Nicolo Giraud (born c. 1795 – unknown) was a friend and possibly
lover of the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. The two met in 1809 while
Byron was staying in Athens. Giraud was reported to have taught him
Italian, and was his travel companion in Greece. Byron paid for Giraud's
education and left him £7,000 in his will. Years after they parted
company, Byron changed his will to exclude Giraud. Other than his
involvement with Byron, little is known of Giraud's life. The friendship
between Byron and Giraud has become a topic of interest among scholars
and biographers of Byron. Many believe that the pair's relationship was
platonic, but correspondence between Byron and his friends has been used
since the late 20th century to argue that the two were engaged in a love
affair. The earliest claim of a sexual relationship between them comes
from George Colman's poem Don Leon, published in 1833, in which Byron is
the principal character and Giraud is portrayed as his liberator from
the sexual prejudices in Britain. One modern writer says that the poem
and the fictional discussion of their relationship provides insights
into 19th-century British views on homosexuality.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolo_Giraud>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1771:
The Battle of Alamance—the final battle of the War of the
Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of
taxation and local control—was fought.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alamance>
1811:
Peninsular War: An allied force of British, Spanish, and
Portuguese troops clashed with the French at the Battle of Albuera south
of Badajoz, Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Albuera>
1929:
The 1st Academy Awards (statuette pictured) ceremony was held
at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards>
1961:
The Military Revolution Committee, led by Park Chung-hee,
carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Bo-seon,
ending the Second Republic of South Korea.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_16_coup>
1966:
Chinese leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution
officially as a campaign to rid China of its liberal bourgeois elements
and to continue revolutionary class struggle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
hue and cry:
1. (historical) The public pursuit of a felon; accompanied by shouts to
warn others to give chase.
2. (by extension) A loud and persistent public clamour; especially one of
protest or making some demand.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hue_and_cry>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but
from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.
--Man and Superman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Man_and_Superman>