his prolific output – he wrote on average a book a year. Updike populated his fiction with characters who "frequently experience personal turmoil and must respond to crises relating to religion, family obligations, and marital infidelity".
1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk, Former South African President, he served as State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party from 1989 to 1997.
1944 - Dick Smith (Richard Harold Smith), Australian entrepreneur, aviator, philanthropist, political activist. He holds a number of aviation world records and is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Australian Geographic and Dick Smith Foods. He was selected as 1986 Australian of the Year. In 2010, he founded the media production company Smith&Nasht with the intention of producing films about global issues. In 2015, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
1964 - Bonnie Kathleen Blair, Retired American speed skater. She is one of the top skaters of her era, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning five gold medals and one bronze medal.
Lefties:
Former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk
Actor Peter Graves
More birthdays and historical events, March 18 - On This Day
Historical Events
1850 - Henry Wells and William Fargo found American Express. Initially it is a shipping company, but later it becomes a financial institution.
1902 - Tenor Enrico Caruso records 10 arias in Milan from the Gramophone company. He is the first well-known singer to make a record. (Below, Enrico Caruso - O Sole Mio)
1927 - Sergey Rachmaninoff is soloist in the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting.
1950 - The Belgian Government collapses as the the people vote for the return of King Leopold III from exile in Switzerland. He had been accused of cooperating with the Nazis. He abdicates in favour of his son, Badouin, in 1951.
1962 - The French sign a peace treaty with Algerian rebels toend seven years of war and 130 years of French rule in Algeria.
1965 - Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov is the first man to walk in space, when he leaves the Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes. His spacesuit balloons and he has to let some air out in order to re-enter the spacecraft.
1992 - White South Africans vote in a referendum to end apartheid and to give all South Africans the vote.
Enrico Caruso - O Sole Mio
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
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
© June 2007. Updated March 18, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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