April 24 Dateline

Birthdays

1580 - Saint Vincent de Paul, French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor, renowned for his compassion, humility, and generosity. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. After working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley slaves, he returned to be the superior of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the "Vincentians" (in France known as "Lazaristes"). Vincent was zealous in conducting retreats for clergy at a time when there was great laxity, abuse, and ignorance among them. He was a pioneer in clerical training and was instrumental in establishing seminaries, and founder of the Congregation of the Mission and Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Saint Vincent de Paul has a charity named after him by Blessed Frédéric Ozanam. Vincent was canonized in 1737 and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

1743 - Edmund Cartwright, FSA, English Inventor. He graduated from Oxford University very early and went on to invent the power loom, a wool combing machine. It was first built in 1785, and which was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough made the operation completely automatic. Married to local Elizabeth McMac at 19, he was the brother of Major John Cartwright, a political reformer and radical, and George Cartwright, explorer of Labrador.

1815 - Anthony Trollope, English Novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote novels on political, social, and gender issues. (Anthony Trollope. Uploaded by Audiopedia. Accessed April 24, 2015.)

1904 - Willem de Kooning, Painter, Dutch American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. The following year, he married painter Elaine Fried. In the years after World War II, de Kooning painted in a style that came to be referred to as abstract expressionism or "action painting", and was part of a group of artists that came to be known as the New York School. (Willem de Kooning: A Collection of 169 Works. Uploaded by LearnFromMasters. Accessed April 24, 2019. )

1905 - Robert Penn Warren, American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935. He received the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel for All the King's Men (1946) and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1958 and 1979. He is the only person to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry.

1934 - Shirley Maclaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty), American actress, singer, author, activist, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, headstrong, eccentric women, MacLaine is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. MacLaine made her film debut with Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy The Trouble With Harry, winning the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. Her most prominent roles include: Around the World in 80 Days, Some Came Running, The Apartment, Irma la Douce, and Sweet Charity, among others. A six time Academy Award nominee, MacLaine won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment. A recipient of many honorary awards, she was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1995, and Kennedy Center Honor in 2013 for her contribution to American culture, through performing arts. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. Apart from acting, MacLaine has written numerous books regarding the subjects of metaphysics, spirituality, reincarnation as well as a best-selling memoir Out on a Limb. (Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels | The Hollywood Collection.  YouTube. Accessed April 24, 2019.)

1942 - Barbra Streisand (born Barbara Joan Streisand), American singer, actress, and filmmaker, one of the few entertainers who have been awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award (EGOT). She signed to Columbia Records and released her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album. It won two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Streisand has topped the US Billboard 200 chart with 11 albums—a record for a woman—including People, The Way We Were, and Guilty. She has attained five number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In films, she starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other films include Hello, Dolly!, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Way We Were, Funny Lady, Yentl, among others. For her film A Star Is Born, she won her second Academy Award, composing music for the love theme "Evergreen", the first woman to be honored as a composer. With Yentl, Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical. Streisand also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, becoming the first (and for 37 years, the only) woman to win that award. 

 

1996 - Ashleigh "Ash" Barty, Australian retired professional tennis player and former cricketer. She is the second Australian WTA singles No. 1 after fellow Indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley. She has also been a top 10 player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. Barty is a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, and is the reigning champion at Wimbledon and the Australian Open (2021). She is also a Grand Slam doubles champion, having won the 2018 US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe. In total, Barty has won 15 singles titles and 12 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. (January 30, 2022 update.)

Leftie:
Actress Shirley Maclaine
 

More birthdays and historical events today, 24 April - On This Day.


Featuring Haydn's oratorio The Seasons

♪ Die Jahreszeiten / The Seasons, Hob. XXI:3 (1799-1801) oratorio by Joseph Haydn is in four parts. Text is by Gottfried van Swieten.

Link to a performance in English: Haydn's The Season.  Gabrieli Consort & Players, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, National Forum of Music Choir, Paul McCreesh.  Soloists:  Carolyn Sampson, soprano. Jeremy Ovenden, tenor.  Andrew Foster-Williams, bass-baritone. (YouTube, Uploaded by E.V. Accessed April 24, 2018)


Below's video is performed in German.
Performing Artists: Hanne - Dorothea Röschmann, soprano. Lukas - Michael Schade, tenor.  Simon -  Floriam Boesch, baritone.  Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor. Ernst Raffelsberger, chorus master. Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Historical Events

1184 B.C.E. - Greeks storm the city of Troy by hiding inside the Trojan Horse.

1801 - Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons is first performed in Vienna.

1953 - UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives the knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. He also wins the Nobel Prize for Literature in the same year.

1967 - A Russian space mission ends in tragedy when Soyuz I crashes to Earth upon re-entry. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in this crash.

1981 - The first IBM personal computer enters the marketplace.

1990 - Space Shuttle Discovery takes off, putting the Hubble telescope into orbit

2005 - Inauguration ceremony takes place for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as he assumes the name Pope Benedict XVI, thus becoming the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. 


Video Credit:

Joseph Haydn: The Seasons - Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Salzburg 2013, HD 1080p). YouTube, uploaded by Faces of Classical Music - 6. Accessed  April 24, 2017. 



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 April 24, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.