Birthdays
1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the major English Romantic poets, who is regarded by some as among the finest lyric and philosophical poets in the English language, and one of the most influential.. He is best known for such classic poems as Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, Music, When Soft Voices Die, The Cloud and The Masque of Anarchy. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not see fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron, John Keats, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Love Peacock and his own second wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.
1900 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon), England's late Queen Mother, wife of King George VI, and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions from her husband's accession in 1936 until his death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter. She was the last empress of India. (A Century in 100 Minutes - Queen Mother.) YouTube, Real Royalty. Accessed June 14, 2020.)
1901 - Louis Armstrong (born Louis Daniel Armstrong nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops"), was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and actor, one among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. He appeared in films such as High Society alongside Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra, and Hello, Dolly! starring Barbra Streisand. He received many accolades including three Grammy Award nominations and a win for his vocal performance of Hello, Dolly! in 1964.
1905 - Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov, Soviet Russian composer, and, from 1946 to 1986, the second head of the Alexandrov Ensemble which was founded by his father, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Alexandrov reached the rank of Major-General and was awarded the order of Hero of Socialist Labour, the Lenin Prize and the State Prize of the USSR, and named People's Artist of the USSR. Music by Alexandrov is used for the Anthem of Transnistria.
1913 - Robert Hayden, American poet, essayist, and educator. He served as consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-American writer to hold the office.
1961 - Barack Obama (born Barack Hussein Obama II), American politician and attorney, who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama was the first African American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. During his term in office, America's reputation abroad significantly improved. His presidency has generally been regarded favorably, and evaluations of his presidency among historians, political scientists, and the general public place him among the upper tier of American presidents. Obama left office in January 2017 and continues to reside in Washington, D.C.
Leftie:
Former U.S. President Barack Obama
Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Music, When Soft Voices Die"
(A tribute to English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley)
Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory - Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Live within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Are heap'd for the belovèd's bed; And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on.
Below is Shelley's poem "Music, When Soft Voices Die", beautifully set to music by Victor C. Johnson. YouTube, uploaded by The Lorenz Corporation. Accessed August 4, 2018.
"Music, When Soft Voices Die" is a major poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written in 1821 and first published in Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1824 in London by John and Henry L. Hunt with a preface by his wife, Mary Shelley. The poem is one of the most anthologised, influential, and well-known of Shelley's works. (Wiki).
Many composers and musicians have set the poem to music with vocal accompaniment. The music of the video below was composed bby Victor C. Johnson for piano and choir. (Wiki)
Historical Events
1693 - Don Perignon invents Champagne. the monk's first words upon tasting the beverage were reportedly, "Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!"
1782 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Constanze Weber marry in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. (Mozart left Salzburg in 1781. Along with his artistic declaration of independence, Mozart married his girlfriend, Constanze, just weeks after The Abduction from the Seraglio’s premiere.
1854 - Japan adopts the Hinomaru - a red sun on a white background - as its official naval flag. In Japan, the use of the red sun symbol dates back to the twelfth century when it was displayed on fans carried by samurai warriors.
1866 - Gabriel Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine (Chant by Jean Racine), Op. 11, is first performed in a version
with accompaniment of strings and organ.(Chant by Jean Racine), a composition for mixed choir and piano or organ. The text, "Verbe égal au Très-Haut" ("Word, one with the Highest"), is a French paraphrase by Jean Racine of a Latin hymn from the breviary for matins, Consors paterni luminis. Then 19 years old, Fauré set the text in 1864–65 for a composition competition at the École Niedermeyer de Paris, and it won him the first prize. The style shows similarities
with his later work, Requiem. Today, the two works are often performed together. (Choir of King's College, Cambridge "Cantique de Jean Racine" Gabriel Fauré (London 17.07.2016). Uploaded by Chor Gesang - Das Musikmagasin. Accessed August 4, 2017. Here's another favourite version: Le cantique de Jean Racine. Uploaded by Vincent Hamain. Accessed August 4, 2017.)
1914 - Germany invades Belgium. Great Britain declares war on Germany in response. World War I ensues.
1944 - The Nazi Gestapo captures Anne Frank and her family and her family in an Amsterdam warehouse. Anne dies in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp a few weeks before it is liberated by British troops on april 15, 1945.
1991 - The Greek luxury liner Oceanos sinks off the South African coast. Despite the fact that the crew abandons the passenger, all 571 people who had been aboard are rescued.
2002 - One of UK's biggest manhunts started this day. Ian Huntley murders English schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, both aged 10. They were last seen wearing red Manchester United supporters' jerseys in Soham their home suburb. David Beckham, soccer star and Manchester United striker made a public appeal for their safe return but it was too late. Huntley had killed the girls on their day of their disappearance.
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 August 4, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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