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. 

November 29 Dateline

Birthdays

1797 - Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas.  Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the 19th century.(featured below is Donizetti's opera L'Elixir D'amore.) Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Although he did not come from a musical background, at an early age he was taken under the wing of composer Simon Mayr who had enrolled him by means of a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed training in the arts of fugue and counterpoint. Mayr was also instrumental in obtaining a place for Donizetti at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy Il Pigmalione.

1803 - Christian Andreas Doppler, Austrian mathematician and physicist (best known for Doppler Effect). He is celebrated for his principle — known as the Doppler effect — that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer. He used this concept to explain the color of binary stars.

1832 - Louisa May Alcott, American writer, famous for "Little Women," "Little Men," and "Jo's Boys." She was raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, she grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She was active in such reform movements as temperance and women's suffrage. Alcott's brief biography in short and rare photos - here. (Uploaded by World Wide Biographies. Accessed November 29, 2018)

1898 - C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis), British writer and lay theologian, famous for various best known works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Four Loves, A Grief Observed, The Problem of Pain, and Surprised by Joy. He was a close friend of J. R.R. Tolkien. (C.S. Lewis life with a purpose. Uploaded by Kevin Lancast. Accessed November 29, 2018.)

1918 - Madeleine L'Engle, American writer of young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptabale Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in science.(Madeleine L'Engle. Accessed November 29, 2018)

1940 - Charles "Chuck" Frank Mangione, American flugelhorn player, trumpeter and composer. He was a member of Art Blakey's band and co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother, Gap. He achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single "Feels So Good". Mangione has released more than 30 albums since 1960. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Chuck Mangione among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

1954 - Joel Coen, American screenwriter, film director & producer. With brother Ethan Coen, they're collectively referred to as the Coen Brothers. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody.  The brothers write, direct and produce their films jointly, although until The Ladykillers (2004) Joel received sole credit for directing and Ethan for producing. They often alternate top billing for their screenplays while sharing editing credits under the alias Roderick Jaynes. They have been nominated for 13 Academy Awards together, and individually for one award each, winning Best Original Screenplay for Fargo and Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men. The duo also won the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink. 

1962 - Andrew Thomas McCarthy, American actor, travel writer and Television director. He is most known as a member of the Brat Pack, with roles in 1980s films such as St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero. He is ranked #40 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars of all-time list.

Lefties:
Writer and director Joel Coen
Musician Chuck Mangione
Actor Andrew McCarthy

 

More birthdays and historical events, November 29 -  On This Day
 

 

Below is a performance of Gaetano Donizetti's opera, L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love).  The story of this opera is a mere comedy with respect to the elixir of love. It is a comic opera in two acts, about a poor man who tries to win the heart of a beautiful woman. Donizetti not only excelled in serious operas, e.g., Lucia di Lammermoor (his greatest success) and Anna Bolena, but also in comic operas, for instance, L'elisir d'amore. Singers in their roles:  Adina - Laura Giordano, Nemorino - Juan Diego Florez, Dulcamara - Alfonso Antoniozzi, Belcore - Jose Julian Frontal, Giannetta - Lavinia Rodriguez.  Conductor - Riccardo Frizza. Orchestra - Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria. Chorus - Coro

Historical Events

1907 - Nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, at the age of 87, is awarded the Order of Merit for her services during the Crimean War more than 50 years earlier and for setting up the first school of nursing after the war.

1947 - The United Nations (UN) General Assembly passes a resolution to divide Palestine between Arab and Jewish people.

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.

November 27 Dateline

Birthdays

1701 - Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. best known for invention of the Celsius temperature scale. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germany, Italy and France. He founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741, and the following year proposed (an inverted form of) the Centigrade temperature scale which was later renamed Celsius in his honour. 

1759 - Franz Krommer, Czech violinist, conductor, composer of classical music. Three years younger than Mozart, his 71-year lifespan began half a year after the death of George Frideric Handel and ended nearly four years after that of Ludwig van Beethoven. Krommer's output was prolific, with at least 300 published compositions in at least 110 opus numbers including at least 9 symphonies, seventy string quartets and many others for winds and strings, about fifteen string quintets and much sonorous, idiomatic and at times powerful music for wind ensemble, for which he is best known today.(Franz Krommer - Clarinet Concerto in E-flat major, Op. 36. Uploaded by KuhlauDilfeng2. Accessed November 27, 2014.)

1880 - Sir Ralph Freeman, English structural engineer, responsible for the design of several of the world's most impressive bridges. He  is best remembered for his design work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Birchenough Bridge in the Chipinge area of Zimbabwe. His son, also called Ralph Freeman, was also an engineer, senior partner at Freeman Fox & Partners, and President of the Institution of Civil Engineers; had been responsible for the design of the Humber Suspension Bridge. Sir Freeman's grandson, Ralph Anthony Freeman, was also an engineer who worked on numerous bridges including The RAMA IX Bridge in Bangkok.  

 

1909 - James Rufus Agee, American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, he was one of the most influential film critics in the U.S. His autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family, won the author a posthumous 1958 Pulitzer Prize.

1932 - Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. (Nov 27, 1932 – Aug 21, 1983), Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac. He was the husband of former Philippine President Corazon Aquino and father of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Shortly after the imposition of martial law, he was arrested in 1972 and incarcerated for seven years. He ran in the 1978 Philippine parliamentary election, but lost in the election. In 1980, Aquino was permitted by Marcos to travel to the United States for medical treatment following a heart attack. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport in 1983 upon returning from his self-imposed exile. His death revitalized opposition against Marcos, catapulted his widow, Corazon, into the political limelight, and prompted her to successfully run for a six-year term as President of the Philippines. Among other public structures, Manila International Airport has since been renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honour, and the anniversary of his death is a national holiday.

1942 - Jimi Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix), American musician, singer, and songwriter. His mainstream career spanned only four years but he was widely regarded one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music".

1957 - Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, American lawyer, author, the only daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, older sister of John F. Kennedy, Jr.  After Obama selected United States Senator Hillary Clinton to serve as Secretary of State, Kennedy expressed interest in being appointed to Clinton's vacant Senate seat from New York, but she later withdrew from consideration, citing "personal reasons." In 2013, President Obama appointed Kennedy as the United States Ambassador to Japan. Aside from co-authoring and editing some New York Times best-selling volumes, Kennedy is author of A Family Christmas, a collection of poems, prose, and personal notes from her family history (2007). In April 2011, a new collection of poetry, She Walks In Beauty – A Woman's Journey Through Poems, edited and introduced by Caroline Kennedy, was published. She launched the book at the John F Kennedy Library & Museum at Columbia Point, Dorchester, MA.

Leftie:
Author and lawyer Caroline Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg 

More birthdays and historical events, November 27 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

1582 - English Poet and playwright William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway by special license. He is 18 years old. She is 26 and pregnant.

1770 - Horatio Nelson joins the Royal Navy as a 12-year-old midshipman on the HMS Raisonnable.