May 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1813 - Wilhelm Richard Wagner, German composer, Theatre Director, and conductor mainly known for his operas, later known as "music dramas". He wrote both the libretto and the music for his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. Wagner realised these ideas fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), work notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music.

1844 - Mary Stevenson Cassatt, American Impressionist painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended painter Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists.

1859 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle),  KStJ DL, British writer, medical doctor, and creator of the fictional detective character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 when he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and more than fifty short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.  Doyle was a prolific writer; other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", helped to popularise the mystery of the Mary Celeste.

1907 - Baron Laurence Olivier (Laurence Kerr Olivier), OM, English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. Olivier's honours included a knighthood, a life peerage and the Order of Merit. For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatre's largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre.

1934 - Peter Nero (born Bernard Nierow), American pianist and Pops conductor. He directed the Philly Pops from 1979 to 2013, and has earned two Grammy Awards. In addition to the two Grammy Awards, his honours include six honorary doctorates, from Drexel University, and the International Society of Performing Arts Presenters Award for Excellence in the Arts. He is included on historic Walks of Fame in Philadelphia and Miami, Florida. In 1999, he received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Arts Award, and in 2009, Nero was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Federation of Musicians. (Peter Nero Dazzles on Piano - 1965. Uploaded by Istash. Accessed May 22, 2020.)

1936 - M. Scott Peck (Morgan Scott Peck), American psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote the book The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978. It is Peck's best-known work. Consisting of four parts, it is a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being. In the first part Peck examines the notion of discipline, which he considers essential for emotional, spiritual, and psychological health, and which he describes as "the means of spiritual evolution". In the second part, Peck addresses the nature of love, which he considers the driving force behind spiritual growth. He argues that "true" love is rather an action that one undertakes consciously to extend one's ego boundaries by including others or humanity, and is therefore the spiritual nurturing. In the third part Peck deals with religion, and the commonly accepted views and misconceptions concerning religion. The fourth and final part concerns "grace", the powerful force originating outside human consciousness that nurtures spiritual growth in human beings.

Leftie:
Pianist and Conductor Peter Nero

 

More birthdays and historical events today, May 22 - On This Day

 

 

Historical Events

1455 - The Battle of  St. Albans takes place. It is the first major battle of the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York. The war ends with the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where Richard III is killed. Victory went to the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who takes the throne as Henry VII.

1836 - Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio St. Paul is first performed, in Dusseldorf, the composer conducting. 

1843 - The first wagon train, with more than 1,000 people, departs Missouri for Oregon. About 700 people safely reached their destination.

1874 - Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem Mass, is first performed, in Milan Cathedral, with the conductor conducting.

1892 - Dr. Washington Sheffield invents the toothpaste tube.

1961 - The Eye of the Needle (now SkyCity Restaurant), a revolving restaurant, opens in Seattle at the top of the city's Space Needle.

1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson presents his "Great Society."  This day he announces a massive social and economic reform campaign. As its essence was his belief that "the demands of morality, and the needs of spirit, can be realized in the nation's life."      

1992 - Bosnia, Croatia, and slovenia join the United Nations (UN). 

2003 - In Fort Worth, Texas, Annika Sorenstam becomes the first woamn to play the PGA Tour in 58 years.




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 and Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org


 

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