Cosima Wagner (1837–1930) was the daughter of pianist and composer Franz Liszt, and the second wife of composer Richard Wagner. She was previously married to the conductor Hans von Bülow. With Wagner she founded the Bayreuth Festival as a showcase for his stage works; after his death she directed the festival for more than 20 years, building its repertoire to form the Bayreuth canon of ten operas and establishing it as a major event in the world of musical theatre. She opposed theatrical innovations and adhered closely to Wagner's original productions of his works, an approach continued by her successors long after her retirement in 1907. Under her influence, Bayreuth became identified with anti- Semitism and theories of German racial and cultural superiority. This was a defining feature of Bayreuth for decades, into the Nazi era which closely followed her death in 1930; thus, although she is widely perceived as the saviour of the festival, her legacy remains controversial.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosima_Wagner
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1865:
Six Confederate veterans of the American Civil War founded the Ku Klux Klan, which would later become a white supremacist group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
1914:
British and German soldiers interrupted the First World War to celebrate Christmas, beginning the Christmas truce. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
1968:
Astronaut William Anders of the NASA Apollo 8 mission, the first manned voyage to orbit the Moon, took the famous photograph known as "Earthrise" (pictured), showing the Earth rising above the lunar surface. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise
1980:
Witnesses reported the first of several sightings of unexplained lights in the sky near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, an incident called "Britain's Roswell". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendlesham_Forest_incident
2008:
The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began attacks on several villages in Haut-Uele District, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 400 deaths and numerous atrocities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Christmas_massacres
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
bullshot: 1. A cocktail made from vodka and beef bouillon. 2. (neologism, video games) A phony screenshot created for promotional purposes. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bullshot
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society. --Dana Gioia https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dana_Gioia