Musical Premieres ► Throwback Thursday
Painting by Joseph Karl Stieler
On this day in 1808 Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his most well-known composition. The first 8 notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony are immediately recognizable.
Not only did he premiere– and conduct — the Fifth, but this concert at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna goes down in history as one of his most famous. It also saw the world premier of his Sixth Symphony. Other compositions on the bill that night were Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, ...
READ MOREHappy Birthday Lenny Bruce
Dateline October 13, 1925 – Leonard Alfred Schneider is born in Mineola, New York. By the time Lenny Bruce died in 1966 he had changed the face of comedy forever. ...
READ MORENostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be ► Happy Birthday Martha Mitchell
John and Martha Mitchell before their 1973 divorce
Today would have been Martha Mitchell‘s 94th Birthday, had she not had the misfortune of dying in 1976. It’s a good thing she’s ...
READ MOREHappy Birthday Maurice “Rocket” Richard ► The Hockey Sweater
Happy Birthday, Maurice “Rocket” Richard, still considered one of the best hockey players that ever played the game.
This Canadian National Film Board cartoon is fondly remembered by Canadians of all ...
READ MOREIs Toussaint L’Overture Packing Heat? Again?
Anyone who has studied the history of Haiti will know the name François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture, sometimes known as the Black Napoleon. L’ouverture led the only successful slave revolt in the ...
READ MOREHappy Canada Day!!!
I feel the most nostalgic for Canada on Canada Day.
One of the most famous Canadians is Captain Kirk…I mean, William Shatner:
However, he’s not the only famous Canadian. Do you ...
READ MOREToday’s Irony ► Malicious Virus Spoils Birthday Celebrations in Oceania
Dateline June 25, 1903 – Future, and futurist, English writer George Orwell is born as Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, Bihar, India. Today “Orwellian” is an adjective everyone knows. That ...
READ MOREA Tribute To Alan Turing ► The Man Who Saved The World
Dateline June 23, 1912 – Alan Turing was born on this day. Who dat? Oh, just the man who saved millions of lives and maybe the world during World War ...
READ MORESynchronicity
Josephine Baker hiding behind crossed
eyes, a favourite pose of hers.
Merriam-Webster defines “synchronicity”as “the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a ...
READ MOREDay In History ► Manhattan Island Sold
Dateline June 10, 1610 – The most one-sided real estate deal in history as the Dutch think they are buying Manhattan Island from the Natives. Whenever possible I get my ...
READ MOREYou’ve Come A Long Way, Baby – NYT Decides To Capitalize Negro
Dateline June 7, 1930 – The New York Times decides to start capitalizing the word “Negro” out of respect.
Look, it’s just a truism that the English language, as well ...
READ MOREDay In History ► It’s My Birthday
Today is the very best day in all of history because today is the day commemorating my birth 60 years ago. Here are just some of the other people I ...
READ MOREDay In History ► The British Army Sends ‘Merkin Army Packing
To all my Hamilton and Canadian friends: On this day 199 years ago the British Army made a night raid upon the ‘Merkin army. The Brits had overestimated the ‘Merkin ...
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