March 19, 2013 is National Garlic Day
(Seriously . . . it really is)
_____
HISTORICAL CLIP
On this day, March 19 in 1842, French writer Honore de Balzac's play Les Ressources de Quinola opened to an empty house thanks to a failed publicity stunt. Hoping to create a buzz for the play, the writer had circulated a rumor that tickets were sold out. Unfortunately, believing the rumor, most of his fans stayed home.
By that time, Balzac was already a well-known literary figure. Born in Tours, France, Balzac was educated in Paris, where he started writing plays at the age of 20 while working as a lawyer's apprentice. His plays bombed, and he took to writing thrillers under an assumed name. Needing money, he launched disastrous ventures in printing and silver mining and went bankrupt. While struggling under his debts, he resumed writing, and by 1929 he was publishing under his own name, convinced he was a genius. By 1830, he had become a celebrated writer who frequented literary salons. Balzac drove himself ruthlessly, working 14 to 16 hours at a stretch, aided by some 50 cups of coffee a day. He completed 90 novels, all part of a single series, "La Comedie Humaine," and died in Paris in 1850.
From: HISTORY
_____
WORD FOR TODAY
species
noun
a class of individuals having some common characteristics or qualities; distinct sort or kind.
In biology, a species (plural: species) is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
Note: I often include in this section a word or term with which I am familiar but not absolutely sure of the correct definition.
_____
BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Born Mar 19, 1955
Age 57 years old
Age 57 years old
Walter Bruce Willis is a German-born American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s, most notably as David Addison in Moonlighting (1985–1989) and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles. He is well known for the role of John McClane in the Die Hard series, which were mostly critical and uniformly financial successes. He has also appeared in over sixty films, including box office successes like Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Sin City (2005), Looper (2012) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012).
Born Mar. 19, 1848
Died Jan. 13, 1929
Died Jan. 13, 1929
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was a city policeman in Wichita, Kansas and Dodge City, Kansas. He also served as a deputy sheriff and deputy U.S. marshal in Tombstone, Arizona. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, buffalo hunter, bouncer, saloon-keeper, gambler, miner, and on one occasion a boxing referee. He was never a cowboy or drover. He is best known for his part in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral during which three outlaw Cowboys were killed. The 30-second gunfight defined the rest of his life. Earp's modern-day reputation is that of the Old West's "toughest and deadliest gunman of his day."
Born Mar 19, 1947
Age: 65 years old
Age: 65 years old
Glenn Close is an American film, television and stage actress. Close began her professional stage career in 1974 in Love for Love, and was mostly a Broadway actress through the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s. Her first film role was in The World According to Garp (1982), which she followed up with supporting roles in The Big Chill (1983), and The Natural (1984); all three earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She would later receive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), and Albert Nobbs (2011). Since 2005, she has been known for her television roles in The Shield and her Emmy and Golden Globe winning role as Patty Hewes in the FX TV series Damages.
Born Mar. 19, 1860
Died July 26, 1925
Died July 26, 1925
William Jennings Bryan was a leading American politician from the 1890s until his death. He was a dominant force in the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States (1896, 1900 and 1908). He served in Congress briefly as a Representative from Nebraska and was the 41st United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1915).
After 1920 he was a strong supporter of Prohibition and energetically attacked Darwinism and evolution, most famously at the Scopes Trial in 1925.
Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan
at the Scopes Monkey Trial
William Jennings Bryan was played by Fredric March in the movie, Inherit the Wind, which was based on the Scopes trial.
__________
Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact.
--Honore de Balzac
No comments:
Post a Comment