Newsgroups: bit.listserv.c18-l
Date:         Sun, 20 Dec 1992 21:19:33 -0500
From:         BCJ@PSUVM.BITNET
Subject:      C18-L's Kalendar: Reasons to Celebrate, December 21-27

*********************************************************************
*                                                                   *
*             THE KALENDAR - REASONS TO CELEBRATE                   *
*                                                                   *
*             Compiled for C18-L by Kevin Berland                   *
*                       BCJ@PSUVM.BITNET                            *
*                       BCJ@psuvm.psu.edu                           *
*********************************************************************
*                                                                   *
*                       MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND                        *
*                          HAPPY HANUKAH,                           *
*                      AND A JOYOUS KWANSAA!                        *
*                                                                   *
*********************************************************************

                            DECEMBER 21

     BIRTHDAYS:  Tomasso Guidi, aka Masaccio, Italian painter (1401-28);

     LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST:  Leopold von Ranke, German
historian (1795-1886);  Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, English
Tory statesman, PM (1804-81);  Jean Henri Fabre, French entomologist
(1823-1915);  Prince Petr Kropotkin, Russian geographer, social
philosopher, anarchist, theorist of mutual aid, exile (1842-1921);
Henrietta Szold, US Zionist leader, founder of Hadassah (1860-1945);
Josif Vissarionovich Dzugashvili, aka Joseph Stalin, Georgian-Russian
political leader, dictator, who once reputedly said "Gaiety is the most
outstanding feature of ther Soviet Union" (1879-1953);  Heinrich Boll,
German novelist, short-story writer, 1972 Nobel Laureate (1917);  Alicia
Alonso, Cuban prima ballerina (1921);  Edward Richard Schreyer,
Canadian statesman, Governor-General (1935);  Jane Fonda, US
actress, social activist, exercise instructor, populist anathema (1937);
Frank Zappa, US rock guitarist, bandleader, anticensorship activist
(1940);  Chris Evert Lloyd, US tennis player (1954);

     DEATHS:  Giovanni Boccacio (1375);  Maximilen, duc de Sully (1641);
Queen Catherine de Braganza (1705);  James Harris (1780);  Arnauld
de Berquin (1791);

    ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

     MISCELLANEA:  Sao Tome & Principe celebrate the Anniversary of
the Coming into Power of the Transition Government.  Today is the
feast of St. Thomas Didymus, patron of architects, builders, & divines.
On this day in 1913 the 1st crossword puzzle was printed in a NY
newspaper; in 1958 Charles De Gaulle was named President of the
Fifth French Republic.

*************************************************************************
                            DECEMBER 22

     BIRTHDAYS:  Luca della Robbia, Italian sculptor (1400-82);  Jean
Racine, French dramatist, neoclassicist (1639-99);  James Edward
Oglethorpe, English colonist in North America, founder of colony of
Georgia (1696-1785);  Georges Couthon, French revolutionist,
guillotined with Robespierre (1755-94);  John "Old Crome" Crome.
English landscape painter, founder of Norwich school (1768-1821);

     LATER BIRTHDAYS:  Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet
& critic (1807-73);  Thomas Wentworth Storrow Higginson, US writer,
women's suffragist, confidant of poet Emily Dickinson (1823-1911);
Joseph Bernard Bloomingdale, US merchant, in 1872 founder of the
eponymous New York store (1842-1904);  Frank Billings Kellogg, US
politician, diplomat, 1929 Nobel Peace Prize (1857-1937);  Giacomo
Puccini, Italian opera composer (1858-1924);  Edward Arlington
Robinson, US poet (1869-1935);  Arthur W. Mitchell, US politician, 1st
black Democratic elected to Congress (1883-1968);  Andre Kostelanetz,
Russian-born US conductor (1901-1980);  Kenneth Rexroth, US beat
poet, historian, critic (1905-82);  Claudia Alta "Ladybird" Johnson, wife
of US president Lyndon Johnson (1912);

     DEATHS:  Richard Allein (1681);  Michel Baron (1729);  Sir Philip
Francis (1818);

     ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  in 1807, the US Congress passed
Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act to force France & Britain to withdraw
restrictions on US trade;

     MISCELLANEA:  Today the Japanese celebrate Toji (Winter
Solstice);

***********************************************************************
                            DECEMBER 23

     BIRTHDAYS:  Martin Opitz von Boberfield, German poet, critic,
founder of Silesian school of poets (1597-1639); Heneage Finch, Earl of
Nottingham (1621);  Robert Barclay, English Quaker apologist (1648);
Sir Richard Arkwright, English textile manufacturer, inventor of the
water frame, a spinning machine (1732-92);  Frederick Augustus of
Saxony (1750);  Sir Martin Archer Shee, Irish portrait painter (1770);
Alexander I, Emperor of Russia 1801-25 (1777-1825);

     LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST:  Giovanni Berchet, Italian poet
(1783-1851);  Jean-Francois Champollion, French archaeologist,
founder of the Louvre's Egyptian museum, chief decoder of the
Rosetta Stone (1790-1832);  Joseph Smith, US religious leader, founder
of Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons (1805-
44);  Henry Highland Garnet, African-American clergyman, political
activist (1815-82);  Victoriano Huerta, Mexican revolutionary, Diaz man,
provisional president (1854-1916);  James Buchanan Duke, US tobacco
merchant, philanthropist, major benefactor of Duke University (1856-
1925);  Helmut Schmidt, (West) German politician, Chancellor (1918);
Robert Bly, US poet, cofounder of American Writers Against the
Vietnam War, masculinist, Iron-Johnist (1926);

     DEATHS:  Henri de Lorraine, duc de Guise (1588);  Michael Drayton
(1631);

     ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  in 1648, London publisher Richard
Royston received the ms copy of the Eikon Basilike;

      MISCELLANEA:  On this day in 1893, Engelbert Humperdinck's opera
Hansel und Gretel premiered in Weimar; in 1938 Carnegie Hall
concert "From Spiritual to Swing" featured boogie-woogie;

**********************************************************************
                          DECEMBER 24

     BIRTHDAYS:  William Warburton, English bishop, theologian,
historian, critic, editor, controversialist (1698);  Silas Deane, US
diplomat, merchant, lawyer (1737-89);  Benjamin Rush, US physician,
educator, 1st Surgeon General, in 1786 established 1st free dispensary
in US, US Treasurer (1745-1813);  George Crabbe, English poet (1754-
1832);

     LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST:  Eugene Scribe, French
playwright (1791);  Adam Bernard Mickiewicz, Polish poet, professor of
Slavic literature at College de France (1798-1855);  Kit Carson, US
frontiersman, soldier (1809-68);  James Prescott Joule, English physicist
(1818-89);  Matthew Arnold, English poet, critic, educator (1822-88);
Charles Hermite, French mathematician, 1st to solve equations to the 5th
degree (1822-1901);  George I, King of Greece (1845-1913);  Juan
Ramon Jimenez, Spanish poet, 1956 Nobel Laureate (1881-1956);
Charles Wakefield Cadman, US composer, student of Native American
songs (1881-1946);  Harry Warren, US songwriter: Lullaby of
Broadway, You'll Never Know (1893-1981);  Georges M. Hutnemer,
French aviator (1890-1917);  Maurice Richard Robinson, US publisher
(1895-1982);  Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., US industrialist, filmmaker,
recluse (1905-76);  Isidor Feinstein "I.F." Stone, US journalist, political
scientist: "Every government is run by liars and nothing they say
should be believed" (1907-91);  John Patrick, Cardinal Cody, US
Roman Catholic archbishop of Chicago (1907-82);  Lucy Johnson,
better known as Ava Gardner, US actress (1922);  Robert Joffrey, US
dancer, choreographer, ballet director (1930);

     DEATHS:  Vasco de Gama (1525);  Madame de Genlis (1830);

     ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  in 1800, Napoleon & Count Mollien
founded the Bank of France.

     MISCELLANEA:  Tonight is Christmas Eve.  On this day in 1851 2/3 of
the US Library of Congress was destroyed by fire;  in 1951, Gian Carlo
Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Vistors premiered on NBC-TV;

*************************************************************************
                             DECEMBER 25

     BIRTHDAYS:  Johannes Buxtorf (the Elder), German protestant
scholar of Hebrew & rabbinical texts (1564-1629);  Sir Isaac Newton,
English scientist, mathematician, alchemist, historian (1642-1727);  Julien
Offroy de La Mettrie, French physician, materialist philosopher (1709-
51);  Johann Jacob Reiske, German orientalist (1716);  Pope Pius VI,
pope 1775-99 (1717-99);  William Collins, English poet (1721-59);
Richard Porson, English classical scholar (1759);  Claude Chappe,
French engineer, inventor of the semaphore (1763-1805);

     LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST:  Clarissa Harlowe "Clara"
Barton, US nurse, humanitarian, founder of American Red Cross (1821-
1912);  Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, Irish-born US bandmaster, author
(under the pen-name Louis Lambert) of "When Johnny Comes
Marching Home Again" (1829-92);  Herman Frasch, German-born US
engineer, sulfur-miner (1851-1914);  Evangeline Cory Booth, English
social reformer, Salvation Army leader, 7th child of Salvation Army
founder William Booth (1865-1950);  Rosa Luxemburg, German political
philosopher, socialist, revolutionary (1870-1919);  Giuseppe de Luca,
Italian operatic baritone (1876-1950);  Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Muslim
leader, 1st Governor-General of Pakistan (1876-1948);  Adolf Windaus,
German chemist, specialist in vitamins & steroids (1876-1959);  Edward
"Kid" Ory, US (New Orleans) jazz musician (1886-1973);  Conrad
Nicholson Hilton, US hotelier (1887-1979);  David Lawrence, US
journalist & editor (1888-1973);  Lila Acheson Wallace, US publisher,
cofounder of Reader's Digest (1889-84);  Cicily Isabel Fairfield, aka
Dame Rebecca West, English novelist, critic, translator (1892-1983);
Robert Leroy Ripley, US cartoonist & collector of curiosities (1893);
Humphrey Bogart, US actor, romantic tough guy, husband to Lauren
Bacall (1899-1957);  Gladys Swarthout, US operatic mezzo-soprano
(1904-69);  Gerhard Herzberg, Canadian chemist, molecular
geometrician (1904);  Cabell "Cab" Calloway, African-American jazz
musician, band-leader, singer, fashion-plate (1907);  Oscar Lewis, US
anthropologist (1914-71);  Anwar Sadat, Egyptian statesman (1918-81);
Carlos Castaneda, Brazilian-born anthropologist, apprentice sorceror
(1931);  Sissie Spacek, US actress (1949);  Annie Lennox, English rock
diva (1954);

     DEATHS:  Persius (62);  Sir Matthew Hale (1676);  Rev. James Hervey
(1758);  Hester Chapone (1801);

     ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  in 1776, George Washington's troops
crossed the Delaware and carried out a surprise attack on British &
Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey;

     MISCELLANEA:  Today is Christmas Day, commemorating the birth of
Jesus of Nazareth.  Angola, Sao Tome, and Principe celebrate Family
Day; it's Children's Day in the Congo; Pakistan celebrates the Birthday
of Quaid-es-Azam; Taiwan commemorates the adoption of the Republic
of China Constitution (1946).

*************************************************************************
                            DECEMBER 26

     BIRTHDAYS:  Gulielmus Xylander, German classicist, translator
(1532);  Iyayasu Tokugawa, Japanese shogun, founder of eponymous
shogunate 1603-1867, advocate of opening Japan to western commerce
(1542-1616);  Thomas Gray, English poet (1716-71);  Thomas Nelson, US
merchant, member of Continental Congress, signatory of Declaration of
Independence, governor of Virginia (1738-89);  Ernest Moritz Arndt,
German poet, historian, opponent of serfdom & antiNapoleonist (1769-
1860);

      LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST:  Charles Babbage, English
mathematician, inventor of calculating machines, the computer's
grandfather, inventor of ophtalmoscope, speedometer, & skeleton key
(1792);  Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot, aka Dion Bouicault, Irish actor,
playwright (1820-90);  Ernest Felix Hoppe-Seyler, German physiologist,
founder of biochemistry (1825-95);  George Dewey, US admiral (1837-
1917);  Robert Hawley Ingersoll, US watch manufacturer (1859-1928);
Ralph Norman Angell Lane, aka Sir Norman Thomas Angell, English
economist, 1933 Nobel Peace Prize (1872-1967);  Isaiah Bowman, US
geographer, president of Johns Hopkins University 1935-49 (1878-
1950);  Henry Valentine Miller, US novelist, bohemian (1891-1980);
Mao Tse-Tung, Chinese communist leader, Chairman (1893-1976);
Georgy Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian 1/4 tone musician, grandson of
Nicolai (1901);  William Loeb, US conservative publisher (1905-81);
Albert Arnold Gore, US politician (1907);  Steve Allen, US humorist
(only deviser of the famous question -- the answer is 9W -- and the
question is: Do you spell your name with a V, Herr Vagner?),
composer, TV personality (1921);  Gnassingbe Eyadema, Togoan
statesman, president (1937);

     DEATHS:  Antoine Houdart de la Motte (1731);  Joel Barlow (1812);
Stephen Girard (1831);

     ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  in 1776, Washington's Continental
Army defeated Hessian mercenary troops at the Battle of Trenton;

     MISCELLANEA:  Today is Boxing Day in Great Britain, Ireland,
Canada, and other commonwealth countries;  it's Family Day in
Namibia, and the Day of Good Will in South Africa.  It's also the Feast
of St. Stephen, protomartyr, patron of smelters & stonecutters.  On this
day in 1836 British settlers first arrived in South Australia; in 1900, Jose
Maria Valle-Riestra's opera Ollanta premiered in Lima, Peru.

************************************************************************
                            DECEMBER 27

      BIRTHDAYS:  Johannes Kepler, German astronomer, mathematician
(1571-1630);  Jakob Bernouilli, Swiss mathematician (1654-1705);  Dr.
Conyers Middleton, English divine, theologian, classicist, &
controversialist (1683);  Arthur Murphy, Irish dramatist, poet,
biographer (1727);  Jean Etienne Bore, US sugar planter, mayor of
New Orleans (1741-1820);  Alexander John Forsyth, Scottish
clergyman, inventor of the percussion cap (1769-1843);

      LATER BIRTHDAYS OF INTEREST:  William Wilson Corcoran, US
banker, philanthropist, founder of eponymous public art gallery in
Washington, DC (1798-1888);  Louis Pasteur, French chemisy,
proponent of germ theory of disease & pioneer inoculator (1822-45);
Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (1879-1954);  Cyrus Stephen Eaton,
US steelmaker, sponsor of Pugwash Conference, 1960 Lenin Peace
Prize (1883-1979);  Louis Bromfield, US novelist (1896);  Maria
Magdalena von Losch, aka Marlene Dietrich, German-born US actress
(1901);  Oscar Levant, US pianist, comic actor, wit ("I've given up
reading books -- I find it takes my mind off myself); philosopher ("So
little time, so little to do") (1906-72);  Henryk Jablonski, Polish statesman
(1909);  William Howell Masters, US physician, educator, with Virginia
E. Johnson significant contributor to study of human sexual
characteristics (1915);

     DEATHS:  Pierre de Ronsard (1585);  Thomas Guy (1724);  Henry
Homes, Lord Kames (1782);  John Wilkes (1797);  Dr. Hugh Blair
(1800);  Joanna Southcott  (1814);  Charles Lamb (1834);

     ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

     MISCELLANEA:  Today is Constitution Day in North Korea, and
Public Holiday in Zimbabwe.  It's also the Feast of St. John the
Evangelist, patron of Sweden and of theologians, invoked for forming
friendships, and against poisons & burns.  On this day in 1927, Jerome
Kern's/ Oscar Hammerstein's musical comedy Show Boat premiered in
New York;  in 1932, New York's Radio City Music Hall opened.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU