Birthdays
1655 - Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian harpsichord maker, credited with originality in inventing the piano. Whilst it is true that there had been earlier, crude attempts to make piano-like instruments, it is not clear that these were even known to Cristofori. The piano is therefore an unusual case in which an important invention can be ascribed to a single individual, who brought it to an unusual degree of perfection all on his own.
1744 - Marianna Martines (or Marianne von Martinez), Austrian singer, pianist and composer of the classical period. She and her sister hosted musical soirees at their home that attracted many distinguished guests, including Haydn and Irish tenor Michael Kelly. Wolfgang Mozart was also a frequent guest to the soirees and composed four-hand piano sonatas to perform with Marianna. (Pianist Renana Gutman interprets Martines' rarely heard but beautiful Sonata in A major. Accessed January 31, 2019.)
1882 - Sylvia Pankhurst (born Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst), English historian and feminist. She was campaigner for the suffrage and suffragette movement, a socialist and prominent left communist, and later an activist in the cause of anti-fascism. She spent much of her later life campaigning on behalf of Ethiopia, where she eventually moved.
1929 - Audrey Hepburn, British actress, model, dancer, humanitarian. Film and fashion icon. (Audrey Hepburn. The Magic of Audrey Hepburn. A.H. Biography. Uploaded by Biography TV. Accessed May 4, 2019.) Sharing a personal favourite insight from Audrey Hepburn when she was asked to reveal her beauty secrets. This was read at her funeral: (Extract) "The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, her face or her way of fixing her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, for it is the open door on her heart, the source of her love. The beauty of a woman is not in her makeup but in the true beauty of her soul. It is the tenderness that she gives, love, passion it expresses. The beauty of a woman develops with the years." (Audrey Hepburn Remembered. Uploaded by the Hollywood Collection. Accessed May 4, 2018.)
1939 - Amoz Oz, Israeli inventive short-story writer and novelist and and journalist. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onward, Oz was a prominent advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Lefties:
None known
More birthdays and historical events today, May 4 - On This Day.
Feature:
Ralph Vaughan Williams' "A London Symphony"
1920 - Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 2, "A London Symphony" (revised version), is conducted in its premiere by Albert Coates, in Queens Hall, London.
1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit lands on what is now Manhattan Island.
1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female prime minister. Leader of the Conservative Party, she made history by becoming Britain's first ever female prime minister. On the steps of Number 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's Office, she quoted from St. Francis of Assisi's famous prayer of peace: "... Where there is discord, may we bring harmony... Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope."
1994 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a historic accord on Palestinian autonomy which grants self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1997 - IBM's Deep Blue computer defeats the world chess champion Garry Kasparov after losing to him the year before and undergoing upgrades.
2000 - An email virus, the "I LOVE YOU" hits computers around the world, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
Video Credit:
Ralph Vaughan Williams' "A London Symphony"
Historical Events
1920 - Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 2, "A London Symphony" (revised version), is conducted in its premiere by Albert Coates, in Queens Hall, London.
1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit lands on what is now Manhattan Island.
1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female prime minister. Leader of the Conservative Party, she made history by becoming Britain's first ever female prime minister. On the steps of Number 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's Office, she quoted from St. Francis of Assisi's famous prayer of peace: "... Where there is discord, may we bring harmony... Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope."
1994 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a historic accord on Palestinian autonomy which grants self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1997 - IBM's Deep Blue computer defeats the world chess champion Garry Kasparov after losing to him the year before and undergoing upgrades.
2000 - An email virus, the "I LOVE YOU" hits computers around the world, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
Video Credit:
Ralph Vaughan Williams' "London Symphony" YouTube, uploaded by Colin. Accessed Mary 4, 2017. (Vaughan Williams's great paean to the city of London, written shortly before the outbreak of the Great War of 1914-18.)
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.
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.
(c) June 2007. Updated May 4, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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