The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery was a three-part project initiated in
November 1786 by engraver and publisher John Boydell in an effort to foster
a school of British history painting. Boydell planned to focus on an
illustrated edition of William Shakespeare's plays and a folio of prints,
but during the 1790s the London gallery that showed the original paintings
emerged as the project's most popular element. Boydell decided to publish a
grand illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays that would showcase the
talents of British painters and engravers. He chose the noted scholar and
Shakespeare editor George Steevens to oversee the edition, which was
released between 1791 and 1803. The press reported weekly on the building of
Boydell's gallery, designed by George Dance the Younger, on a site in Pall
Mall. Boydell commissioned works from famous painters of the day, such as
Joshua Reynolds, and the folio of engravings proved the enterprise's most
lasting legacy. However, the long delay in publishing the prints and the
illustrated edition prompted criticism. Because they were hurried, and many
illustrations had to be done by lesser artists, the final products of
Boydell's venture were judged to be disappointing. The project caused the
Boydell firm to become insolvent, and they were forced to sell the gallery
at a lottery.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boydell_Shakespeare_Gallery
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed
an attack by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French
Canadian support.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_(1775)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_%281775%29>
)
1857:
Queen Victoria selected Ottawa as the capital of the British colony of
Canada.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa)
1960:
The farthing, a British coin first minted in England in the 13th century,
ceased to be legal tender.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthing_(British_coin)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthing_%28British_coin%29>
)
1963:
The Central African Federation officially collapsed, eventually to become
Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Rhodesia_and_Nyasaland)
1972:
American baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to
deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
disco ball (n) A mirrored sphere designed to slowly rotate while suspended
from the ceiling.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disco_ball)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
For my part I have never avoided the influence of others. I would have
considered it cowardice and a lack of sincerity toward myself. --Henri
Matisse
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_Matisse)
The Thylacine was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times.
Native to Australia and New Guinea, it is thought to have become extinct in
the 20th century. It was the last extant member of its genus, Thylacinus,
although several related species have been found in the fossil record dating
back to the early Miocene. The Thylacine became extinct on the Australian
mainland thousands of years before European settlement of the continent, but
it survived on the island of Tasmania along with several endemic species,
including the Tasmanian Devil. Intensive hunting encouraged by bounties is
generally blamed for its extinction, but other contributory factors may have
been disease, the introduction of dogs, and human encroachment into its
habitat. Despite being officially classified as extinct, sightings are still
reported. An apex predator, it was not related to placental mammals, but
because of convergent evolution it displayed the same general form and
adaptations. The Thylacine was one of only two marsupials to have a pouch in
both sexes (the other is the Water Opossum). The male Thylacine had a pouch
that acted as a protective sheath, protecting the male's external
reproductive organs while running through thick brush.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1170:
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was slain in his own cathedral by
four knights of Henry II of England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket)
1845:
The Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States, with much of the
territory becoming the state of Texas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas)
1860:
To counter the French Navy's La Gloire, the world's first ironclad warship,
the British Royal Navy launched the world's first iron-hulled armoured
battleship, HMS Warrior.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warrior_(1860)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warrior_%281860%29>
)
1911:
Sun Yat-sen was elected as the provisional President of the Republic of
China by representatives from provinces in Nanjing.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen)
1993:
The Tian Tan Buddha, the world's tallest outdoor bronze statue of the seated
Buddha, was completed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
hogan (n) A one-room Navajo dwelling or ceremonial lodge.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hogan)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of
all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all
other work is but preparation. --Rainer Maria Rilke
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke)
Elizabeth Needham was an English procuress and brothel-keeper of
18th-century London, who has been identified as the bawd greeting Moll
Hackabout in the first plate of William Hogarth's series of satirical
etchings, A Harlot's Progress. Although Needham was notorious in London at
the time, little is recorded of her life, and no genuine portraits of her
survive. Her house was the most exclusive in London and her customers came
from the highest strata of fashionable society, but she eventually fell foul
of the moral reformers of the day and died as a result of the severe
treatment she received after being sentenced to stand in the pillory.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Needham
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1065:
London's Westminster Abbey, built by Edward the Confessor between 1045 and
1050, was consecrated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey)
1836:
At the Old Gum Tree near present-day Adelaide, Royal Navy Rear–Admiral John
Hindmarsh read a proclamation establishing the British province of South
Australia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australia)
1879:
The Tay Bridge, spannning the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and
the Wormit, collapsed as a train passed over it, killing all on board.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Rail_Bridge)
1895:
History of film: Using their cinematograph in Paris, the Lumière brothers
showed motion pictures to a paying audience for the first time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_and_Louis_Lumi%C3%A8re)
1948:
The Douglas DC-3 airliner NC16002, en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico to
Miami, Florida, USA, inexplicably disappeared in the area known as the
Bermuda Triangle.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NC16002_disappearance)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
querulously (adv) With grumbling, complaining, or whining.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/querulously)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The forces of moderation and democracy must, and will, prevail against
extremism and dictatorship. I will not be intimidated. ... Despite threats
of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against
it. --Benazir Bhutto
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto)
Thespis is an operatic extravaganza that was the first collaboration between
dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. It was never
published, and most of the music is now lost. However, Gilbert and Sullivan
would go on to become one of the most famous and successful partnerships in
Victorian England, creating a string of comic opera hits, including H.M.S.
Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, that continue to be
popular. Thespis premièred in London at the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December
1871. Like many productions at that theatre, it was written in a broad,
burlesque style, considerably different from Gilbert and Sullivan's later
works. It was a modest success—for a Christmas entertainment of the time—and
closed on 8 March 1872, after a run of 63 performances. It was advertised as
"An entirely original Grotesque Opera in Two Acts". The story follows an
acting troupe headed by Thespis, the legendary Greek father of the drama,
who temporarily trade places with the gods on Mount Olympus, who have grown
elderly and ignored. The actors turn out to be comically inept rulers.
Having seen the ensuing mayhem down below, the angry gods return, sending
the actors back to Earth as "eminent tragedians, whom no one ever goes to
see."
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1606:
The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear, based on
the legend of King Lear of Britain, was held.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear)
1790:
French Revolution: Louis XVI of France gave his Royal Assent to the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy, subordinating the Roman Catholic Church in
France to the French government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Constitution_of_the_Clergy)
1898:
Physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element,
naming it radium.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium)
1908:
Boxer Jack Johnson became the first African American Heavyweight Champion of
the World after defeating Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(boxer)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_%28boxer%29>
)
2004:
An undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra,
Indonesia generated a series of devastating tsunamis that killed more than
225,000 people in eleven countries.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
piecemeal (adv) 1. Piece by piece; in small amounts, stages, or degrees.
2. Into pieces or parts.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piecemeal)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not to dominate the
world.
--Harry S. Truman
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman)
Robert Sterling Yard (1861 – 1945) was an American writer, journalist and
wilderness activist. Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the
first twenty years of his career as a journalist, editor and publisher. In
1915 he was recruited by his friend Stephen Mather to help publicize the
need for an independent national park agency. Their numerous publications
were part of a movement that resulted in legislative support for a National
Park Service in 1916. Yard served as head of the National Parks Educational
Committee for several years after its conception, but tension within the NPS
led him to concentrate on non-government initiatives. He became executive
secretary of the National Parks Association in 1919. Yard worked to promote
the national parks as well as educate Americans about their use. Creating
high standards based on aesthetic ideals for park selection, he also opposed
commercialism and industrialization of what he called "America's
masterpieces". These standards caused discord with his peers. After helping
to establish a relationship between the NPA and the United States Forest
Service, Yard later became involved in the protection of wilderness areas.
In 1935 he became one of the eight founding members of The Wilderness
Society and acted as its first president from 1937 until his death eight
years later. Yard is now considered an important figure in the modern
wilderness movement.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sterling_Yard
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
800:
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, a title that had been out of use
in the West since the abdication of Romulus Augustus in 476.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiritimati)
1066:
William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England at
Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman Conquest, the last successful
foreign conquest of England.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_England)
1776:
American Revolutionary War: George Washington and his army crossed the
Delaware River to launch a surprise attack on Hessian mercenaries at the
Battle of Trenton.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware)
1947:
The Constitution of the Republic of China went into effect, amid the ongoing
Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communists.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Republic_of_China)
1991:
Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
nativity (n) Birth; the place, time and circumstances of a birth.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nativity)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
--Isaac Watts
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts)
The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977 by James L. Elliot,
Edward W. Dunham, and Douglas J. Mink. Two additional rings were discovered
in 1986 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, and two outer rings were found in
2003–2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope. Additional faint dust bands and
incomplete arcs may exist between the main rings. The rings are extremely
dark—the bond albedo of the rings' particles does not exceed 2%. They are
likely composed of water ice with the addition of some dark
radiation-processed organics. The majority of Uranus's rings are opaque and
only a few kilometres wide. The ring system contains little dust overall; it
consists mostly of large bodies 0.2–20 m in diameter. The relative lack of
dust in the ring system is due to aerodynamic drag from the extended Uranian
exosphere—corona. The rings of Uranus are thought to be relatively young, at
not more than 600 million years. The mechanism that confines the narrow
rings is not well understood. The Uranian ring system probably originated
from the collisional fragmentation of a number of moons that once existed
around the planet. After colliding, the moons probably broke up into
numerous particles, which survived as narrow and optically dense rings only
in strictly confined zones of maximum stability.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Uranus
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
An expedition led by English explorer James Cook reached Christmas Island,
the largest coral atoll in the world.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiritimati)
1814:
The Treaty of Ghent was signed in Ghent, present-day Belgium, ending the War
of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Ghent)
1865:
Six Confederate veterans of the American Civil War founded the Ku Klux Klan,
which would later become a white supremacist group.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan)
1906:
Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden transmitted the first radio broadcast,
which included his playing a song on the violin and reading a passage from
the Bible.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Fessenden)
1974:
Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin, Australia, eventually destroying more than 70
percent of the city.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Tracy)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
workshop (n) 1. A small room where things are manufactured, or light
industrial work is done.
2. A brief intensive course of education for a small
group.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/workshop)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and
unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes
the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not
the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men
that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance,
can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and
glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is
nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he
lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten
thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of
childhood.
--Francis Pharcellus Church
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Pharcellus_Church)
Preity Zinta (born 1975) is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in
Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu and English-language movies.
After graduating with a degree in criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting
debut in Dil Se in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year. These
performances earned her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, and she was
later recognised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna
(2000). She subsequently played a variety of character types, and in doing
so has been credited with changing the image of a Hindi film heroine. Zinta
received her first Filmfare Best Actress Award in 2003 for her performance
in the drama Kal Ho Naa Ho. She went on to play the lead female role in two
consecutive annual top-grossing films in India: the science fiction film
Koi... Mil Gaya, her biggest commercial success, and the star-crossed
romance Veer-Zaara, which earned her critical acclaim. She was later noted
for her portrayal of independent, modern Indian women in Salaam Namaste and
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, top-grossing productions in overseas markets. These
accomplishments have established her as a leading actress of Hindi cinema.
In addition to movie acting, Zinta has written a series of columns for BBC
News Online South Asia, is a regular stage performer, and along with
boyfriend Ness Wadia she is a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket
team Kings XI Punjab.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preity_Zinta
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
962:
Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine
troops stormed the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the
Baptist.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine-Arab_Wars_(780-1180)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine-Arab_Wars_%28780-1180%29>
)
1620:
Construction of the Plymouth Colony, an English colonial venture in what is
today Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, began two days after the first landing
party arrived at the site.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony)
1823:
A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, was
first published. The poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas)
1947:
The transistor, invented by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William
Shockley, was first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor)
1972:
The Nicaraguan capital of Managua was struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake,
killing more than 10,000.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Nicaragua_earthquake)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
with bated breath (adv) (idiomatic) Eagerly; with great anticipation.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/with_bated_breath)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I think we should be very clear on this... this country was founded on the
principles of the Enlightenment... It was the idea that people could talk,
reason, have dialogue, discuss the issues. It wasn't founded on the idea
that someone would get struck by a divine inspiration and know everything
right from wrong. I mean, people who founded this country had religion, they
had strong beliefs, but they believed in reason, in dialogue, in civil
discourse. We can't lose that in this country. We've got to get it back.
--Wesley Clark
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark)
The Sunderland Echo is an evening provincial newspaper serving the
Sunderland, South Tyneside and East Durham areas of North East England. The
newspaper was founded by Samuel Storey, Edward Backhouse, Edward Temperley
Gourley, Charles Palmer, Richard Ruddock, Thomas Glaholm and Thomas Scott
Turnbull in 1873, as the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette.
Designed to provide a platform for the Radical views held by Storey and his
partners, it was also Sunderland's first local daily paper. The inaugural
edition of the Echo was printed in Press Lane, Sunderland on 22 December
1873; 1,000 copies were produced and sold for a halfpenny each. The Echo
survived intense competition in its early years, as well as the depression
of the 1930s and two World Wars. Sunderland was heavily bombed in the Second
World War and, although the Echo building was undamaged, it was forced to
print its competitor's paper under wartime rules. It was during this time
that the paper's format changed, from a broadsheet to its current tabloid
layout, because of national newsprint shortages.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunderland_Echo
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Fifth Symphony, currently
one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European
classical music, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._5_(Beethoven)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._5_%28Beethoven%29>
)
1864:
American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the
Sea ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman%27s_March_to_the_Sea)
1978:
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping uses the opening of the Third Plenum of the
11th CPC Central Committee to launch economic reform and opening up.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China_(1…<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China_%2…>
)
1989:
Romanian Revolution: After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu took
over as President of Romania, ending the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae
CeauÅŸescu.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Iliescu)
2001:
Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power in
Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ursine (adj) 1. Of or relating to bears.
2. Having the appearance or characteristics of a
bear.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ursine)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The holiness of the real
Is always there, accessible
In total immanence. The nodes
Of transcendence coagulate
In you, the experiencer,
And in the other, the lover.
--Kenneth Rexroth
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth)