July 27 Dateline

Birthdays

1781 - Mauro Giuliani, Italian guitarist, cellist, singer and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. (Giuliani Grand Overture played by Manuel Espinás, uploaded by Guitar Salon International. Accessed July 27, 2018.)

1824 - Alexandre Dumas fil, Jr. French author and playwright, son of Alexandre Dumas, Sr. or Père, famous for The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo). Dumas, Jr. is best known for the romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), published in 1848, which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi's opera La traviata (The Fallen Woman), as well as numerous stage and film productions, usually titled Camille in English-language versions. (La dame aux camelias Camille 1921 Film Complet en Français (In French language only), uploaded by Marcus Telfer. Accessed July 27, 2018. 

1867 - Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer of classical music. He wrote piano music, chamber music (a piano quintet, a piano trio, music for violin and piano), songs, zarzuelas, and an orchestral tone poem based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Many of his piano compositions have been transcribed for the classical guitar: examples include Dedicatoria, Danza No. 5, Goyescas. Granados was a significant influence on at least two other famous Spanish composers and musicians, Manuel de Falla and Pablo Casals. (Granados plays Granados Goyescas No. 1 Los Requiebros. Updated by Gullivior. Accessed July 27, 2017.) 

1870 - Hilaire Belloc (born Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc), British-French writer and historian and one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic faith had a strong impact on his works. He was President of the Oxford Union and later MP for Salford South from 1906 to 1910. He became a naturalised British subject in 1902 while retaining his French citizenship. His writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children. His widely sold Cautionary Tales for Children included "Jim, who ran away from his nurse, and was eaten by a lion" and "Matilda, who told lies and was burned to death". He also collaborated with G. K. Chesterton on a number of works.

1877 - Ernst von Dohnanyi, Hungarian pianist and composer and conductor. He used a German form of his name on most of his published compositions. An International Ernst von Dohnányi Festival was held at Florida State University in 2002. The LSU professor Milton Hallman was a student of his and in 1987 recorded a CD called Works For Piano containing some of Dohnányi's most notable music.

1918 - Leonard Rose, American cellist ("America's Golden Age and its First Cellist"). He came much later than another favouite cellist of mine, Jacqueline du Pre. Leonard Rose, heartwarming and inspiring insights about him and his music, what fellow musicians say about him, and more. Leonard Rose: America's Golden Age and Its First Cellist. YouTube, uploaded by Steven Honigberg. Accessed July 27, 2018.)

1942 -  Barbara Gillian Ferris, English actress and former fashion model.  She appeared in a number of films and productions for television and is possibly best remembered as Dinah, the young woman who eloped with Dave Clark in the 1965 film Catch Us If You Can. Her other roles were as diverse as the female lead in Edward Bond's controversial play Saved (1965) and a vicar's wife in the television comedy series All in Good Faith in the mid-1980s. She also appeared in Interlude with Oskar Werner. Barbara Ferris is the older sister of actress Pam Ferris.
 

Lefties:
None known

 

 

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

Historical Events

1586 - Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists return to England from Virginia, bringing with them tobacco and potatoes. Raleigh soon plants the tobacco, so it no longer needs to be imported from Spain; he also plants the potatoes on his lands in Ireland.

1866 - The laying of the 2,000-mile (3,200 km) long copper Transatlantic Cable between Newfoundland and Ireland is completed. Telegraphs can now be sent from Europe to the U.S. Two previous attempts to lay cables had failed.

1921 - Frederick Banting and Charles Best of Toronto University announce that they have extracted insulin from dogs and that they have cured other diabetic dogs with it. This is the first step in providing human diabetics with insulin. 

1953 - The Korean War ends after three years when an armistice agreement is signed at Panmunjom, Korea. Both sides claim victory, though neither of them had made any territorial gains.

2003 - This day it is announced that there is no monster in Loch Ness.

In Scotland at Loch Ness, sightings had been made of "monsters" since the 1930s, varying in appearance as water serpents and elephant-like water creatures. The concept is that of "Nessie" settling on a creature like an ancient Plesiosaur. In July 2002, satellite navigation technology conducted an underwater survey of Loch Ness.  This day, on July 27, 2001, the BBC announced the findings: scientists gained a clear picture of the Loch, but no large animals were revealed. 

Loch Ness with Urquhart Castle in the foreground

Image Source: Wiki

Video Credit:

Granados Spanish Dance No 5 (Andaluza). Youtube, uploaded by Beginner. Accessed July 27, 2017. This piece, Spanish Dance in E-minor, was originally composed for piano in a series of pieces known as 12 Spanish Dances by Enrique Granados. The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), Grade 9 Repertoire)


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 Timetables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org

 

(c) June 2007. Updated July 27, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.