Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas is the third book
of a seven-volume autobiography series by Maya Angelou (pictured). Set
between 1949 and 1955, the book largely spans her twenties. Angelou
describes her struggles to support her young son, form relationships,
and forge a career in entertainment. Its 1976 publication was the first
time an African-American woman had expanded her life story into a third
volume. It was described as "a graphic portrait of the adult self in
bloom" and "a journey of discovery and rebirth". In the book, Angelou
examines many of the same subjects and themes in her previous
autobiographies, including travel, music, race, conflict, and
motherhood. She depicts the conflict she felt as a single mother,
despite her success as a performer as she travels Europe with the
musical Porgy and Bess. Her depictions of her travels, which take up 40
percent of the book, have roots in the African-American slave narrative.
(This article is part of a featured topic: Maya Angelou
autobiographies.).
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Maya_Angelou_autobiographies>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1100:
Baldwin I was crowned the first king of Jerusalem (depicted)
in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_I_of_Jerusalem>
1809:
American physician Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first
removal of an ovarian tumor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_McDowell>
1989:
Romanian Revolution: Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and
his wife Elena were condemned to death on a wide range of charges and
executed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_and_execution_of_Nicolae_and_Elena_Ceau%C8%99escu>
2009:
A fire destroyed Longford's 19th-century St Mel's Cathedral,
considered the "flagship cathedral" of the Irish midlands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mel%27s_Cathedral>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
jingle bell:
A small, hollow, spherical metal bell with a narrow slit opening or
small holes, containing a loose ball or rod as a clapper, which is
attached to a horse's harness as a signal, or (music) used as a musical
instrument.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jingle_bell>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Someplace between apathy and anarchy is the stance of the
thinking human being; he does embrace a cause, he does take a position,
and can’t allow it to become business as usual. Humanity is our
business.
--Rod Serling
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rod_Serling>