C18-L's Kalendar: February 22-28 (Reasons to Celebrate!)
Kevin Berland
Lenten bacchanal or pnacakes -- editorial note...]
*********************************************************************
* *
* THE KALENDAR - REASONS TO CELEBRATE *
* *
* Compiled for C18-L by Kevin Berland *
* B...@PSUVM.BITNET *
* B...@psuvm.psu.edu *
*********************************************************************
FEBRUARY 22:
BIRTHDAYS: King Charles VII of France (1403-61); King Ladislas V
of Hungary (1440-57); Charles Nicolas Cochin II, French
printmaker (1715); Dr. Richard Price, English statist (1723);
George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, 1st US
president (1732-99); Charles, Duke of Richmond (1735); Rev.
Gilbert Wakefield, English classical scholar (1756);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: Arthur Schopenhauer, German
philosopher (1788-1860); Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician
(1796-1874); Frederic Francois Chopin, Polish-French composer &
pianist (1810-49); James Russell Lowell, US poet, critic, editor,
cofounder of Atlantic Monthly (1819-91); Robert Stephenson Smyth
Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell of Gilden, English
archBoyScout (1857-1941); Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, German physicist
of electromagnetism (1857-94); Eric Gill, English book designer
and printer, wood-engraver, sculptor, type-designer (1882-1940);
Hugo Ball, German poet, Dadaist, theatrical producer, Roman
Catholic theologian (1886-1927); Horace Pippin, US painter
(1888); David Dubinsky, Polish-born US labor leader (1892-1982);
Edna St. Vincent Millay, US poet (1892-1950); Luis Bunuel,
Spanish film-maker (1900-83); Sean O'Faolain, Irish short-story
writer, novelist, autobiographer (1900); Robert young, US actor
(1907); Romulo Betancourt, Venezuelan statesman, president (1908-
81); Edward Albert Heimberger, better known as Eddie Albert, US
actor (1908); Sir John Mills, English actor (1908); Edward
Gorey, US artist, author, maker of strange, darkly humorous books
(1925); Edward Moore "Teddy" Kennedy, US politician (1932);
DEATHS: King Frederick I of Tuscany (1609); Frederick Ruysch
(1639); James Barry (1806); Rev. Sydney Smith (1845);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1774, the English House of Lords
rejected the argument for perpetual copyright, upholding the
statutory limits set out in the Copyright Act of 1710; in 1785,
US merchant ship Empress of China set sail from New York,
inaugurating the US Oriental trade; in 1787, the first shipload
of freed black slaves set sail for Africa to settle in Sierra
Leone; in 1797, French men-of-war appeared under English colours
off the coast of St. David's, Wales, & landed 600 French troops
(and as many convicts) who were taken prisoner; in 1819 Spain
ceded Florida to the US;
MISCELLANEA: Today is Unity Day in Egypt and Syria, Mothers' Day
in India, Day of Mourning (for Francisco Madero) in Mexico, and
the US celebrates George Washington's birthday. On this day in
1969, W.H. Auden wrote in the New Yorker, "As I get older, and the
times get gloomier and more difficult, it is to poets like Horace
and Pope that I find myself more and more turning for the kind of
refreshment I require."
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY 23
BIRTHDAYS: Pope Paul II, pope from 1464-71 (1417-71); Samuel
Pepys, English government administrator, diarist (1633-1703); Sir
William Chambers, English architect (1726); Jean Baptiste Le
Moyne sieur de Bienville, French-Canadian explorer, founder of New
Orleans (1680-1767); George Frederick Handel, German-born English
composer (1685-1759); William Mason, English poet (1725); Prince
Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal York (1725); Meyer Rothschild,
German banker, financier, founder of the House of Rothschild
(1743-1812);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: Emma Hart Willard, US educator
(1787-1870); George Frederic Watts, English painter, sculptor
(1817-1904); John Heyl Vincent, US Methodist bishop, educator
(1832-1920); George Cave, English jurist, Lord Chancellor (1856-
1928); William Edward Burghardt Dubois, African-American
historian, reformer, poet, founder of Niagara Movement (later
NAACP), exile (1868-1963); Norman Lindsay, Australian painter &
novelist (1879-1969); Karl Theodor Jaspers, German existentialist
philosopher (1883-1969); William Shirer, US journalist, historian
(1904); Constantine Karamanlis, Greek statesman, president
(1907); Allan MacLeod Cormack, US physicist, codeveloper of the
CAT scan (1924); Tom Wesselmann, US painter (1931); Peter Fonda,
US actor (1939);
DEATHS: King Charles X of Sweden (1660); King Stanislaus I of
Poland (1766); Sir Joshua Reynolds (1792); Dr. Joseph Warton
(1800); John Keats (1821);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1660, King Charles XI of Sweden
succeeded Charles X; in 1758 Home's tragedy Agis first opened at
Covent Garden, London;
MISCELLANEA: Today Guyana celebrates Republic Day. Today is the
feast of St. Milburga, invoked to protect crops against marauding
birds.
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY 24
BIRTHDAYS: King Matthias I of Hungary (1440-90); Giovanni Pico
della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (1463); Charles V, Holy
Roman Emperor & King of Spain as Charles I (1500-58); Pope
Clement VIII, pope 1592-1605 (1536-1605); Mattia Preti, Italian
painter (1613); Charles Le Brun, French painter, decorator of the
Palais de Versailles (1619-90); James Quin, Irish actor on the
London stage (1693); Jacques de Vaucanson, French inventor of
robotic devices and silk-weaving machinery (1709-82); Robert Lord
Clive, English imperial general, conqueror of Bengal (1726);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: Robert Lord Gifford, English jurist,
Master of the Rolls (1779); Wilhelm Carl Grimm, German
folklorist, philologist, lexicographer (1786-1859); Winslow
Homer, US painter (1836-1910); Arrigo Boito, Italian operatic
composer & librettist (1842-1918); George Moore, Irish novelist,
playwright, critic (1852-1933); Daniel Berkeley Updike, US
printer, publisher, historian of typography (1860); August
Derleth, US poet (1909); Eddie Murray, US comedian, actor (1957);
DEATHS: King Joseph I of Portugal (1777);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal
bull correcting the Julian Calendar; in 1664, Hamburg, Bremen,
and Lubeck confederated as the Hanseatic League; in 1743, Henry
Fielding's farce The Wedding Day was published; in 1777, Queen
Maria I of Portugal succeeded Joseph I; in 1785, John Adams was
named 1st US minister to Great Britain; in 1809, the newly
rebuilt Drury Lane Theatre burnt to the ground while Richard
Brinsley Sheridan, its owner, had a drink nearby -- he reputedly
commented, "A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by
his own fireside!"
MISCELLANEA: Today is Flag Day in Mexico.
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY 25:
BIRTHDAYS: Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian physiologist,
Father of Medical Pathology (1682-1771); Germain de Saint Foix
(1703); Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright, Father of Modern
Italian Comedy (1707-93); Jacques Philippe Caresme, French
painter (1834); Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, US statesman &
diplomat (1746-1825);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: Jose de San Martin, South American
revolutionary, statesman, compatriot of Bolivar (1778-1850); Li
Hung-Chang, Chinese statesman, advocate of modernization (1823-
1901); Pierre Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (1841-
1919); Edward Henry Harriman, US railroad magnate (1848-1909);
Charles Lang Freer, US industrialist & philanthropist (1856-1919);
Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher, statesman, critic (1866-
1952); Enrico Caruso, Italian operatic tenor (1873-1921);
Herbert "Zeppo" Marx, the "straight" Marx Brother, US comedian
(1901-79); Daisie Adelle Davis, US natural-foods advocate (1904-
74); Anthony Burgess, English novelist, translator, critic
(1917); George Harrison, English rock guitarist, songwriter,
Beatle (1943);
DEATHS: Count Wallenstein (1634); King Frederick I of Prussia
(1713); Sir Christopher Wren (1723); Dr. William Buchan (1805);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1803, the Diet of Ratisbon
reconstructed Germany by abolishing imperial cities &
ecclesiastical principalities;
MISCELLANEA: Today is Kuwait's National Day, commemorating the
accession of Sheikh 'Abdallah Al-Salim al-Sabah. On this day,
Irish playwright J.M. Synge's Riders to the Sea premiered in
Dublin;
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY 26:
BIRTHDAYS: Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, English
philosopher (1671); Rev. James Hervey, English author of
Meditations (1714);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: Francois Arago, French physicist,
the 1st to establish the principle of light waves (1786-1853);
Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist, playwright, politician (1802-
85); Honore Daumier, French painter, sculptor, caricaturist
(1808-79); William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, US buffalo
hunter, scout, Indian fighter, showman (1846-1917); John Harvey
Kellogg, US physician, dry breakfast cereal innovator (1852-1943);
King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861-1948); Herbert Henry Dow, US
chemist, industrialist (1866-1930); Sir Bengal Narsing Ram,
Indian jurist, diplomat (1887-1953); Giulio Natta, Italian
chemist (1903); Umberto Remano, Italian-born US portraitist
(1905-82); Jackie Gleason, US comedian (1916); Fats Domino, US
rock, blues pianist & singer (1926); Johnny Cash, US rockabilly &
country singer (1932);
DEATHS: Sir Nicholas Crispe (1665); Thomas D'Urfey (1723);
Maximilien of Bavaria (1726); Giuseppe Tartini (1770); Dr.
Alexander Geddes (1802); John Philip Kemble (1823); Dr, William
Kitchiner (1827);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1797, one and two pound paper bank
notes were first circulated in England;
MISCELLANEA: This is the day, according to ancient English
tradition, on which rooks begin to look for new nesting material.
On this day in 1935, Georges Bizet's 1st Symphony premiered in
Basel.
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY 27:
BIRTHDAYS: George Morley, bishop of Winchester (1597); John
David Michaelis, orientalist (1717); John Lawrence Geib, US piano
maker (1744);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: James Robinson Planche, English
writer (1796); Lord William George Frederick Bentinck (1802);
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the 1st US poet to earn a living
entirely from writing poetry (1807-82); Dame Ellen Alice Terry,
English actress, intimate correspondent with George Bernard Shaw
(1847-1928); Henry Edwards Huntington, US financier (1850-1927);
Laura Elizabeth Richards, US novelist (1850-1943); Rudolph
Steiner, Austrian educator, anthroposophist (1861-1925); Joaquin
Sorolla y Bastida, Spanish impressionist painter (1863-1923);
Sveinn Bjornsson, 1st president of the Republic of Iceland (1881-
1952); Hugo Lafayette Black, US jurist (1886-1971); David
Sarnoff, US media executive (1891-1971); Marino Marini, Italian
sculptor (1901); John Ernst Steinbeck, US novelist, 1962 Nobel
Laureate (1902-68); James Thomas Farrell, US novelist (1904-79);
Peter DeVries, US comic novelist (1910); Lawrence Durrell,
English novelist, poet, playwright (1912); Irwin Shaw, US
novelist (1913-84); John Bowden Connally, US politician, governor
of Texas (1917); Joanne Gignilliat Woodward, US actress (1930);
Elizabeth Taylor, English-US actress (1932); Ralph Nader, US
consumer advocate (1934); Chelsea Clinton, daughter of US
president Bill (1980);
DEATHS: Philip Nye (1673); John Evelyn (1706); Dr. John
Arbuthnot (1735); Sir John B. Warren (1822);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
MISCELLANEA: Today is Independence Day in the Dominican Republic
(1844); it's Statehood Day in St. Kitt's-Nevis. Today is the
feast of St. Baldomerus, patron of locksmiths.
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY 28
BIRTHDAYS: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, French essayist,
philosopher ("Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm,
and yet he will be making gods by the dozens")(1533-92); Henry
Stubbe, English classical scholar who stoutly claimed the Royal
Society plagiarized the ancient scientists (1631); Rene A.F. de
Reamur, French natural philosopher, entomologist, metallurgist,
inventor of the thermometric scale (1683-1757); Louis Joseph
Montcalm, French general, commander-in-chief of French forces in
New France 1756-9 (1712-59); Dr. Daniel Solander, Swedish
naturalist (1736);
LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST: Mary Lyon, US educator, founder of
Mt. Holyoke College (1797-1849); Sir John Tenniel, English
cartoonist for Punch, illustrator of Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland (1820-1914); Ernest Renan, French theologian (1823-
92); Jean-Francois Gravelet, better known as Charles Blondin,
French tightrope walker, who crossed the Niagara gorge on a high
wire over and over again (1824-97); Sir Wilfrid Grenfell, English
medical missionary in Labrador, outfitted 1st North Sea fisheries
hospital ship (1865-1940); Abbe Henri Edouard-Prosper Breuil,
French priest & archaeologist (1877-1961); Ben Hecht, US
playwright, journalist, novelist (1894-1964); Philip Showalter,
US physician, codiscoverer of cortisone (1896-1965); Linus Carl
Pauling, US chemist, pacifist, 1954 Nobel Prize in chemistry for
studies in molecular bonding, 1962 Nobel Peace Prize (1901);
Stephen Harold Spender, English poet, who once described W.H.
Auden's face as "a wedding cake left out in the rain." perhaps a
source for (and certainly an analogue to) the well-known chorus of
the song "MacArthur Park," recently voted the most-hated song in
North America in a poll taken by Dave Barry (1909); Sir Peter
Brian Medawar, English biologist (1915);
DEATHS: King Christian IV of Denmark (1646); Edward Moore
(1757); Dr. Richard Grey (1771);
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: in 1689, the Earl of Nottingham
introduced the bill to the English House of Lords that eventually
passed into law as the Toleration Act; in 1704, Abenaki Indians
attacked and destroyed Deerfield, Massachusetts; in 1803,
Napoleon's Act of Mediation established a centralized Helvetic
Republic in Switzerland;
MISCELLANEA: Today is Kalevala Day in Finland, a holiday
dedicated to an epic poem. It is also the feast of brother Saints
Romanus & Lupicinus, the former of whom is invoked for curing
insanity and protection from drowning. On this day in 1952,
Vincent Massey became the 1st native-born Canadian Governor
General.
*************************************************************************
[ADDENDA: FEBRUARY 29 BIRTHDAYS: Edmund Cave, English printer,
founder of the Gentleman's Magazine (1692); Ann Lee, English-born
US founder of the Shaker movement (1736-84); LATER BIRTHDAYS:
Karl Ernst von Baer, Russian naturalist, discoverer of the human
ovum (1792-1876); Gioacchino Antonio Rossini, Italian opera
composer (1792-1868); Balthus, mononymical French painter (1908);
Jimmy Dorsey, US big-band musician (1904-57); David Stuart
Beattie, New Zealand politician, governor-general (1924); ON THIS
DAY IN HISTORY: in 1720, Queen Ulrica Eleanor of Sweden abdicated
in favour of her husband, Frederick I.
*******************************************************************