November 28 Dateline

Birthdays

1628 - John Bunyan (birthday is in question, but recorded as baptised Nov 30), English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. It is a religious allegory that John Bunyan published in two parts, in 1678 and 1684. The work is a symbolic vision of the good man's pilgrimage through life. At one time second only to the Bible in popularity, The Pilgrim's Progress is the most famous Christian allegory still in print. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons.

 
1632 - Jean Baptiste Lully, Italian-born French composer, instrumentalist, and dancer. He's largely noted as the founder of French opera. He spent of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered a master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in 1661. (Lully's Le Roi Danse (The King is Dancing). Soundtrack from the movie of the same name. YouTube, uploaded by VSP Musicali. Accessed November 28, 2020.)

1757 - William Blake, English poet, painter, and printmaker, visionary and artist, famous for writing 'Jerusalem' (which starts with "And did those feet in ancient time")  and 'The Tyger'. Blake is considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his views, he is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as "Pre-Romantic". (W. Blake biography uploaded by Socratica. Accessed Nov 28, 2018.)

1820 - Friedrich Engels, sometimes anglicised as Frederick Engels, German philosopher, historian, political scientist and revolutionary socialist. He developed what is now known as Marxism together with Karl Marx. In 1845, he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research in English cities. In 1848, Engels co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Marx and also authored and co-authored (primarily with Marx) other works. Later, Engels supported Marx financially, allowing him to do research and write Das Kapital. After Marx's death, Engels edited the second and third volumes of Das Kapital. Additionally, Engels organised Marx's notes on the Theories of Surplus Value which were later published as the "fourth volume" of Das Kapital.

1829 - Anton Rubinstein, Russian composer, pianist, and founder of the Imperial Conservatory in St. Petersburg. One of the great virtuosos of his day, he did not join the Russian Nationalist Movement of his contemporaries but followed a European style. (Anton Rubinstein - Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op.94 (1874). Uploaded by KuhlauDilfeng2. Accessed November 28, 2015.)

1904 - Nancy Mitford, CBE (Nancy Freeman-Mitford), English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "Bright Young People" on the London social scene in the years between the world wars. Mitford wrote several novels about upper-class life in England and France, and is considered a sharp and often provocative wit. She also has a reputation as a writer of popular historical biographies.

 

1908 - Claude Levi-Strauss, French anthropologist and ethnologist, born in Belgium to French-Jewish parents living in Brussels. His work was key in the development of the theory of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthropology at the Collège de France between 1959 and 1982, was elected a member of the Académie française in 1973, and was a member of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris. He received numerous honors from universities and institutions throughout the world and has been called, alongside James George Frazer and Franz Boas, the "father of modern anthropology".

1933 - Hope Elise Rose Lange, American, actress on stage, television and film. Lange was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Selena Cross in the film Peyton Place. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Carolyn Muir in the sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir. This success was followed by three seasons on The New Dick Van Dyke Show as Dick Van Dyke's wife, Jenny Preston. She appeared in twelve television movies, one being Crowhaven Farm where she played the role of a witch. In 1977, she returned to the Broadway stage where her acting career had originally begun. She also played the murdered wife of Charles Bronson's vigilante character in Death Wish. She appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, and in Blue Velvet. Lange took a Broadway role in Same Time, Next Year and then made appearances in the TV movie based on Danielle Steel's Message from Nam and in Clear and Present Danger.

Leftie:

 
Actress Hope Lange

More birthdays and historical events, November 28 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1520 - Ferdinand Magellan rounds the tip of South America. He completed his navigation of the Straits of Magellan, and reaches the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic.

1660 - The Royal Society is founded at Gresham College by 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray.

1811 - Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto in 5, "Emperor" is performed by Friedrich Schneider in Leipzig.

1905 - The nationalist Irish political party, Sinn Fein, is founded in Dublin, Ireland.

1989 - Gymnast Nadia Comaneci flees Romania and is granted political asylum in the U.S.

1990 - Margaret Thatcher formally hands in her resignation as Prime Minister of Britain to Queen Elizabeth II after 11 years and 3 terms as leader of Great Britain.



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 November 28, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.