July 22 Dateline

Birthdays

1766 -  Franz Xaver Süssmayr (also Süßmayr, or Suessmayr in English), Austrian composer and conductor, popularly known as the composer who completed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's unfinished Requiem. Also, there have been performances of Süssmayr's operas at Kremsmünster, and his secular political cantata (1796), Der Retter in Gefahr, SmWV 302, received its first full performance in over 200 years in June 2012 in a new edition by Mark Nabholz, conducted by Terrence Stoneberg. There are also CD recordings of his unfinished clarinet concerto (completed by Michael Freyhan), one of his German requiems, and his Missa Solemnis in D.

 

1822 - Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian monk and scientist, an Augustinian friar and Abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno, Margraviate of Moravia. He was born in a German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian Empire and gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics. (Gregor Mendel. Uploaded by Teacher's Pet. Accessed July22, 2016.)

1882 - Edward Hopper, American realist painter. He later became a prolific artist whose works depict urban loneliness, disappointment, even despair. Hopper continues to be regarded as an important painter of the “American Imagination”, a phenomenon which his urban paintings capture. (Edward Hopper: the artist who evoked urban loneliness and disappointment with beautiful clarity. Written by James Peacock. The Conversation. Accessed January 22, 2020. Edward Hopper - Painter of Alienation. Uploaded by Colin Wingfield. Accessed January 22, 2017.)

1938 - Terence Henry Stamp, English actor. He has been referred to as the “master of the brooding silence” by The Guardian. His performance in the title role of Billy Budd, his film debut, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer. Associated with the Swinging London scene of the 1960s – during which time he was in high-profile relationships with actress Julie Christie and supermodel Jean Shrimpton.

1947 - Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein),  American actor, comedian, writer, and director. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's Broadcast News. He has written, directed, and starred in several comedy films, such as Modern Romance (1981), Lost in America, and Defending Your Life (1991). He is also the author of 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America.

1973 - Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright, American-Canadian singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded nine albums of original music and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set Shakespeare sonnets to music for a theater piece by Robert Wilson. (Rufus Wainwright - Going To A Town. YouTube, (c) 2007 Geffen Records. Accessed July 22, 2010.)

2013 - Prince George of Wales (George Alexander Louis), Member of the British royal family. He is the eldest child of William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales. George is the eldest grandchild of King Charles III and is second in the line of succession to the British throne behind his father. George was born at St Mary's Hospital in London during the reign of his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. His birth was widely celebrated across the Commonwealth realms due to the expectation that he will eventually become king. 

Lefties:
Actor and director Albert Brooks
Actor Terence Stamp

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 22 July - On This Day.

Historical Events 

1793 - Sir Alexander MacKenzie and his party arrive at the Pacific Ocean on this day, making them the first European to cross Canada. They traveled on foot and by canoe.

1812 - In Spain, the Battle of Salamanca takes place. The Duke of Wellington at first intended to pull back to Portugal after six weeks of sparring with French forces under Marshal Marmont. But when he sees a gap open on Marmont's left flank, he orders an attack. The victory is a crucial step in the Napoleonic wars.

July 21 Dateline

Birthdays

1620 - Jean Picard (Jean-Félix Picard), French Astronomer and Priest born in La Flèche, where he studied at the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand. He is principally notable for his accurate measure of the size of the Earth, based on a careful survey of one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian.

 

1863 - Sir Charles Aubrey Smith, CBE, English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of The Prisoner of Zenda. In Hollywood, he organised British actors into a cricket team, much intriguing local spectators. (Top/Best 10 Movies of C. Aubrey Smith. YouTube uploaded by SuperMovie. Accessed July 21, 2021.)

1883 - Carl Engel, French-born American Pianist, Musicologist and Publisher from Paris. He was also President of G. Schirmer, Inc., a Writer on Music for The Musical Quarterly, and Chief of the Music Division of the Library of Congress.

1899 - Ernest Miller Hemingway, American Journalist, Novelist, Short-story Writer, and Sportsman. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954, "for his mastery of the art of narrative, demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style." He published seven novels, six short-story collections, and two non-fiction works. Three of his novels, four short-story collections, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature.

 
1907 - A.D. Hope, AC OBE (Alec Derwent Hope), Australian Poet and Essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic. In 1998 a celebration of his life and works, The Scythe Honed Fine, was published by the National Library of Australia.

1920 - Isaac Stern, American Violinist (A tribute to Isaac Stern). Sharing Isaac Stern's moving and powerful interpretation of Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor, conducted by Andre Previn. Uploaded by Nick Bottom. Accessed July 21, 2017.

1951 - Robin McLaurin Williams, American Actor, Comedian and singer, known for his improvisation skills and the wide variety of memorable voices he created. He is often regarded by critics as one of the best comedians of all time. He began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s, and rose to fame for playing the alien Mork in the sitcom Mork & Mindy.

1971 - Sara Seager, Canadian-American Astronomer and Planetary Scientist. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is known for her work on extrasolar planets and their atmospheres. She is the author of two textbooks on these topics, and has been recognized for her research by Popular Science, Discover Magazine, Nature, and TIME Magazine. Seager was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013 citing her theoretical work on detecting chemical signatures on exoplanet atmospheres and developing low-cost space observatories to observe planetary transits.

Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays today, and historical events, today 21 July - On This Day.

Feature:

Isaac Stern performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, Op.64, IBA, with Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. YouTube, uploaded by violinist102. Accessed July 21, 2018.

 

Historical Events

1403 - The Battle of Shrewsbury takes place, between the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by members of the Percy family from Northumberland. It is also remembered as the climax of Shakespeare's play, Henry IV, Part I.

1873 - William Gosse, an English explorer, announces the discovery in Australia of the world's largest monolith, which he names Ayers Rock, named after South Australian Premier, Sir Henry Ayers. In 1985, the rock, named "Uluru" is handed back to the Mutitjulu people.

July 20 Dateline

Birthdays

1304 - Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca), Italian poet. Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was a scholar and poet of Renaissance Italy who was one of the earliest humanists. His rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with inventing the 14th-century Renaissance. Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism. (Petrarch and the Sonnet. Uploaded by SixMinuteScholar. Accessed July 20, 2014.)

1797 - Sir Paweł Edmund Strzelecki KCMG CB FRS FRGS, also known as Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, Polish explorer, geologist and philanthrope (British subject in 1845.)  He is noted for his contributions to the exploration of Australia, particularly the Snowy Mountains and Tasmania as well as climbing and naming the highest mountain on the continent – Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m). (Australian Dictionary of Biography)

1919 - Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG ONZ KBE, New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. (Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Everest - 1953 archive video. Uploaded by The Guadian. Accessed July 20, 2015. Sir Edmund Hillary - The Race for Everest. Uploaded by dim edin. Accessed July 20, 2018.) 

1924 - Robert D. Maurer, American industrial physicist, noted for his leadership in the invention of the optical fiber.  He holds 16 patents, including:  (1) US Patent 3,659,915: Fused Silica Optical Waveguide; Method of Producing Optical Waveguide Fibers, and (2) US Patent 3,711,262: Optical Fibers.

1927 - Michael Andreas Gielen, Austrian conductor and composer who promoted contemporary music in opera and concert. (Michael Gielen: Beethoven Symphonies Box Nos. 1-9.  YouTube, uploaded by EuroArtsChannel. Accessed July 20, 2018.)

1938 - Dame Diana Rigg, CBE, DBE (born Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg), English actress, famous for her role as Emma Peel in the hit spy television show The Avengers, and as the Bond girl who becomes Mrs. James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She also played as Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones (2013–17). Her career in theatre, includes: playing the title role in Medea, in London and New York, for which she won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She was made a CBE in 1988 and a Dame in 1994 for services to drama. Diana Rigg made her professional stage debut in 1957 in The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959. She made her Broadway debut in the 1971 production of Abelard & Heloise. Her film roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; more... She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC miniseries Mother Love, and an Emmy Award for her role as Mrs. Danvers in an adaptation of Rebecca. Her other television credits include Doctor Who episode "The Crimson Horror" with her daughter, Rachael Stirling. (1970s Diana Rigg BBC Parkinson interviews. So clever and intelligent, a favourite interviewee ever. Uploaded by TaggleElgate. Accessed July 20, 2019. Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution ¦ 1982 ¦ Ralph Richardson ¦¦ Diana Rigg ¦¦ Full Movie. YouTube, uploaded by Old Curious & Antiquities. Accessed July 20, 2025)

1938 - Natalie Wood (born born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko), Russian-American actress. She received three Oscar nominations before she was 25. She began acting in films at age 4 and was given a co-starring role at age 8 in the popular Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Rebel Without a Cause, followed by The Searchers. Wood starred in the musical films West Side Story and Gypsy, and received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her Splendor in the Grass and Love with the Proper Stranger. Her career continued with films such as Sex and the Single Girl, Inside Daisy Clover, and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. She drowned off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981, at age 43. The events surrounding her death have been explained by conflicting witness statements.

Lefties:
None known

 

 

More birthdays today, 20 July - On This Day.


Feature:  
Maestro Michael Gielen:  Conducts Beethoven Symphonies.

Historical Events

1810 - Independence Day of Colombia. On this day in 1810, Simon Bolivar defied Spain and declared Colombia's independence. Full independence was gained three years later, in 1813.

1944 - Colonel Claus Stauffenberg takes a bomb in a briefcase to a meeting in Hitler's bunker. minutes later, the bomb goes off, but Hitler survives (this is the third assassination attempt on the German dictator's life), while four others die.

July 19 Dateline

Famous Birthdays

1834 - Edgar Degas, French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. He is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. Regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist. ( Uploaded by Arts Heaven. Accessed July 19, 2015.  Edgar Degas: Collection of 658 Paintings, uploaded by LearnFrom Masters. July 19, 2017.)    

1896 - Archibad Joseph Cronin, Scottish novelist and physician, best-known for his novel The Citadel (1937), the story of a Scottish doctor in a Welsh mining village, who quickly moves up the career ladder in London. 

1941 - Vikki Carr, American vocalist, born to parents with Mexican ancestry. She has performed in a variety of musical genres, including pop, jazz and country, while her greatest success has come from singing in Spanish. She established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation in 1971.(Vikki Carr 2017 Greatest Hits (Full Album). Uploaded by VikkiCarrVEVO. Accessed July 19, 2017.)   

Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 19 July - On This Day.

Historical Events

64 C.E. - The Great Fire of Rome begins and rages for six days, destroying 3 of the 14 precincts of the city,  and damaging 7 more. Some Romans believe that Emperor Nero lit the fire; he is overthrown four years later.

1545 - The Mary Rose sinks during a military engagement with the French off Portsmouth. About 300 people drown. In 1982, the ship is raised and put in a British museum.

July 18 Dateline

Famous Birthdays

 1635 - Robert Hooke,  FRS, English polymath, architect and natural philosopher. He was financially impoverished scientific inquirer as a young adult but came into wealth and good reputation following his actions as Surveyor to the City of London after the great fire of 1666 (in which he appears to have performed more than half of all the surveys after the fire). At that time, he was also the curator of experiments of the Royal Society, and a member of its council, Gresham Professor of Geometry. He was an important architect of his time and was instrumental in devising a set of planning controls for London, the influence of which remains. 

1670 - Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini), Italian opera composer. Here's his Baroque music:  Baroque mementos ~ Giovanni Bononcini ~ La nemica d'Amore fatta amante (1693) ~ "Pur ti riveggio." Accessed July 18, 2017.

1811 - William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society. (William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair. Uploaded by Eric Masters, accessed July 18, 2017.)

1821 - Pauline Viardot-Garcia, French mezzo-soprano (She was a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue, and composer of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms. Here are two songs by Pauline Viardot: 'Aimez-moi ma mignonne' (from Six chansons du XVe siècle, published 1886) sung by Françoise Masset accompanied by Françoise Tillard (on an 1843 Erard piano) and 'Hai luli!' (from Six mélodies et une havanaise, published 1880) sung by Cecilia Bartoli accompanied by Myung-Whung Chung. )

1902 - (Mary) Jessamyn West, American author of short stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945). She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D) degree from Whittier College in 1946, and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1975.

1918 - Nelson Mandela (born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela), South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

1921 - John Glenn, Astronaut (5th man in space) and former US Senator. By 2007, he is still the oldest man to have gone into space, reaching the orbit in 1998 at the age of 77.

1947 - Steve Forbes (born Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes Jr.), American publishing executive. He was a candidate in the 1996 and 2000 Republican Presidential primaries. Forbes is the Editor-in-Chief of Forbes, a business magazine.

1950 - Sir Richard (Charles Nicholas) Branson, British business magnate, author and former philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group in the 1970s, which controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age.

Lefties:
Businessman/Politician Steve Forbes
Author Jessamyn West

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 18 July - On This Day.

Historical Events

1814 - Matthew Flinders' book A Voyage to Terra Australis is published, in which he advocates using the name "Australia" for  the southern continent. He dies the following day.   

1898 - Marie Curie and husband Pierre Curie announce they have discovered a new, highly unstable chemical element, which they call polonium after Marie's homeland, Poland. It is the first element discovered by radioactive analysis.

July 17 Dateline

Birthdays

1889 - Erle Stanley Gardner,  American writer and lawyer, famous as creator of Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico. The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray and Robert Parr.

1899 - James Cagney, American actor (James Cagney - "Yankee Doodle" Medley. Cagney shows his versatility in these two song and dance numbers from George M. Cohan's life-story.  'Give my Regards to Broadway' &'Yankee Doodle Dandy' scenes from the 1942 film 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'. Uploaded by MinstrelSurfer. Accessed July 17, 2018.)

1902 - Christina Stead, Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. She was a committed Marxist, although she was never a member of the Communist Party. She was awards the patrick White Award.  Notable work: The Man Who Loved Children.(The Late Great: Christina Stead. Uploaded by WheelerCentre. Accessed July 17, 2018).

1935 - Donald (McNichol) Sutherland, CC, Canadian actor whose film career spans more than seven decades. He has been nominated for eight Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films Citizen X and Path to War; the former also earned him a Primetime Emmy Award.

1935 - Peter Schickele, American composer, arranger, musical educator, and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, but which he presents as being composed by the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. He also hosted a long-running weekly radio program called Schickele Mix. From 1990 to 1993, Schickele's P.D.Q. Bach recordings earned him four consecutive wins for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

1947 - Queen Camilla, GCVO, CSM, PC (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles; 17 July 1947) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III, member of the British royal family. She is the second wife of King Charles III. Camilla carries out public engagements representing the monarchy, often alongside her husband. She is also the patron, the president, or a member, of numerous charities and organisations. Since 1994, Camilla has campaigned to raise awareness of osteoporosis, which has earned her several honours and awards. She has also campaigned to raise awareness of issues such as rape, sexual abuse, illiteracy, animal welfare, and poverty.

1952 - Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub), American singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues" and her credited guest vocals backing Paul Simon on "Gone at Last". She was described by The New York Times as a "contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves." Snow also sang numerous commercial jingles for many U.S. products during 1980s and 1990s including General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, and Stouffer's. In 2003, Snow released her album Natural Wonder on Eagle Records, containing 10 original tracks, her first original material in 14 years.

1954 - Angela Dorothea Merkel (née Kasner), German former politician and scientist who served as chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her chancellorship, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world. Beginning in 2016, she was often described as the leader of the free world. She obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist until 1989. Merkel entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. As the protégée of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel was appointed as Minister for Women and Youth in 1991, later becoming Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in 1994. In 2014 she became the longest-serving incumbent head of government in the European Union. 

 
Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 17 July - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1717 - George Frideric Handel's Water Music is performed on a barge at an aquatic fete on the Thames River for King George I. (Here's a video of Water Music performed by the English Baroque Soloists, with John Eliot Gardiner. Youtube, uploaded by jmymusik, accessed July 17, 2017)

1762 - Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia nine days after her husband, Tsar Peter III, is strangled in his bedroom in a prison fortress.

July 16 Dateline

Birthdays

1858 - Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, conductor, and composer. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". He came from a background of "artisans", though a large part of his family played instruments. Ysaÿe was a friend of Claude Debussy and they corresponded by letter. Ysaÿe was a significant supporter of the younger composer's early career. Debussy dedicated his only string quartet to the violinist, who studied the score with great care. (Hilary Hahn performs Ysaye Sonata No. 5 "Danse Rustique" (Better Quality). YouTube, uploaded by The Violin Netwok. July 16, 2020.)

1872 - Roald Amundsen (born Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen), Norwegian explorer of polar regions and a key figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage by sea, from 1903 to 1906, and the first expedition to the South Pole in 1911. He led the first expedition proven to have reached the North Pole in a dirigible in 1926. He disappeared in 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission for the airship Italia. 

1901 - Fritz Mahler, Austrian-American conductor, whose father was a cousin of the composer Gustav Mahler. In Europe he became a leading conductor with the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Danish State Symphony. He fled Europe in 1936 for the United States. He taught at the Juilliard School in New York for many years (advanced conducting, director of the opera department). F. Mahler was music director of the Erie Philharmonic from 1947 to 1953 and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra from 1953 to 1962. (Fritz Mahler conducts Gustav Mahler Symphony No.5 - Rai Roma (1958). YouTube, uploaded by goodmanmusica. Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai di Roma (16.07.58). Accessed July 16, 2020. 

1911 - Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath), American actress, dancer and singer during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood and is often considered an American icon. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), but is best remembered for performing during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.  

 1948 - Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Zukerman is on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and is the founder of the Zukerman Performance Program at the school. In 1999 he founded the National Arts Centre Young Artists Programme, which counts young musicians. Zukerman plays the "Dushkin" Guarnerius del Gesù violin of 1742. His honours include the King Solomon Award, the National Medal of Arts (presented by President Reagan in 1983), the Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence, and an honorary doctorate from Brown University. (Pinchas Zukerman: Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 4 in D, K218. YouTube, uploaded by allegrofilms. Accessed July 16, 2019. Zukerman is both conductor and soloist. Live recording from Munich Hercules Hall, Germany (1973).


Lefties:

Actress Ginger Rogers (1911)  

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 16 July - On This Day.

Historical Events

1212 - Spanish King Alphonso VIII leads soldiers from several Christian nations against a Moorish army and defeats them at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. This starts the retreat of the Moors from Spain. 

1782 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera  Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) premieres.

July 15 Dateline

Birthdays

1606 - Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch draughtsman, painter and printmaker. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history. He was influenced by Caravaggio, Titian, Hercules Seghers and Hendrick ter Brugghen. His paintings are full of drama, contrasts between light and dark and experimental brushwork, and are famous all over the world. 

 
1915 - Gavin Maxwell, FRSL, FIAL, FZS (Sc.), FRGS, Scottish naturalist and author. Best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water, about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland.

1919 - Dame Jean Iris Murdoch, Irish and British writer & philosopher  (Iris Murdoch on Philosophy and Literature. YouTube, Uploaded by flame0430. Accessed July 15, 2009.) A 2001 biographical drama film has been adapted on the life of Iris Murdoch entitled Iris, that tells the story of Irish-born British novelist Dame Iris Murdoch and her relationship with John Bayley. It stars Dame Judi Dench (Iris Murdoch), Kate Winslet (young Iris), and Jim Broadband and Hugh Bonneville (young John). Official film trailer, uploaded by Miramax. Accessed July 15, 2017.)

1930 - Jacques Derrida (born Jackie Élie Derrida), Algerian-born French philosopher. Best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction, which he discussed in numerous texts, and developed in the context of phenomenology.

1933 - Julian Alexander Bream, CBE, English virtuoso classical guitarist. One of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perception of the classical guitar as a respectable instrument. (Julian Bream: My Life in Music. YouTube, uploaded by Guitar Passion. Accessed August 15, 2020.)
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1934 - Sir Harrison Paul Birtwistle, CH, British composer. Leading European figure in contemporary music. His works combine modernist aesthetic, and his orchestral works of recent decades include Panic composed for the Last Night of the BBC Proms, The Shadow of Night commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra and concertos for violinist Christian Tetzlaff and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. His stageworks include The Last Supper for Glyndebourne, The Minotaur for The Royal Opera, The Io Passion, The Corridor and The Cure.

1946 - Linda Maria Ronstadt, retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres. She has earned 10 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. Many of her albums have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum. She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award. On July 28, 2014, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. Ronstadt was among the five honorees who received the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements, in Washington, D.C., at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 15 July - On This Day.

Featured Artist:  Julian Bream, Virtuoso Guitarist

Julian Bream performs works by Bach, Villa-Lobos, Albeniz and Britten at Old Wardour Castle. Julian Bream Concert 1978.(YouTube, uploaded by RareGuitarVC. Accessed 15th July 2018.)

Historical Events

This day is also known as "St. Swithin's Day." Swithun (old English name or Swithunus in Latin) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester, subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. When his bones were moved to a shrine in Winchester Cathedral on this day in 971 AD, it rained for the next 40 days.  

1799 - Captain Pierre-Francois Bouchard, a soldier in Napoleon's army, finds the Rosetta Stone in the Egyptian village of Rosetta near Alexandria. the stone proves to be key to deciphering Egyptian Hieroglyphics.

July 14 Dateline

Birthdays

1858 - Emmeline Pankhurst, British suffragist, political activist and helper of the British suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote. In 1999 Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back". She was widely criticised for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in the United Kingdom

1862 - Gustav Klimt, Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. He is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. In addition to his figurative works, which include allegories and portraits, he painted landscapes. Among the artists of the Vienna Secession, Klimt was the most influenced by Japanese art and its methods. (The Complete Works of Gustav Klimt. Uploaded by Tuen Tony Kwok. Accessed Juky 14, 2019.)

1904 - Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-American writer, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. He was a leading figure in the Yiddish literary movement, writing and publishing only in Yiddish. He was also awarded two U.S. National Book Awards, one in Children's Literature for his memoir A Day Of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw (1970) and one in Fiction for his collection A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories (1974).

1910 - William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, voice actor, and cartoon artist whose film and TV cartoon characters entertained millions of people. Working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Hanna met Joseph Barbera. The two men began a collaboration that was at first best known for producing Tom and Jerry (won seven Academy Awards). Hanna-Barbera collaboration became the most successful TV animation studio, creating and/or producing programs such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, and Yogi Bear. They won eight Emmy Awards. Their cartoons have become cultural icons, and their cartoon characters have appeared in other media such as films, books, and toys.

1918 - Ingmar Bergman (born Ernst Ingmar Bergman), Swedish director, writer, and producer who worked in film, television, theatre, and radio. Considered to be among the most accomplished and influential filmmakers of all time, Bergman's films include Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, and Fanny and Alexander; the last two exist in extended television versions.

1921 - Leon Garfield,  FRSL, British writer of fiction. He is best known for children's historical novels, though he also wrote for adults. He wrote more than thirty books and scripted Shakespeare: The Animated Tales for television.

1926 - Harry Dean Stanton, American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films such as Cool Hand Luke, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, The Godfather Part II, Alien, Escape from New York, Christine, Repo Man, Pretty in Pink, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, The Green Mile, Alpha Dog and Inland Empire. He was given rare lead roles in Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas and Lucky (2017), his last film. 

 

Lefties:

None known

 

 

More birthdays today, 14 July - On This day.

Historical Events

1789 - Bastille Day. Around 800 Parisians armed with muskets and cannons attack the Bastile, a medieval fortress used as a prison. they wipe the garrison out and free the seven prisoners inside. This even triggers the French Revolution. Today this known as Bastille Day is celebrated to commemorate the event and the forming of the French Republic.

1791 - In Birmingham, England, rioters burn the home and laboratory of Joseph Priestly, the chemist who discovered oxygen, because of his support for the French Revolution. Three yearslater, he leaves for the U.S.A. 

July 13 Dateline

Birthdays

1933 - David Malcolm Storey, English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist, and a professional rugby league footballer. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel Saville. He also won the MacMillan Fiction Award for This Sporting Life in 1960. Storey's novels Radcliffe and Pasmore were shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

1932 - Per Norgaard, Danish composer and teacher. He discovered the melodic infinity series in 1959 and it proved an inspiration for many of his works during the 1960s. However, it was not until his Voyage into the Golden Screen for small ensemble (1968)—which has been identified as the first "properly instrumental piece of spectral composition" (Anderson 2000, 14)—and Symphony No. 2 that it provided the structure for an entire work (Nørgård 1975,9). The harmonic and rhythmic infinity series were developed in the early 1970s and the three series were first integrated in Nørgård's Symphony No. 3.

1934 - Wole Soyinka (born Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka), Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category. As a playwright, he is known for A Dance of the Forests. (A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka (Play Outline). YouTube, uploaded by SparkShares Literature. Accessed July 13, 2020. 

1942 - Harrison Ford, American actor, aviator, and environmental activist. He gained worldwide fame for his role as Han Solo in the 1977 film Star Wars, reprising the role in four sequels over 42 years. He is known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. He career collaborates with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers. Ford has notably portrayed heroic characters in many films including Witness, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and 42. He has played the literary character Jack Ryan in two films based on novels created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger; he has also played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films as The Conversation, The Mosquito Coast, and Presumed Innocent, among others. Ford appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas. In addition to his box-office success, Ford is an Academy Award nominee, a four-time Golden Globe nominee, a two-time Saturn Award winner, and the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

1944 - Erno Rubik, Hungarian inventor, architect and professor of architecture. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Magic: Master Edition, and Rubik's Snake.While he became famous for inventing the Rubik's Cube and his other puzzles, much of his recent work involves the promotion of science in education, in particular, Beyond Rubik's Cube, the Rubik Learning Initiative and the Judit Polgar Foundation all of whose aim is to engage students in science, mathematics, and problem solving at a young age.

Leftie:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 13 July - On This day.

 

Historical Events

1643 - The Battle of Roundway Down is fought during the English Civil War. It was a Royalist cavalry success that formed part of the "Royalist Summer," where everything seemed to be going Charles I's way for a time.

1793 - Charlotte Corday, a noblewoman, stabs French revolutionary leader Jean Paul Marat in the heart  whilst soaking in a bath. Corday believes in democracy and that Marat was leading France into anarchy. Four days later, she is executed in guillotine.

1829 - Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra is first performed in London. Ignaz Moscheles and the composer are the soloists. (Listen to this performance. Lovely Mendelssohn Concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra. A double enjoyment as I profoundly feel Mozart's presence here. interpreted by Katia and Marielle Labeque, with Simeon Bychkov conducting the London Philharmonia Orchestra.)

July 12 Dateline

Birthdays

100 B.C.E. - Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman statesman. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. An accomplished author and historian, much of his life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns. Other contemporary sources include the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust, and later biographies of him by Suetonius and Plutarch. Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. His cognomen was subsequently adopted as a synonym for "Emperor"; the title "Caesar" was used throughout the Roman Empire, giving rise to modern cognates such as Kaiser and Tsar. His political philosophy, known as Caesarism, inspired politicians into the modern era.

1730 - Josiah Wedgwood, English potter and entrepreneur. He founded the Wedgwood company. Leader in the industrialisation of the manufacture of European pottery, he developed improved pottery bodies by a long process of systematic experimentation.

1817 - Henry David Thoreau, American writer, essayist, poet and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience", an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. (Political Theory - Henry David Thoreau. Uploaded by The School of Life. Accessed July 12, 2016. Thoreau and Civil Disobedience. Uploaded by The School of life. Accessed July 12, 2018.)

1861 - Anton Arensky (born Anton Stepanovich Arensky), Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky's musical compositions. Especially popular are the Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky for string orchestra, Op. 35a - arranged from the slow movement of Arensky's 2nd string quartet, and based on one of Tchaikovsky's Songs for Children, Op. 54.  Arensky was perhaps at his best in chamber music, in which genre he wrote two string quartets, two piano trios, and a piano quintet.

1884 - Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, Italian Jewish painter and sculptor, worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by elongation of faces, necks, and figures that were not received well during his lifetime but later found acceptance. (A Collection of Modigliani's 281 Paintings. YouTube, uploaded by LearnFromMasters. Accessed July 12, 2017.)

1885 - George Butterworth, MC (born George Sainton Kaye Butterworth), English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll The Banks of Green Willow and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from A Shropshire Lad, amongst the best known. Butterworth destroyed many works he did not care for, before and during the war. Of those that survive, his collection of poems A Shropshire Lad are among the best known. Many English composers of Butterworth's time set Housman's poetry also, including Ralph Vaughan Williams. (George Butterworth - A Shropshire Lad: Rhapsody for Orchestra (1912). YouTube, uploaded by AntPDC. Accessed July 12, 2018.)

 
1895 - Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II, American lyricist, librettist, theatrical director and producer, most especially known for his partnership with Richard Rodgers. He was director in the musical theatre for almost 4o years. Hammerstein II is widely considered the most influential lyricist and librettist of the American theater. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose major musicals include Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. He also collaborated with Jerome Kern (with whom he wrote Show Boat), Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml, Richard A. Whiting, and Sigmund Romberg.

1904 - Pablo Neruda (born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto), Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Neruda is often considered the national poet of Chile. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language". (Poetry by Pablo Neruda. Leaning into the Afternoons) YouTube, Poetry in Motion. Accessed July 12, 2020. (Pablo Neruda - If You Forget Me (read by Madonna). YouTube, uploaded by Cleitus T. Accessed July 12, 2020. 

1934 - Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr., American concert pianist, first American to win the Tchaikovsky Prize. At the age of 23, he achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, during the Cold War. Cliburn's mother, a piano teacher and an accomplished pianist in her own right, discovered him playing at age three, mimicking one of her students and arranged for him to start taking lessons. Cliburn developed a rich, round tone and a singing-voice-like phrasing, having been taught from the start to sing each piece. One of Cliburn's contributions to society was the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. (1958 Van Cliburn Tchaikovsky Competition Moscow Newsreel. Uploaded by PublicDomainFootage.com. Accessed July12, 2013. 'Russians Conquered My Heart': Pianist Van Cliburn Reflects on 50 Years of Music Making. Uploaded by PBS NewsHour. Accessed July 12, 2018. Finals Round Concerto 4 - 2022 Cliburn Competition. YouTube, uploaded by The Cliburn. Accessed June 19, 2022.)

Lefties:
None known

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 12 July - On This day. 

Historical Events

1543 - King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, who survives him and marries again.

1776 - Captain James Cook sets sail from Plymouth on the Resolution, beginning his third and final voyage of discovery.

July 11 Dateline

Birthdays

1274 - Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. He didn't do well against Edward I, but won the Battle of Bannockburn against the English king's son, Edward II.

1561 - Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora), Spanish Baroque Lyric Poet, best known for The Solitudes. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent Spanish poets of all time. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorismo. This style existed in stark contrast to Quevedo's conceptismo.

1767 - John Quincy Adams, American Statesman, Diplomat, Lawyer, and Diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States Secretary of State from 1817 to 1825.

1834 - James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American Artist, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He was averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake".  (The Complete Works of James Abbott McNeill Whistler. 1st Art Gallery com. Accessed July 11, 2011.)

1857 - Alfred Binet, French Psychologist, Inventor of the first practical IQ test, the Binet–Simon Scale/Test. (Alfred Binet and the Origin of Intelligence Testing. Uploaded by Not So Obvious. Accessed  July 11, 2019.)  

1899 - E.B. White (born Elwyn Brooks White), American Writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan. In a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, Charlotte's Web came in first in their poll of the top one hundred children's novels. He was also a contributor to The New Yorker magazine, and a co-author of the English language style guide The Elements of Style.

1916 - Gough Edward Whitlam AC QC, 21st Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. He led the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to power for the first time in 23 years at the 1972 election. He won the 1974 election before being controversially dismissed by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office in this manner.

1934 - Giorgio Armani, Fashion Designer, Italian fashion designer. He first came to notice, working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually diversified into music, sport and luxury hotels. By 2001 Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion.

1939 - Louise Marie Lasser, American Actress, TV Writer, Performing Arts Teacher and Director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was married to Woody Allen and appeared in several of his early films. She is also a life member of The Actors Studio.

1958 - Mark Lester (born Mark A. Letzer), English former Child Actor, and later, as Osteopath and Acupuncturist. He starred in a number of British and European films in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968 he played the title role in the blockbuster film Oliver!, a musical version of the Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. Lester also made several appearances in a number of British television series. In 1977, after appearing in the all-star international action adventure film The Prince and the Pauper, he retired from acting. In the 1980s, he trained as an osteopath specialising in sport injuries. (Tribute to Lionel Bart/Carol Reed's OLIVER! 1968. Mark Lester, Oliver Reed, Shani Wallis. YouTube, uploaded by CARSONART. Accessed July 11, 2013. Eyewitness [Malta]. Youtube, uploaded by mab077. Accessed July 11, 2013.)

Lefties:
Actress Louise Lasser

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 11 July - On This Day.

Historical Events

1786 - Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf's opera Doktor und Apotheker is first performed, in Vienna. 
Doktor und Apotheker (Doctor and Apothecary) is a German-language two-act singspiel by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, with a libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on the anonymous French comedy L'apothicaire de Murcie (The Apothecary of Murcie). It is considered the composer's masterpiece and premiered on 11 July 1786 at the k.u.k. National-Theater in Vienna. (Doktor & Apotheker. Youtube video uploaded by Musikacademie Rheinsberb. Accessed July 11, 2020.)  

1893 - Kokichi Mikimoto extracts the first cultured pearl at his pearl farm. The pearl was imperfect and took another 10 years a spherical one.

1960 - Harper Lee publishes her all-time bestseller novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a book on racism in the Southern U.S.  It went on to win a Pulitzer Prize, becoming one of the best-selling books in history. (Theme music: here) 

July 10 Dateline

Birthdays

1509 - John Calvin,  French religious leader, theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, aspects of which include the doctrines of predestination and of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation, in which doctrines Calvin was influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. In addition to his seminal Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents, and various other theological treatises. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.

1830 -  Camille Pissarro, Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter. His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Pissarro studied from great forerunners, including Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

1835 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violin virtuoso and composer. At the invitation of Anton Rubinstein, Wieniawski moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived from 1860 to 1872, taught many violin students, and led the Russian Musical Society's orchestra and string quartet. He replaced Henri Vieuxtemps as violin professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in 1875. In London, he was player in the Beethoven Quartet Society, and also performed on viola. (Henryk Winiawski's Polonaise in D major, Op 4. Uploaded by Akademia filmu i Telewizji. Accessed March 24, 2020. 

1856 - Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. His work fell into relative obscurity following his death, until 1960, when the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density 'the tesla' in his honor. There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s. (The Amazing Life of Nikola Testa (Documentary). YouTube, uploaded by Integza. Accessed July 10, 2025) 

 

1871 - Marcel Proust,  French novelist, critic and essayist, best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (translated in English by C.K. Scott Moncrieff as In Search of Lost Time; earlier rendered as Remembrance of Things Past), published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927. Proust is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. (Literature - Marcel Proust. Uploaded by The School of Life. Accessed July 10, 2017.)

1895 - Carl Orff, German composer and music educator. He is best known for his cantata Carmina Burana (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. The Orff Schulwerk, or simply the Orff Approach, is a developmental approach used in music education. It combines music, movement, drama, and speech into lessons that are similar to child's world of play. It was developed by Carl Orff and colleague Gunild Keetman during the 1920s.

1903 - John Wyndham (born John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris), English science fiction writer. Aside from his pen name as John Wyndham, he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos, the latter filmed twice as Village of the Damned. His writings examined the human struggle for survival when catastrophic natural phenomena suddenly invade a comfortable English setting.

1931 - Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer and Nobel Prize Laureate. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as having revolutionized the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move forward and backward in time, and with integrated short fiction cycles. Her stories explore human complexities in an uncomplicated prose style. Her writing established her reputation as a great author in the vein of Anton Chekhov. Munro received the Man Booker International Prize in 2009 for her lifetime body of work. A three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for Fiction, she also received the Writers' Trust of Canada's 1996 Marian Engel Award and the 2004 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for Runaway. She mostly stopped writing around 2013 and died at her home in 2024. 

 
1931 - Gerald Sheldon "Jerry" Herman, American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He was nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. (Barbra Streisand - Hello, Dolly! and Barbra Streisand - "I'd Rather Be Blue". Uploaded by oweena29. Accessed July 10, 2011.)  

1943 - Arthur Robert Ashe Jr., American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked world No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine in 1975. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.

1958 - Béla Anton Leoš Fleck, American banjo player. An innovative and technically proficient banjo player, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck has won 15 Grammy Awards and been nominated 33 times.

Leftie:
Musician Bela Fleck

 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 10 July - On This Day. 

 

 

Featured Celebrity: 

 

MARCEL PROUST (10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922), French novelist, critic, and essayist who is considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. He wrote the monumental novel 'In Search of Lost Time' (À la recherche du temps perdu; with the previous English title translation of Remembrance of Things Past), originally published in French in a 7-volume book between 1913 and 1927. 

 

First translated into English as 'Remembrance of Things Past', 'In Search of Lost Time' is known both for its length and its theme of involuntary memory. The most famous example of this is the "episode of the madeleine", which occurs early in the first volume. The novel gained fame in English in translations by C. K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin as 'Remembrance of Things Past', first published in 1989, but the title In Search of Lost Time, a literal rendering of the French, became ascendant after D. J. Enright adopted it for his revised translation published in 1992. 

 

'In Search of Lost Time' remains to be one of the most impactful novels I've read. I plan to reread it the seven volumes; this time not in paperback but in Kindle. It's long, and like any literary masterpiece, 'In Search of Lost Time' is a quest whose structure resembles that of a symphony for throughout the book, the novel's major themes - love, art, memory, and time - are carefully and brilliantly captured like a harmonious orchestra.

 

Volume One: Swann's Way (see notes from video below). The narrator's thoughts about his own life lead him to the past of the character, Charles Swann, a family friend the narrator knew as a child. By remembering and imaginatively inhabiting Swann's love affair with the coquette Odette, the narrator gains insight into his life and the nature of love itself. 

Swann's Way - Sparknotes' Swann's Way  

Also, Reading Proust / Swann's way

Volume Two: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower

Volume Three: The Guermantes Way

Volume Four: Sodom and Gomorrah

Volume Five: The Prisoner

Volume Six: The Fugitive

Volume Seven: Time Regained (Finding Time Again). This final volume chronicles the years of World War I, when, as M. de Charlus reflects on a moonlit walk, Paris threatens to become another Pompeii. The Past Recaptured. 

 

Historical Events

1553 - Lady Jane Grey, at the age of 15, is proclaimed Queen of England after the death of Edward VI. The attempt to take the crown is arranged by the Duke of Northumberland, whose son, Lord dudley, is married to Lady Jane Grey. She was deposed 9 days later by Mary Tudor, and executed for treason on February 12, 1554, alongside her husband. Lady Jane Grey is the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister.

1929- Charles Kingsford Smith and his aircrew arrive in England in the Southern Cross after flying from Australia in 12 days, 21 hours, and 18 minutes - a record time.

July 9 Dateline

Birthdays

1858 - Franz Uri Boaz, German-born American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as Historical Particularism and Cultural Relativism.

1819 - Elias Howe, Jr., American inventor, best known for his creation of the modern lock stitch sewing machine. Although Howe was not the first to conceive of the idea of a sewing machine (many others had formulated the idea of such a machine before him, one as early as 1790, and some had even patented their designs and produced working machines, in one case at least 80 of them, but Howe originated significant refinements to the design concepts of his predecessors, and on September 10, 1846, he was awarded the first United States patent (U.S. Patent 4,750) for a sewing machine using a lockstitch design.

1879 - Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer, violinist and musicologist, famous for his "Roman Trilogy" of orchestral tone poems: Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928). (Here is Fountains of Rome.)  Respighi's musicological interest in 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century music led him to compose pieces based on the music of these periods. He also wrote several operas, the most famous being La fiamma.

1901 - Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, CStJ, English novelist. She wrote romance novels, one of the best-selling authors of the 20th century. Her 723 novels were translated into 38 languages and she continues to be referenced in the Guinness World Records for the most novels published in a single year in 1976. As Barbara Cartland she was known for writing numerous romantic novels but she had also written books under her married name of Barbara McCorquodale and under the pseudonym of Marcus Belfry. She wrote more than 700 books, as well as plays, music, verse, drama, magazine articles and operetta, and was a prominent philanthropist.

1906 - Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE, English composer. A combative and idiosyncratic character and a composer of music that has been described as "sensuously beautiful", Lutyens struggled to earn her place among the composers of classical 20th century musical canon, and her music is still seldom heard or recorded. She was one of the models for Henry Reed's satirical depiction of Dame Hilda Tablet in a series of 1950s radio plays. (E. Lutyens' "En Voyage" suite for full orchestra, conducted by Simon Joly).

1933 - Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE FRCP,  British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and author. He spent his career in the United States. He believed that the brain is the "most incredible thing in the universe". He explored the phenomena of the brain in his books like Musicophilia and Seeing Voices. He became widely known for writing best-selling case histories about both his patients' and his own disorders and unusual experiences, with some of his books adapted for plays by major playwrights, feature films, animated short films, opera, dance, fine art, and musical works in the classical genre.

1956 - Tom Hanks, American actor, director and producer. Known for his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. His films have grossed more than $4.9 billion in North America and more than $9.96 billion worldwide, making him the fifth-highest-grossing actor in North America. Hanks' accolades include two Academy Awards out of six nominations. He has received the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2004. In 2014, he received a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2016, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as the French Legion of Honor.

Lefties:
Inventor Elias Howe

More birthdays and historical events today, 9 July - On This Day.

Historical Events

1893 - Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, the only African American surgeon in the American College of Surgeons, performs the world's first successful open-heart surgery in Chicago on a man who had been stabbed.     

1900 - Queen Victoria gives her consent to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (already passed by the British Parliament), that unites the Australian colonies under a federal government.

July 8 Dateline

Birthdays

 

1593 - Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian Baroque painter, considered one of the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of fifteen. In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Artemisia was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele. (Artemisia Gentileschi in 8 paintings, National Gallery. Artemisia Gentileschi: A collection of 79 paintings (HD), LearnFromMasters. YouTube, Accessed October 18, 2020.)

 

1621 - Jean de la Fontaine, French fabulist, one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, as well as in French regional languages. After a long period of royal suspicion, he was admitted to the French Academy and his reputation in France has never faded since. Evidence of this is found in the many pictures and statues of the writer, later depictions on medals, coins and postage stamps.

1819 - Vatroslav Lisinski (born Ignatius Fuchs to a German Jewish family), Croatian composer.The name he adapted is a Croatian calque of his original name. He composed the first Croatian opera, Love and Malice. The Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall is named after him.Lisinski was one of the founders of Illyrism, a movement that advocated the importance of Croatian and more generally South Slavic cultural heritage, as a reaction to Magyarisation during the Austro-Hungarian rule. The international train EN 498/499 connecting Zagreb and Munich is named Lisinski.

1838 - Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin (born Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin),  German general, airship inventor, later inventing the Zeppelin rigid airships. He founded the company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.

1839 - John Davison Rockefeller, Sr.,  American oil tycoon and philanthropist, business magnate.  He is widely considered the wealthiest American of all time, and the richest person in modern history. He founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. He ran it until 1897, and remained its largest shareholder.
 
1882 - Percy Grainger (born George Percy Aldridge Grainger), Australian-born pianist, composer and Arranger, who lived in the United States from 1914 on and became a citizen in 1918. He played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Although much of his work was experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune "Country Gardens". (Martin Jones performs Percy Grainger's "Country Gardens". YouTube, uploaded by NimbusRecords TV. Accessed July 8, 2014.)

1900 - George Antheil, Experimental American avant-garde composer (who also wrote film scores), Pianist, Author, and Inventor.  Spending much of the 1920s in Europe, he returned to the US in the 1930s, and spent much time composing music for films, and television. Antheil was constantly reinventing himself. He wrote magazine articles (one accurately predicted the development and outcome of World War II), an autobiography, a mystery novel, and newspaper and music columns.  In 1941, Antheil and the actress Hedy Lamarr developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes that used a code (stored on a punched paper tape) to synchronise random frequencies, known as 'frequency hopping', with a receiver and transmitter. This technique is known as 'spread spectrum' and is widely used in telecommunications. In 2014, Antheil and Lamarr were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

1908 - Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, American businessman, philanthropist, and politician. He was 41st vice president of the U.S. from 1974 to 1977, and previously, the 49th governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. A grandson of billionaire John D. Rockefeller and a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family, he was a noted art collector and served as administrator of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.

1926 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist, a pioneer in near-death studies, and author of the internationally best-selling book, On Death and Dying, where she first discussed her theory of the five stages of grief, known as the "Kübler-Ross model". She was a 2007 inductee into the National Women's Hall of Fame, was named by Time (magazine) as one of the "100 Most Important Thinkers" of the 20th Century and was the recipient of nineteen honorary degrees. By July 1982, Kübler-Ross taught 125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions.

1958 - Kevin Norwood Bacon, American actor and musician. His films include musical-drama film Footloose, the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller JFK, the legal drama A Few Good Men, the historical docudrama Apollo 13, and the mystery drama Mystic River. Bacon is known for taking on darker roles and for hit comedies. He is equally prolific on television. For the HBO original film Taking Chance, he won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, also receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Bacon portrayed the title character/series lead, Amazon Prime web television series I Love Dick, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

Leftie:
Nelson A. Rockefeller, former U.S. Vice-President

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 8 July - On This Day.

In Memoriam, Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961):  The composer plays piano solo of his "Molly on the Shore." Recorded in 1927.

 

Historical Events

1497 - Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, to find a sea route to the East Indies. 

1791 - Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 92, "Oxford" is first performed, in the Sheldonian Theatre; he is awarded Doctor of Music by Oxford University.

July 7 Dateline

Birthdays

1860 - Gustav Mahler, Austro-Bohemian late-Romantic composer and conductor, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century. In 2016, a BBC Music Magazine survey of 151 conductors ranked three of his symphonies in the top ten symphonies of all time.

1887 - Marc Zakharovich Chagall, Russian-French painter of Belarusian Jewish origin. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in virtually every artistic format, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints.

1911 - Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, along with over two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular taste. He won a Pulitzer Prize twice, for The Consul (1950) and for The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955). He founded the noted Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) in Spoleto in 1958 and its American counterpart, Spoleto Festival USA, in 1977. In 1986 he commenced a Melbourne Spoleto Festival in Australia, although he withdrew after three years.  (Amahl and the Night Visitors - Ash Lawn Opera. Dress Rehearsal. Uploaded by Cherokee Rose Productions. Accessed July 7, 2017.)

1915 - Yul Brynner (born Yuliy Borisovich Briner), Russian-American actor, singer, and director, considered one of the first Russian-American film stars. He became widely known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical The King and I, for which he won two Tony Awards, and later won an Academy Award for the film adaptation. He played the role 4,625 times on stage and became known for his shaved head, which he maintained as a personal trademark long after adopting it for The King and I. Brynner also starred as Ramesses II in the epic The Ten Commandments. He played General Bounine in the film Anastasia, the gunman Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven and its first sequel Return of the Seven, and the android "The Gunslinger" in Westworld and its sequel Futureworld. Brynner also worked as a model, television director and photographer, and was the author of several books.

1922 - Pierre Cardin (born Pietro Cardin), Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for his avant-garde style and his Space Age designs. He prefers geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He founded his fashion house in 1950 and introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.
He was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1991 and FAO Goodwill Ambassador on 16 October 2009.

1940 - Ringo Starr, MBE (nee Richard Starkey), English musician, member drummer of The Beatles group, singer, songwriter and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles group. He occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine", "With a Little Help from My Friends" and their cover of "Act Naturally". He also wrote and sang the Beatles' songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of others.

1941 - Bill Edgar Oddie, OBE, English writer, comedian, composer, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He became famous as one of The Goodies.
A birder since his childhood, Oddie has established a reputation as a naturalist, conservationist, and television presenter on wildlife issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings. His wildlife programmes for the BBC include: Springwatch/Autumnwatch, How to Watch Wildlife, Wild in Your Garden, Birding with Bill Oddie, Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie and Bill Oddie Goes Wild.

Leftie:
Ringo Starr, Musician 

 

More birthdays and historical events today, 7 July - On This Day.

 

 

Historical Events

1898 - The U.S. formally annexes Hawaii at the invitation of members of the Republic of Hawaii when US President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution.

1967 - Sir Francis Chichester is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, after completing his single-handed voyage around the world. It should be noted that Sir Francis Drake was also knighted in the same way by Queen Elizabeth I. Her Majesty used the same sword, recognising the historical significance.