Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period. He grew up in Warsaw but left Poland, never to return, aged 20. He settled in Paris, obtaining French citizenship in 1835. From 1837 he maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer George Sand. A brief and unhappy visit to Majorca with her was one of his most productive periods of composition. All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, although he also wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some songs to Polish lyrics. Many contain elements of Polish folk music and of the classical tradition of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert. His innovations in style, musical form, and harmony, and his association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late Romantic period. His music, his status as one of music's earliest "superstars", his association with political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him a leading symbol of his era. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1558:
Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, was founded by order of King Sigismund II Augustus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Poland
1604:
German astronomer Johannes Kepler observed an exceptionally bright star, now known as Kepler's Supernova, which had suddenly appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_Supernova
1964:
Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opened the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Burley_Griffin
1989:
The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake struck California's San Francisco Bay Area, killing 63 people, injuring 3,757, and leaving at least 8,000 homeless. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake
1994:
Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov was assassinated in the offices of Moskovskij Komsomolets during his investigations into alleged corruption among high ranks of the Russian military. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Kholodov
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sine qua non: An essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sine_qua_non
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The philosopher places himself at the summit of thought; from there he views what the world has been and what it must become. He is not just an observer, he is an actor; he is an actor of the highest kind in a moral world because it is his opinion of what the world must become that regulates society. --Henri de Saint-Simon https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_de_Saint-Simon