May 27 Dateline

Birthdays

1888 - Louis Durey, composer and music critic, oldest member of French group of composers known as "Les Six". Strongly influenced by Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande, durey joined the Groupe des Six, the six young French composers under the influence of Satie and Cocteau, but later on took a divergent course that allowed increasing scope for his political affiliations. He was secretary general of the Fédération Musicale Populaire and later of the Association Française des Musiciens Progressistes. His works include stage music, orchestral, chamber, vocal & choral, and piano music. (Louis Durey - Sonatine for flute and piano op.25. (Daniela Dottori, flute - Luca Moscardi, piano. Uploaded by lucamadeus. Accessed May 27, 2018.)

1907 - Rachel Louise Carson, American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award, recognition as a gifted writer and financial security. Her next book, The Edge of the Sea, and the reissued version of her first book, Under the Sea Wind, were also bestsellers. Late in the 1950s, Carson turned her attention to conservation, especially problems she believed were caused by synthetic pesticides. The result was the book Silent Spring, which brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented share of the American people. Silent Spring inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Carson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. (The Life of Rachel Carson. Uploaded by hypnotik42. Accessed May 27, 2016.)

1923 - Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger), American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon instrument from the bones of a giant pike. Orpheus-like, he plays upon it and enchants the people. All listen and all weep, their hearts melted. Even Väinämäinen weeps and his tears 'bigger than cranberries' fall into the clear waters of the deep blue sea. A sea bird dives down to retrieve his tears - they have ripened into pearls.  (YouTube, uploaded by Raul. Accessed 27 May 2018)

Lefties:

None known

More birthdays and historical events today, May 27 - On This Day

Historical Events

1703 - Peter the Great founds St. Petersburg, (later known as Leningrad), as the capital of Russia.

1937 - The newly completed Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California, is opened to pedestrians. The bridge becomes the symbol of San Francisco.

1993 - Five people are killed in a bombing at the Uffizi museum of art in Florence, Italy, and more than 30 paintings are damaged.

1994 - Russian writer Alexandr Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia after two decades in exile. This day, Solzhenitsyn flew back to his native Russia after 20 years of exile in the U.S.  He was imprisoned for 10 years as political dissident under Stalin. He was stripped of his citizenship, expelled from the Soviet Union in 1975. In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev restored his citizenship and the following year dropped treason charges.

1995 - Christopher Reeve, "Superman" actor is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition.

2000 - Australian Prime Minister John Howard presents "Declaration of Reconciliation" in an effort to heal the history of racism towards indigenous Australians.

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 May 27, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.