December 31 Dateline

"Finish each day and be done with it. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well."  

                                  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson 

 

 

 

                 HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

 

 

As time zone dictates, Australia celebrates the New Year's Eve (NYE) spectacular fireworks ahead of many countries around the world.  

Birthdays

 

1720 - Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart), the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain after 1766 as "Charles III". During his lifetime, he was also known as "the Young Pretender" and "the Young Chevalier"; in popular memory, he is "Bonnie Prince Charlie". He is best remembered for his role in the 1745 rising; his defeat at Culloden in April 1746 effectively ended the Stuart cause, and subsequent attempts failed to materialise, such as a planned French invasion in 1759. His escape from Scotland after the uprising led to his portrayal as a romantic figure of heroic failure.

 
1869 - Henri Matisse (born Henri Émile Benoît Matisse), French artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter. (10 Amazing Facts about Henri Matissse. Uploaded by Artist in School. Accessed December 31, 2019. Henri Matisse: a Collection of 812 Works (HD). Uploaded by LearnFrom Masters. Accessed December 31, 2018.)

1937 - Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE, Welsh actor, film director and producer, and a composer. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, three BAFTAs, two Emmys and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Perhaps unbeknownst to many movie fans, Sir Anthony Hopkins is also a talented composer best known for "And the Waltz Goes on" which score he kept through the years until his wife gave it to André Rieu for consideration. In 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He achieved recognition in film, playing Richard the Lionheart in The Lion in Winter. He portrayed Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 2015, he starred in the BBC television film The Dresser, a role he called "the highlight of my life." He has many more notable films.

1943 - John Denver (born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.), American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. John Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he was one of the most popular and best-selling acoustic artists. He recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million records worldwide. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of Colorado state, USA. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007. (John Denver - Rocky Mountain High. Uploaded by Lone Wolf. Accessed Dec. 31, 2014. J. Denver - Perhaps Love. Live 1982. Apollo Theatre, London. Uploaded by profondorostock. Accessed Dec. 31, 2015. John Denver / The Wings That Fly Us Home. YouTube, uploaded by M masassa. Accessed Dec. 31, 2016.)

1943 - Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji), English actor. He has garnered numerous awards and nominations, including a Grammy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA Award, and an Academy Award from four nominations. Kingsley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967. His starring roles included productions of As You Like It (his West End debut for the company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1967), Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream (including Peter Brook’s 1970 RSC production of the play), Hamlet and The Merry Wives of Windsor.  In film, Kingsley is best known for his starring role as Mohandas Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor and BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He also appeared as Itzhak Stern in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler's List, receiving a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for services to the British film industry. In 2013, he received the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment.

1959 - Val Edward Kilmer, American actor. Known for comedy films, starting with Top Secret! and Real Genius, Top Gun and the fantasy film Willow. He's best-known for playing real-life figures in movies, including Jim Morrison in The Doors, an apparition of Elvis Presley in True Romance, John Holmes in Wonderland, and Philip II of Macedon in Alexander, among others. His performances as Chris in Heat and "Gay Perry" in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang earned him nominations for Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. Kilmer is author of the book I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir, published in 2020. In 2021, the documentary Val was released, which covers his life through never-before-seen archive footage materials shot by Kilmer himself.


Leftie:

 
Actor Val Kilmer

More birthdays and historical events, December 31 - On This Day

Featured: 

 
Leonard Cohen - Anthem (with Lyrics) London 2008. 

 

Historical Events

1879 - Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens in London.

Here's a complete overture of Sullivan's music from The Pirates of Penzance.



1933 - Inventor Charles Darrow patents the board game "Monopoly" in the U.S. A London version of the game was launched the following year.

1960 - The farthing or quarter penny,ceases to be legal tender in UK after six hundred years in use.
 
1999 - Boris Yeltsin surprises the world by resigning as Russian President, handing over power to Vladimir Putin, as Acting President.

1999 - In celebration of the new millennium, nations around the world launch celebrations to usher and welcome it.

2000 - President Clinton signs the UN treaty to establish a permanent International Criminal Court, which will try cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.


Video Credit:

André Rieu - And The Waltz Goes On (composed by: Anthony Hopkins). André Rieu & His Johann Strauss Orchestra performing "And The Waltz Goes On" in Maastricht. A Waltz composed by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Taken from "André Rieu - Under the Stars. Live in Maastricht 5." YouTube, accessed December 31, 2016.  

Leonard Cohen - Anthem (with Lyrics) London 2008. Youtube, uploaded by WtW280313. Accessed Dec. 31, 2019. "The birds they sang at the break of day. Start again I heard them say. Don't dwell on what has passed away. Or what is yet to be. Ah, the wars they will be fought again. The holy dove, she will be caught again, bought and sold, and bought again. The dove is never free. Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in".

The Complete Overture from the Pirate of Penzance.  YouTube, uploaded by Alfonso O.  Accessed December 31, 2016.



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



© June 2007. Updated December 31, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.