Adrian Boult (1889–1983) was an English conductor, known for
championing British music. His first major post was conductor of the
City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1924. Appointed director of music of the
British Broadcasting Corporation in 1930, he established the BBC
Symphony Orchestra, which was regarded as among the best in Britain
under his chief conductorship. On retirement from the BBC in 1950, he
took up the position of chief conductor of the London Philharmonic
Orchestra and, in what was widely called his "Indian Summer", continued
to conduct it until his retirement in 1978. He gave the first
performance of his friend Gustav Holst's The Planets, and introduced new
works by other British composers including Bliss, Britten, Delius,
Tippett, Vaughan Williams and Walton, as well as foreign composers such
as Bartók, Berg, Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Webern. A modest man who
disliked the limelight, he felt as comfortable in the recording studio
as on the concert platform and made recordings throughout his career,
many of which have remained in the catalogue for three or four decades.
Prominent conductors influenced by him include Colin Davis and Vernon
Handley.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Boult>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
313:
Roman emperor Licinius unified the eastern half of the empire
under his rule.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licinius>
1803:
The United States purchased France's claim to the Louisiana
Territory (flag raising ceremony pictured) for 78 million francs, or
less than US$0.03 per acre.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase>
1943:
Second World War: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph began
Operation Mincemeat to deceive Germany about the upcoming invasion of
Sicily.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat>
1948:
Twenty-one countries signed a charter in Bogotá, Colombia,
establishing the Organization of American States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States>
1963:
A boycott was held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus
Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national
attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bus_Boycott,_1963>
2004:
The New Yorker magazine posted an article and supporting
pictures online, postdated May 10, detailing accounts of torture and
abuse by American personnel of prisoners held at the Abu Ghraib prison
in Baghdad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
capacious:
Having a lot of space inside; roomy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/capacious>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anything you don't understand is dangerous until you do
understand it.
--Larry Niven
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Larry_Niven>