November 30 Dateline

Birthdays

1667 - Jonathan Swift, Anglo-Irish author, satirist, essyaist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift". Aside from Gulliver's Travel  which he is famous for, Swift is also remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, and A Modest Proposal. He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms – such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier, or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. His ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal  led to such satire subsequently termed "Swiftian".

1835 - Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, and lecturer. He created most memorable characters in The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. (The Adventures of of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American literature adaptation produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Norman Taurog starring Tommy Kelly. Accessed November 30, 2018.)  He was lauded as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature". His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called "The Great American Novel".

1874 - Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, Former British prime minister of the UK during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party. (Winston Churchill/A Giant in History. Accessed November 30, 2018.)

1937 - Ridley Scott, English film director and producer. He is best known for directing the science fiction horror film Alien, the neo-noir dystopian film Blade Runner, the road adventure film Thelma & Louise, the historical drama film Gladiator (2000), the war film Black Hawk Down, and the science fiction film The Martian. Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing, which he received for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down. Gladiator won the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Scott himself received a nomination in that category for the 2015 film The Martian. In 2003, he was knighted for services to the British film industry. He received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London in 2015, and the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2018.

1965 - Ben Stiller, (Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller), American actor, comedian, film producer and director, writer. He is the son of the late comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller wrote several mockumentaries and was offered his own show, titled The Ben Stiller Show, which he produced and hosted for its 13-episode run. He made his directorial debut with Reality Bites. He has written, starred in, directed, or produced more than 50 films. He has also made cameos in music videos, television shows, and films. Stiller is a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as the Frat Pack. His films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film. He has received various awards and honors, including an Emmy Award, multiple MTV Movie Awards, a Britannia Award and a Teen Choice Award.

Lefties:
Former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill
Film director and producer Ridley Scott
Actor Ben Stiller
Author Mark Twain

 

More birthdays and historical events, November 30 - On This Day

 
 

Below, Sir Simon Rattle conducts Berliner Philharmoniker perform Jules Massenet's Le Cid in a concert. Le Cid is an opera in four acts and ten tableaux by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau and Adolphe d'Ennery. It is based on the play of the same name by Pierre Corneille.

 

Historical Events

1609 - In Padua, Italy, Galileo Galilei peers through his telescope at the Moon and makes several drawings. He notes that the Moon is not smooth, but pitted, changing forever people's notions of objects in the sky.

1885 - Jules Massenet's opera Le Cid is first performed. 

1967 - Thea Musgrave's opera The Decision opens in London at Sadler's Wells.

1982 - An extremist animal activist group sends a letter bomb to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Number 10 Downing Street. One staff member is injured.

1999 - In Seattle, Washington, U.S., major protests by the anti-globalization movement catch organisers of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting unawares. 


Video Credit:

 
Massenet: Le Cid / Rattle - Berliner Philharmoniker. Youtube, uploaded by Berliner Philharmoniker. Accessed November 30, 2017. 



Resources:

 
1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)

2. Britannia. 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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