March 28, 2020
Day 88 of 366

 

March 28th is the eighty-eighth day of the year. It is Serfs Emancipation Day in Tibet.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Black Forest Cake Day, National Something on a Stick Day, National Triglycerides Day, and National Weed Appreciation Day.

 

Historical items of note:

• In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza found the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
• In 1802, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovered 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be found.
• In 1910, Henri Fabre became the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
• In 1948, actress Dianne Wiest was born.
• In 1955, singer-songwriter and producer Reba McEntire was born.
• In 1960, actor Chris Barrie was born.
• In 1979, a coolant leak at Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania led to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.
• In 1981, actress Julia Stiles was born.
• Also in 1981, actor Gareth-David Lloyd was born.

 

In 1842, Otto Nicolai conducted the first concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Until the 1830s, orchestral performances in Vienna was on an ad hoc basis. In 1833, Franz Lachner formed the forerunner of the Vienna Philharmonic, an orchestra called the Künstlerverein. That orchestra consisted of professional musicians from the Vienna Court Opera, which is now the Vienna State Opera. They performed four concerts, each including a Beethoven symphony.

The Vienna Philharmonic itself came to be nine years later, developed by a group that regularly met at a local inn, including the poet Nikolaus Lenau, newspaper editor August Schmidt, critic Alfred Becker, violinist Karlz Holz, Count Laurecin, and composer Otto Nicolai.

The Vienna Philharmonic is now considered to be one of the finest in the world, selecting its members from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. The selection process is lengthy, with each musician demonstrating his or her capability for a minimum of three years’ performance for the opera and ballet. After the probationary period, the candidate musician may request an application for a position in the orchestra from the Vienna Philharmonic’s board.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.