Category: Our Universe

The Thing About Today – April 20

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 20, 2020
Day 111 of 366

 

April 20th is the 111th day of the year. It is United Nations Chinese Language Day, established in 2010 in an effort to “celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization”. April 20th was chosen as the date “to pay tribute to Cangjie, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago”.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Cheddar Fries Day, National Lima Bean Respect Day, National Look Alike Day, and National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1534, Jacques Cartier began his first voyage to what is today the east coast of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador.
  • In 1535, the sun dog phenomenon was observed over Stockholm. It was later depicted in the famous painting Vädersolstavlan, created by either Urban målare or Jacob Elbfas.
  • In 1657, freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam, later called New York City.
  • In 1862, Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.
  • In 1902, Pierre and Marie Curie refined radium chloride.
  • In 1937, actor and activist George Takei was born.
  • In 1949, actress Veronica Cartwright was born.
  • Also in 1949, actress Jessica Lange was born.
  • In 1951, actress Louise Jameson was born.
  • In 1959, actor Clint Howard was born.
  • In 1964, actor and director Andy Serkis was born.
  • In 1999, the Columbine High School shooting occurred. Thirteen people were murdered and twenty-four were injured before the two gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, committed suicide.

 

In 1946, the League of Nations officially dissolved, transferring most of its power to the United Nations.

The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on January 10, 1920, following the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I. President Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his role as the leading architect of the League.

The League proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. Its credibility was weakened since the United States never joined. The Soviet Union also damaged the League’s credibility by joining late and then being expelled after invading Finland.

The beginning of World War II proved that the League of Nations had failed in its mission. The United Nations picked up the cause when its charter took effect on October 24, 1945.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 19

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 19, 2020
Day 110 of 366

 

April 19th is the 110th day of the year. It is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Poland.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Amaretto Day, National Garlic Day, National Hanging Out Day, and National North Dakota Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1506, the Lisbon Massacre began. A crowd of Catholics, as well as foreign sailors who were anchored in the Tagus, persecuted, tortured, killed, and burnt at the stake hundreds of people who were accused of being Jews. That accusation was enough for the crowd to find the victims guilty of deicide and heresy. This was thirty years before the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal and nine years after the Jews were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism under King Manuel I.
  • In 1713, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, having no male heirs, issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inheritable by a female. His daughter and successor, Maria Theresa, would be born four years later.
  • In 1775, The American Revolutionary War began with an American victory in Concord during the battles of Lexington and Concord.
  • In 1782, John Adams secured the Dutch Republic’s recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands became the first American embassy.
  • In 1818, French physicist Augustin Fresnel signed his preliminary “Note on the Theory of Diffraction”. The document ended with what we now call the Fresnel integrals.
  • In 1933, actress Jayne Mansfield was born.
  • In 1934, Shirley Temple appeared in her first movie, Stand Up & Cheer.
  • In 1935, actor and comedian Dudley Moore was born.
  • In 1946, actor Tim Curry was born.
  • In 1964, astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Kim Weaver was born.
  • In 1968, actress Ashley Judd was born.
  • In 1971, Salyut 1 was launched. It was the first space station.
  • In 1979, actress Kate Hudson was born.
  • In 1981, actor Hayden Christensen was born.
  • In 1987, The Simpsons first appeared on television as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. The first one was “Good Night”.

 

In 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was bombed. 168 people were killed in the attack, including 19 children under the age of six.

The domestic terror attack was perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. McVeigh parked a Ryder truck filled with fertilizer and explosives near the building and detonated it at approximately 9:00 am. They were motivated by the federal government’s standoffs at Ruby Ridge in Idaho (1992) and the Branch Davidian cult compound in Waco, Texas (1993), seeking revenge for those events.

The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a 4-block radius, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. It created a 30-foot-wide and 8-foot-deep crater at the blast site, destroying one-third of the federal building.

After an extensive investigation, the bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in June 2001 and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. The United States Congress passes a series of laws, including a tightening of standards for habeas corpus and increased protection around federal buildings to deter future terrorist attacks.

On April 19, 2000, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing. Remembrance services are held every year on April 19th, at the exact time of the explosion.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 18

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 18, 2020
Day 109 of 366

 

April 18th is the 109th day of the year. It is Zimbabwe’s Independence Day, commemorating their independence from the United Kingdom in 1980.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Animal Crackers Day, National Columnists’ Day, National Lineman Appreciation Day, National Auctioneers Day, and National Record Store Day. National Auctioneers Day is normally observed on the third Saturday in April. National Record Store Day changes annually.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1506, the cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica was laid.
  • In 1775, the British advancement by sea began in the American Revolutionary War. Paul Revere and other riders warned the countryside of the troop movements.
  • In 1882, English conductor Leopold Stokowski was born.
  • In 1897, the Greco-Turkish War was declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
  • In 1909, Joan of Arc was beatified in Rome.
  • In 1912, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived in New York City with the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic.
  • In 1930, it was a slow news day. So slow, in fact, that the BBC news announcer stated “there is no news” at the start of the 20:45 news bulletin and played music instead.
  • In 1946, the International Court of Justice held its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.
  • Also in 1946, actress Hayley Mills was born.
  • In 1953, actor and comedian Rick Moranis was born.
  • In 1956, Eric Roberts was born. He portrayed the Master in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.
  • In 1961, actress Jane Leeves was born.
  • In 1967, actress Maria Bello was born.
  • In 1969, writer, musician, and all-around good dude Keith R. A. DeCandido was born.
  • In 1971, David Tennant was born. Among many other roles, he was the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who.
  • In 1976, actress Melissa Joan Hart was born.

 

In 1949, the keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States (CVA-58) was laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding in Virginia. Construction was canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.

The United States was slated to be the lead ship of a new design of “supercarriers” as authorized on July 29, 1948, by President Harry Truman. Five ships were planned in the line of ships designed to support combat missions using the new jet aircraft, which were faster, larger, and significantly heavier than the aircraft the Essex and Midway-class carriers handled at the end of World War II. The carrier was designed to be “flush decked”, which meant no command island on the flat top deck.

The ship design was so versatile that the United States Air Force actually saw it as a threat to its strategic nuclear weapons delivery monopoly. Looking to cut the military budget, Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson accepted the Air Force’s argument about nuclear deterrence by means of large, long-range bombers and canceled the United States project five days after the keel was laid without consulting Congress.

Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan and a number of high-ranking admirals immediately resigned in protest. The United States Congress held an inquiry into Johnson’s decision, but during this “Revolt of the Admirals”, the Navy was unable to advance its case that large carriers would be essential to national defense.

Soon afterward, Johnson and Francis P. Matthews, the man he advanced to be the new Secretary of the Navy, set to punishing officers who publicly opposed them. Admiral Louis Denfeld was forced to resign as Chief of Naval Operations, and a number of other admirals and lesser ranks were punished.

The invasion of South Korea six months later resulted in an immediate need for a strong naval presence, and Matthews’ position as Secretary of the Navy and Johnson’s position as Secretary of Defense crumbled. They both resigned.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 17

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 17, 2020
Day 108 of 366

 

April 17th is the 108th day of the year. It is World Hemophilia Day, commemorated in the quest to bring awareness to genetic bleeding disorders and raise funds for research.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Crawfish Day, International Bat Appreciation Day, National Cheeseball Day, National Ellis Island Family History Day, National Haiku Poetry Day, and National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day. That last one is typically observed on the third Friday in April.

I appreciate bats. I also appreciate how they can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1521, the trial of Martin Luther and his teachings began during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. He initially felt intimidated, so he asked for time to reflect and was granted one day.
  • In 1820, firefighter and inventor of the game of baseball Alexander Cartwright was born.
  • In 1907, the Ellis Island immigration center processed 11,747 people, a single-day record for them.
  • In 1942, David Bradley was born. He portrayed Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films, and the First Doctor on Doctor Who.
  • In 1948, composer and producer Jan Hammer was born.
  • In 1949, twenty-six Irish counties officially left the British Commonwealth at midnight. A 21-gun salute on O’Connell Bridge in Dublin ushered in the Republic of Ireland.
  • In 1951, the Peak District became the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
  • In 1954, professional wrestler and actor Roddy Piper was born.
  • In 1959, actor Sean Bean was born. He dies a lot in cinema.
  • In 1961, a group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the Central Intelligence Agency landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. Called the Bay of Pigs Invasion, it ultimately failed in its goal.
  • In 1967, actor Henry Ian Cusick was born.
  • In 1970, the ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft safely returned to Earth.
  • In 1972, actress Jennifer Garner was born.
  • In 1985, actress Rooney Mara was born.
  • In 2011, Marvel’s Thor premiered in Sydney, Australia.
  • In 2014, NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

 

In 2014, NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Designated as Kepler-186f, the exoplanet orbits the red dwarf star Kepler-186, about 582 light-years from Earth. The Kepler space telescope detected it along with four additional planets orbiting much closer to the star.

Kepler-186f is about 11 percent larger in radius than Earth. Since atmospheric composition is unknown, conclusions cannot be made about its habitability, though studies have concluded that it may have seasons and a climate similar to our own planet.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 16

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 16, 2020
Day 107 of 366

 

April 16th is the 107th day of the year. It is World Voice Day, a worldwide annual event that is devoted to the celebration of the phenomenon of voice. Voice is a critical aspect of effective and healthy communication, and the event brings global awareness to the need for preventing voice problems, rehabilitating the deviant or sick voice, training the artistic voice, and researching the function and application of voice.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Bean Counter Day, National Eggs Benedict Day, National Healthcare Decisions Day, National Orchid Day, National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, Get to Know Your Customers Day, and National High Five Day. Get to Know Your Customers Day happens on the third Thursday of each quarter, and National High Five Day occurs on the third Thursday in April.

Maybe we should consider “air” hive fives instead?

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1746, the Battle of Culloden was fought in Scotland between the French-supported Jacobites led by Charles Edward Stuart and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Jacobites suffered a bloody defeat, and after the battle, many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
  • In 1818, the United States Senate ratified the Rush–Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
  • In 1853, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway opened the first passenger rail in India. It went from Bori Bunder to Thane.
  • In 1867, inventor Wilbur Wright was born.
  • In 1889, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer Charlie Chaplin was born.
  • In 1908, Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.
  • In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
  • In 1921, British actor, author, journalist, comedian, and broadcaster Peter Ustinov was born.
  • In 1924, composer Henry Mancini was born.
  • In 1943, Albert Hofmann accidentally discovered the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally took the drug three days later.
  • In 1947, Bernard Baruch first applied the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
  • In 1952, voice actor, singer-songwriter, and comedian Billy West was born.
  • In 1954, actress Ellen Barkin was born.
  • In 1962, Walter Cronkite began to anchor the CBS Evening News.
  • In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
  • In 1965, actor John Cryer was born. He currently plays one of the best televised Lux Luthors on Supergirl.
  • In 1972, Apollo 16 was launched with astronauts John Young, Charles Duke, and Ken Mattingly aboard.
  • In 1975, actor Sean Maher was born.
  • In 1982, actress and mixed martial artist Gina Carano was born.
  • In 1984, actress Claire Foy was born.

 

April 16th is Emancipation Day in Washington, DC, which is part of various year-round observances in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people of African descent.

In 1862, The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, became law. Signed by President Abraham Lincoln, the Act freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation. The Act is the only example of compensation by the United States federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves.

On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District. When April 16th falls during a weekend, Emancipation Day is observed on the nearest weekday, sometimes affecting Tax Day by pushing that annual event to either the 17th or the 18th.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 15

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 15, 2020
Day 106 of 366

 

April 15th is the 106th day of the year. It is Jackie Robinson Day in the United States, commemorating the day that the first black major league baseball player made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers and ended 80 years of color segregation in the league. If Major League Baseball was playing today, you would see the players and umpires all sporting the number 42 in Robinson’s honor.

Today is typically Tax Day in the United States, but thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, you have until July 15th to file this year.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Glazed Spiral Ham Day, National Rubber Eraser Day, National Take a Wild Guess Day, and National Titanic Remembrance Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1452, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect Leonardo da Vinci was born.
  • In 1469, Guru Nanak was born. He was the first Sikh guru.
  • In 1707, Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler was born.
  • In 1736, the Kingdom of Corsica was founded.
  • In 1738, the Italian opera Serse by George Frideric Handel premiered in London, England.
  • In 1755, Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language was published in London.
  • In 1783, the preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War were ratified.
  • In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf. Established in Hartford, Connecticut, it was the first American school for deaf students.
  • In 1892, the General Electric Company was formed.
  • In 1912, the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survived.
  • In 1922, actor Michael Ansara was born.
  • In 1923, insulin became generally available for use by people with diabetes.
  • In 1924, Rand McNally published its first road atlas.
  • In 1933, actress Elizabeth Montgomery was born.
  • In 1947, Jackie Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s color line.
  • In 1948, composer Michael Kamen was born.
  • In 1955, Ray Kroc opened a McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, effective founding the franchise.
  • In 1959, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter Emma Thompson was born.
  • In 1960, Ella Baker led a conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina that resulted in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. That group was one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
  • In 1962, voice actor Tom Kane was born.
  • In 1990, actress Emma Watson was born.
  • In 1992, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
  • In 1997, actress Maisie Williams was born.
  • In 2019, the Notre Dame Cathedral fire was ignited, severely damaging the historic structure.

 

April 15th is observed as World Art Day, an international celebration of the fine arts which was declared by the International Association of Art (IAA) in order to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide.

The date was decided in honor of the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, who was chosen as a symbol world peace, freedom of expression, tolerance, brotherhood, and multiculturalism as well as art’s importance to other fields.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 14

Michael Falkner1 Comment

April 14, 2020
Day 105 of 366

 

April 14th is the 105th day of the year. It would be the first day of Takayama Spring Festival in Takayama, Gifu, Japan.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Dolphin Day, National Ex Spouse Day, National Gardening Day, National Pecan Day, National Reach as High as You Can Day, and Look up at the Sky Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 43 BC, the Battle of Forum Gallorum occurred. Mark Antony, besieging Caesar’s assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeated the forces of the consul Pansa. He was then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Aulus Hirtius.
  • In 1561, a celestial phenomenon was reported over Nuremberg. It was described as an aerial battle.
  • In 1775, the first abolition society in North America was established. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage was organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
  • In 1828, Noah Webster copyrighted the first edition of his dictionary.
  • In 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. He died from his wounds the next day.
  • In 1894, the first-ever commercial motion picture house was opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films.
  • In 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
  • In 1912, the British passenger liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. It sank overnight.
  • In 1929, television producer Gerry Anderson was born.
  • In 1939, The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, was first published.
  • In 1949, actor John Shea was born.
  • In 1958, the Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 fell from orbit after 162 days. It was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika, but she did not survive the journey.
  • Also in 1958, actor Peter Capaldi was born. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who.
  • In 1961, actor Robert Carlyle was born.
  • In 1968, actor Anthony Michael Hall was born.
  • In 1977, actress and producer Sarah Michelle Gellar was born.
  • In 1996, actress Abigal Breslin was born.
  • In 2003, the Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.

 

April 14th is observed as Pan American Day, a holiday that commemorates the First International Conference of American States. That conference concluded on April 14, 1890, and created the International Union of American Republics, the forerunner to the Organization of American States (OAS). The OAS works toward solidarity and cooperation among states in the Western Hemisphere.

Inspired by the idea of a Panamerica, United States Secretary of State James G. Blane first developed the concept of an International Conference for the Western Hemisphere. The idea took nearly a decade to bear fruit, but the resulting conference covered a large variety of subjects from currency and banking to military and trade.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover declared the first official National Pan American Day to be observed on April 14th. Before that proclamation, Pan American Day celebrations took place on various days throughout the year and across the country, including cultural events and festivals celebrating the Western Hemisphere and the whole of the North and South American continents.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 13

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 13, 2020
Day 104 of 366

 

April 13th is the 104th day of the year. It is Teacher’s Day in Ecuador.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Make Lunch Count Day, National Peach Cobbler Day, and National Scrabble Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1743, United States Founding Father Thomas Jefferson was born. He was the third President of the United States.
  • In 1870, the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded.
  • In 1892, Robert Watson-Watt was born. He was the Scottish engineer who invented radar.
  • In 1906, Samuel Beckett was born. He was an Irish novelist, poet, playwright, and Nobel Prize laureate.
  • In 1935, actor Lyle Waggoner was born.
  • In 1942, composer and conductor Bill Conti was born.
  • In 1943, the discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre during World War II was announced. This caused a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London from the Soviet Union, which denied responsibility.
  • Also in 1943, the Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson’s birth.
  • In 1950, actor Ron Perlman was born.
  • In 1951, actor Peter Davison was born. He portrayed the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who.
  • In 1953, Central Intelligence Agency director Allen Dulles launched the mind-control program Project MKUltra.
  • In 1960, the United States launched Transit 1-B, the world’s first satellite navigation system.
  • In 1964, at the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier became the first African-American male to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
  • In 1970, an oxygen tank aboard the Apollo 13 Service Module exploded, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the Apollo command and service module Odyssey while en route to the Moon.
  • In 1972, the Battle of An Lộc began during the Vietnam War. The battle lasted 66 days.
  • In 1976, the United States Treasury Department reintroduced the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson’s 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
  • In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

 

In 1742, George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah made its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer.

The text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. Part I begins with prophecies by Isaiah and others before moving to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only “scene” taken from the Gospels. Part II concentrates on the Passion and ends with the “Hallelujah” chorus. Part III covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s glorification in heaven.

The initial composition was modest, but over time it has been adapted for larger and more powerful orchestras, particularly by Mozart.

After its Dublin premiere, it moved to London nearly a year later. The initial public reception was modest, but the oratorio gained popularity and has become one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 12

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 12, 2020
Day 103 of 366

 

April 12th is the 103rd day of the year. It is Easter Sunday, a Christian holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day following his crucifixion. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by the 40-day Lenten period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

The holiday is also marked by the coloring and hunting of Easter eggs, the Easter Bunny, gift-giving, and biting the ears off of chocolate rabbits. It was on an Easter Sunday in the early ’90s that I received my first Star Wars novel, and my life hasn’t been the same since.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National For Twelves Day, National Big Wind Day, National Colorado Day, National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, and National Licorice Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1606, The Union Flag was adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships.
  • In 1916, author Beverly Cleary was born.
  • In 1934, the strongest surface wind gust in the world (at the time) was measured at the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Wind speed was measured at 231 miles per hour, but has since been surpassed.
  • In 1936, actor Charles Napier was born.
  • In 1945, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office. Vice President Harry S. Truman became the thirty-third President of the United States upon succession.
  • In 1947, comedian and talk show host David Letterman was born.
  • In 1955, the polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, was declared safe and effective.
  • In 1971, actress, director, and producer Shannen Doherty was born.
  • Also in 1971, actor Nicholas Brendon was born.
  • In 1979, actress Claire Daines was born.
  • Also in 1979, actress Jennifer Morrison was born.
  • In 1981, the first launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia occurred on mission STS-1.
  • In 1983, Harold Washington was elected as the first black mayor of Chicago.
  • In 1992, the Euro Disney Resort officially opened with its theme park Euro Disneyland. The resort and park names were later changed to Disneyland Paris.
  • In 1994, actress Saoirse Ronan was born.

 

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into outer space. He performed the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.

The flight consisted of a single orbit around the planet, spanning 108 minutes in total. Gagarin returned to the surface after ejecting from his capsule at 23,000 feet.

Gagarin was a Soviet Air Forces pilot who almost failed his initial flight training until his instructor provided him a cushion to help him see better from the cockpit. He expressed interest in the space program after the launch of Luna 3 in October 1959 and was selected in 1960.

In commemoration of his flight, the day is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day in Russia and as both Yuri’s Night and the International Day of Human Space Flight worldwide.

 

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.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 11

Michael Falkner1 Comment

April 11, 2020
Day 102 of 366

 

April 11th is the 102nd day of the year. It is World Parkinson’s Day, observed in honor of Dr. James Parkinson, the English surgeon, apothecary, geologist, paleontologist, and political activist who first described the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in his 1817 An Essay on the Shaking Palsy.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Barber Shop Quartet Day, National Cheese Fondue Day, National Eight Track Tape Day, National Pet Day, and National Submarine Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1727, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion BWV 244b premiered at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
  • In 1755, Dr. James Parkinson was born.
  • In 1881, Spelman College was founded in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary. It was designed as an institute of higher education for African-American women.
  • In 1940, author and screenwriter Thomas Harris was born. His most famous character is Hannibal Lecter.
  • In 1951, The Stone of Scone was found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It was the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned and had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.
  • In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
  • In 1970, Apollo 13 was launched with astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., and Fred W. Haise, Jr. aboard. It was meant to be the third manned mission to the lunar surface, but the mission was aborted when an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission.
  • In 1974, actress Tricia Helfer was born.
  • In 2012, The Avengers premiered in Los Angeles, marking a major milestone for Marvel Studios and superhero cinema.

 

In 1900, the United States Navy took possession of the first modern submarine, the USS Holland (SS-1).

The first military submarine of the United States fleet was the Turtle from 1775, but the Holland was the first modern commissioned submarine, purchased for $150,000. She was commissioned on October 12, 1900, with Lieutenant Harry H. Caldwell in command. She was propelled by a gasoline engine, an electric motor, and a 66-cell battery with a maximum speed of 6 knots.

The Holland was the fourth submarine to be owned by the Navy, preceded by Alligator, Intelligent Whale, and Plunger. That last one became the namesake for the second commissioned boat, USS Plunger (SS-2).

Most of Holland‘s service life was spent in experimentation and training. She was decommissioned on July 17, 1905, and sold as scrap for $100, but her legacy lives on as she started an unbroken chain of United States submarines that continues to this day. Her success was also instrumental in the founding of the Electric Boat Company, now known as the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation.

As a result of the Navy’s purchase of the USS Holland, today is recognized as National Submarine Day by certain circles of veterans. In 1969, Senator Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut introduced a bill to designate April 11th as National Submarine Day, but no record of a proclamation from President Richard Nixon has been found.

 

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

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