Birthdays
1802 - Dorothea Dix, American social reformer/activist, advocate on behalf of the indigent mentally ill who, through a vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums. During the Civil War, she served as a Superintendent of Army Nurses.
1843 - Hans Richter, Hungarian-born Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor. In later years, he became a whole-hearted admirer of Sir Edward Elgar and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. On one occasion, he laid down his baton and allowed a London orchestra to play the whole second movement of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony itself. Never afraid to experiment on behalf of the music he loved, he lent his authority to an English-language production of The Ring at Covent Garden. In 1909, he delivered the British premiere, very shortly after the world premiere, in Boston, of Ignacy Jan Paderewski's Symphony in B minor "Polonia". Richter's approach to conducting was monumental rather than mercurial or dynamic, emphasising the overall structure of major works in preference to bringing out individual moments of beauty or passion.
1875 - Pierre Monteux (born Pierre Benjamin Monteux), French conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1907. (Pierre Monteaux conducts Debussy's Nocturnes, L.91. Pierre Monteaux conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra · Women of the Berkshire Festival Chorus. Accessed April 4, 2019.)
1922 - Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor. He composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes
in Hollywood history", including over 150 original film scores, as well as scores for nearly 80 television productions. Bernstein received an Academy Award for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Primetime Emmy Award. He also received seven Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Tony Award nominations. He composed and arranged scores for over 100 film scores, amoang them: The Man with the Golden Arm, The Ten Commandments, Sweet Smell of Success, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Escape, Hud, Thoroughly Modern Millie, True Grit, and Far from Heaven. He is also known for his work on the comedic films, among them: Meatballs, Trading Places, Ghostbusters, Spies Like Us, and Three Amigos. He was not related to composer & conductor Leonard Bernstein, but they were friends.
1928 - Maya Angelou, American poet, writer, memoirist, civil rights activist. She is best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman. Maya
Angelou's poem "Caged Bird" conveys the message that anyone oppressed or "caged" will always "wish" for freedom, believing that
if others have it, they should, too. The poem's overall theme is love and its power. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.
1932 - Anthony Perkins, American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller Psycho, which made him an influential figure in pop culture and in horror films. He often played distinctive villainous roles in film, though he was most renowned for his romantic leads such as Goodbye Again (excerpt) with Ingrid Bergman and Yves Montand. The film earned him a Best Actor Bravo Otto nomination, a second career Bambi nomination, as well as his winning the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a Best Actor David di Donatello award.
After a string of European films, he returned to America in 1968 with his first American film after an eight-year hiatus, Pretty Poison. He starred in critically successful films and also conceded to typecasting, starring in Psycho films.
1932 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian filmmaker, theatre director, and writer. He is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential directors in the history of Russian and world cinema.
1951 - Hun Sen, Cambodian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Cambodia since 1985, the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and one of the longest-serving leaders in the world. He is also the president of the Cambodian People's Party and a member of the National Assembly for Kandal.
1960 - Hugo Weaving, AO (born Hugo Wallace Weaving), British actor, resident in Australia. He is best known for playing Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy, Elrond in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, V in V for Vendetta, and Red Skull in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger.
Lefties:
None known
1951 - Hun Sen, Cambodian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Cambodia since 1985, the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and one of the longest-serving leaders in the world. He is also the president of the Cambodian People's Party and a member of the National Assembly for Kandal.
1960 - Hugo Weaving, AO (born Hugo Wallace Weaving), British actor, resident in Australia. He is best known for playing Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy, Elrond in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, V in V for Vendetta, and Red Skull in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger.
Lefties:
None known
More birthdays and historical events today, 4 April - On This Day.
1581 - Sir Francis Drake becomes the first seafaring captain to circumnavigate the globe. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I on the deck of his chip, the Golden Hind. He had brought home vast revenues for the Crown.
1739 - G.F. Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt is first performed in London. (Enjoy a performance with John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque. Soloists: Michael Chance (counter-tenor), Nigel Robson (tenor). Uploaded by Don Goncau. Accessed April 4, 2020. Trivia: Our Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' ChoruzOz presented Handel's Israel in Egypt conduced by Graham Abbott. June 12, 2016, 5pm. Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.)
1818 - The U.S. Congress introduces the American flag - it has 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, which symbolize each state of the Union. More stars are added with each new member state.
1918 - The Second Battle of the Somme, Germany's offensive against the Allies in the First World War, concludes with massive casualties on both sides.
1949 - The Western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed.
1954 - Arturo Toscanini conducts his last concert from Carnegie Hall in New York, 10 days after his 87th birthday.
1968 - Black civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead, assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old. It was a violent death of a man who had dedicated himself to the U.S. black rights earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Historical Events
1581 - Sir Francis Drake becomes the first seafaring captain to circumnavigate the globe. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I on the deck of his chip, the Golden Hind. He had brought home vast revenues for the Crown.
1739 - G.F. Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt is first performed in London. (Enjoy a performance with John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque. Soloists: Michael Chance (counter-tenor), Nigel Robson (tenor). Uploaded by Don Goncau. Accessed April 4, 2020. Trivia: Our Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' ChoruzOz presented Handel's Israel in Egypt conduced by Graham Abbott. June 12, 2016, 5pm. Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.)
1818 - The U.S. Congress introduces the American flag - it has 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, which symbolize each state of the Union. More stars are added with each new member state.
1918 - The Second Battle of the Somme, Germany's offensive against the Allies in the First World War, concludes with massive casualties on both sides.
1949 - The Western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed.
1954 - Arturo Toscanini conducts his last concert from Carnegie Hall in New York, 10 days after his 87th birthday.
1968 - Black civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead, assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old. It was a violent death of a man who had dedicated himself to the U.S. black rights earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
1979 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, deposed Prime minister of Pakistan, is executed by hanging for the alleged murder of a political opponent.
1983 - Space shuttle Challenger makes its first voyage into space.
Resources:
1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)
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)
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) Posted June 2007. Updated April 4, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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