100px|Sheet music cover of "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away"
"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was among the best-selling
songs of the 19th century in terms of sheet music sold. Written and
composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by the
Tin Pan Alley firm of Howley, Haviland & Co. in October 1897. The
lyrics of the ballad reminisce about life near Dresser's childhood home
by the Wabash River in Indiana. It remained popular for decades and the
Indiana General Assembly adopted it as the official state song on March
14, 1913. The song was the basis for a 1923 film by the same title. Its
longtime popularity led to the emergence of several different lyrical
versions, including an 1898 anti-war song and a Swedish version that
was a number one hit. The song was composed during a transitory time in
musical history when songs first began to be recorded for the
phonograph. It was among the earliest pieces of popular music to be
recorded. Dresser's inability to control the distribution of phonograph
cylinders led him and his company to join other composers to petition
the United States Congress to expand federal copyright protections over
the new technology. (more...)
Recently featured: Typhoon Tip – Charles Stewart – Star Trek V: The
Final Frontier
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Banks_of_the_Wabash%2C_Far_Away>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1801:
The Kingdom of Ireland formally merged with the Kingdom of Great
Britain, adding St. Patrick's saltire to the Union Flag.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1800>
1808:
As a result of the lobbying efforts by the Abolitionist Movement, the
importation of slaves into the United States was officially banned,
although slavery itself was not yet abolished.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/slavery_in_the_United_States>
1810:
Lachlan Macquarie became Governor of New South Wales, eventually
playing a major role in the shaping of the social, economic and
architectural development of the colony in Australia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachlan_Macquarie>
1959:
Cuban President Fulgencio Batista fled to the Dominican Republic as
forces under Fidel Castro took control of Havana, marking the end of
the Cuban Revolution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution>
1983:
The ARPANET changed its core networking protocols from NCP to TCP/IP,
marking the beginning of the Internet as we know it today.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
anacrusis (n):
1. (prosody) an unstressed syllable at the start of a verse
2. (music) an unstressed note or notes before the first strong beat
(or downbeat) of a phrase
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anacrusis>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All we do our whole lives is go from one little piece of Holy Ground to
the next.
--J. D. Salinger
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger>