July 13 Dateline

Birthdays

1933 - David Malcolm Storey, English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist, and a professional rugby league footballer. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel Saville. He also won the MacMillan Fiction Award for This Sporting Life in 1960. Storey's novels Radcliffe and Pasmore were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

1932 - Per Norgaard, Danish composer and teacher. He discovered the melodic infinity series in 1959 and it proved an inspiration for many of his works during the 1960s. However, it was not until his Voyage into the Golden Screen for small ensemble (1968)—which has been identified as the first "properly instrumental piece of spectral composition" (Anderson 2000, 14)—and Symphony No. 2 that it provided the structure for an entire work (Nørgård 1975,9). The harmonic and rhythmic infinity series were developed in the early 1970s and the three series were first integrated in Nørgård's Symphony No. 3.

1934 - Wole Soyinka (born Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka), Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category. As a playwright, he is known for A Dance of the Forests. (A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka (Play Outline). YouTube, uploaded by SparkShares Literature. Accessed July 13, 2020. 

1942 - Harrison Ford, American actor, aviator, and environmental activist. He gained worldwide fame for his role as Han Solo in the 1977 film Star Wars, reprising the role in four sequels over 42 years. He is known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. He career collaborates with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers. Ford has notably portrayed heroic characters in many films including Witness, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and 42. He has played the literary character Jack Ryan in two films based on novels created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger; he has also played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films as The Conversation, The Mosquito Coast, and Presumed Innocent, among others. Ford appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas. In addition to his box-office success, Ford is an Academy Award nominee, a four-time Golden Globe nominee, a two-time Saturn Award winner, and the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

1944 - Erno Rubik, Hungarian inventor, architect and professor of architecture. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Magic: Master Edition, and Rubik's Snake.While he became famous for inventing the Rubik's Cube and his other puzzles, much of his recent work involves the promotion of science in education, in particular, Beyond Rubik's Cube, the Rubik Learning Initiative and the Judit Polgar Foundation all of whose aim is to engage students in science, mathematics, and problem solving at a young age.

Leftie:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 13 July - On This day.

 

Historical Events

1643 - The Battle of Roundway Down is fought during the English Civil War. It was a Royalist cavalry success that formed part of the "Royalist Summer," where everything seemed to be going Charles I's way for a time.

1793 - Charlotte Corday, a noblewoman, stabs French revolutionary leader Jean Paul Marat in the heart  whilst soaking in a bath. Corday believes in democracy and that Marat was leading France into anarchy. Four days later, she is executed in guillotine.

1829 - Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra is first performed in London. Ignaz Moscheles and the composer are the soloists. (Listen to this performance. Lovely Mendelssohn concerto for two pianos and orchestra! And double enjoyment as I profoundly feel Mozart's presence in here. interpreted by Katia and Marielle Labeque, with Simeon Bychkov conducting the London Philharmonia Orchestra.)

1923 - The "Hollywood" sign is dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. At first it read "Hollywoodland," but later, it was shortened to "Hollywood" 1949.

1985 - Organised by Bob Geldof, the Live Aid Concerts raise more than 30 million Pounds for Ethiopian famine victims.



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 13, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.