August 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1771 - Henry Maudslay, British inventor for industrial machinery of the first bench micrometer capable of measuring one ten-thousandth of an inch and also developed the precision screw-cutting lathe.

1827 - Josef Strauss, Austrian waltz composer, and brother of Johann Strauss, Jr. and Eduard Strauss. Strauss had talents as an artist, painter, poet, dramatist, singer, composer and inventor. His father wanted him to choose a career in the Austrian Habsburg military. He studied music with Franz Dolleschal and learned to play the violin with Franz Anton Ries. He trained as an engineer, and worked for the city of Vienna as an engineer and designer. He designed a horse-drawn revolving brush street-sweeping vehicle and published two textbooks on mathematical subjects. (Walzer "Herbstrosen", Op 232, by von Josef Strauss ("Autumn Roses", Waltz by Josef Strauss. Wiener Kammerorchester, Paul Angerer. Uploaded by Rumundjin. Accessed August 22, 2015.)

1862 - Claude Debussy, French composer, considered or sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His orchestral works include Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), Nocturnes (1897–1899) and Images (1905–1912). His music was to a considerable extent a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition. Regarding the classical symphony as obsolete, he sought an alternative in his "symphonic sketches", La mer (1903–1905). His piano works include two books of Préludes and two of Études. Debussy wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century.

1893 - Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild), American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York, known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary works and as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. Following the breakup of the circle, Parker traveled to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Her successes there, including two Academy Award nominations, were curtailed when her involvement in left-wing politics resulted in her being placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Both her literary output and reputation for sharp wit have endured. Some of her works have been set to music.

1928 - Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer, known for his groundbreaking work in electronic music, for introducing controlled chance (aleatory techniques or aleatoric musical techniques) into serial composition, and for musical spatialization.

1934 - Herbert Norman Schwarzkopt, Jr., United States Army General. While serving as the commander of United States Central Command, he led all coalition forces in the Gulf War. A hard-driving military commander with a strong temper, Schwarzkopf was considered an exceptional leader by many biographers and was noted for his abilities as a military diplomat and in dealing with the press.

1964 - Mats Wilander (born Mats Arne Olof Wilander), Swedish former world No. 1 Tennis Player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one Grand Slam men's doubles title (at Wimbledon). His breakthrough came suddenly and unexpectedly (even in Sweden) when he won the 1982 French Open. This occurred, more or less, simultaneously with countryman Björn Borg's decision to quit tennis.

Leftie:
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 22 August - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1741 - George F. Handel begins work on his oratorio Messiah, and completes it three weeks later.

1770 - Captain James Cook lands in Botany Bay, Australia.

1864 - Twelve nations sign the first Geneva Convention protecting vulnerable people in times of conflict.

1931 - Katherine Anne Porter, American writer and journalist embarks on a voyage from Vera Cruz, Mexico, to Bremerhaven, Germany - the same journey that will be undertaken by the characters in her famous novel Ship of Fools (1962).

2004 - Two armed men steal Edvard Munch's paintings The Scream and Madonna from the Munch Museum in Norway.

2005 - The Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph is sentenced to four life terms without parole. 




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



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