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July 31 Dateline

Birthdays


1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist, he received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. He was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s. He was an advisor to Republican President Ronald Reagan and Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His political philosophy extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal intervention, based on rational expectations. 

1919 - Primo Levi (born Primo Michele Levi), Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, novels, collections of short stories, essays, and poems. His notable works include: The Periodic Table (short story collection) and If This Is a Man, and The Drowned and the Saved. (Primo Levi: Biography, Books, Chemistry, Early Life, Family, Facts, History (2002). Updated by The Film Writers. Accessed July 31, 2016.  Primo Levi... Uploaded by Eranocento. Accessed July 31, 2018. An English translation has been provided by one of the commenters, Dan L.) 

1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, English-American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with fourth wife Oona O'Neill. She made made her English-language acting debut (and came to prominence in what would be a Golden Globe-nominated role) in her portrayal of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago. She made her Broadway acting debut in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes in 1967, and received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). She played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin in the biopic, Chaplin (1992) for which she received her third Golden Globe nomination.

1951 - Barry Van Dyke, American actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke and Margie Willett, and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke. He has often worked with his father. He is best known to audiences as Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan, a homicide detective and the son of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke) on Diagnosis: Murder

1965 - J.K. Rowling, CH, OBE, HonFRSE, FRCPE, FRSL (born Joanne Rowling), British author writing under the pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith. She is a novelist, philanthropist, film producer, television producer and screen writer, best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have won multiple awards, and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. They have also been the basis for a film series, over which she had overall approval on the scripts and a producer on the final films in the series.(J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement. Uploaded by Harvard Magazine. Accessed July 31, 2013.)

Leftie:
Actor Barry Van Dyke
 
 
More birthdays and historical events today, 31 July - On This Day.

 
In memoriamFranz Liszt, Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist who passed away this day in 1886. Here's Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, interpreted by the piano child prodigy Martha Argerich in her younger years. A rather turbulent nevertheless splendid interpretation by her of one of Liszt's many rhapsodies, and her apparent getting carried away in the final octaves nearing the finale. Right, it seems that Martha can get the better of Martha. What an inspired performance! (In Munich, 1966)




Historical Events


1703 - Writer Daniel Defoe is out in pillory for publishing a satirical political pamphlet but instead of being thrown with rotten fruit and vegetables, flowers are thrown at him. He is famous for his classic novels Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe


1845 - The French Army successfully introduces the saxophone to its band. The saxophone was invented by a Belgian, Adolphe Sax, patented by him in 1846.

1886 - Franz Liszt dies at Bayreuth, aged 74. A prolific composer and virtuoso pianist, he also made many transcriptions and arrangements. His death is generally considered the demise of life that reflected the romantic spirit of the times.  

1910 - The infamous Dr. Hawley Crippen is arrested for the murder of his wife Cora whilst en route to Canada aboard the S.S. Montrose. He is the first criminal to be caught by the use of radio-telegraph, which enabled police in London to verify detail information and make the arrest.

1991 - Presidents George W. Bush (U.S.) and Mikhail Gorbachevs (U.S.S.R.) sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which agreed to cut long-range nuclear warheads by nearly half, the most dramatic reduction posed by any treaty between the two giant nations.  

2003 - The last old-style Volksvagen Beetle is manufactured in Puebla, Mexico. The Beetle car first came into production in the 1930s.  


Video Credit:
 
Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, Martha Argerich. Youtube, uploaded by mmoynan. Accessed July 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




(c) June 2007. Updated July 31, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

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