The King and I is a musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and
dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on the 1944 novel Anna and
the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, which derives from the memoirs of
Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the
early 1860s. The musical relates the experiences of Anna, a British
schoolteacher hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his
country. Their relationship is marked by conflict through much of the
piece, and a love that neither can admit. Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote
the musical for veteran star Gertrude Lawrence. Rex Harrison, who played
the King in the 1946 movie of Landon's book, was unavailable, so Yul
Brynner was chosen. The musical premiered in March 1951 at Broadway's
St. James Theatre and ran nearly three years. It was an immediate hit,
winning Tony Awards for Best Musical and for Best Actress and Best
Featured Actor for Lawrence and Brynner (pictured). A hit London run and
U.S. national tour followed, together with a 1956 film for which
Brynner won an Academy Award. Professional and amateur revivals of The
King and I are staged regularly throughout the English-speaking world.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_and_I>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
628:
Khosrau II, the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, was
overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khosrau_II>
1866:
Miners in Calaveras County, California, discovered a human
skull that a prominent geologist claimed was proof (later disproven)
that humans had existed during the Pliocene age.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaveras_Skull>
1956:
In his speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences"
to the 20th Party Congress, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced
the personality cult and dictatorship of his predecessor Joseph Stalin.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Cult_of_Personality_and_Its_Consequences>
1986:
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were
ousted from power by the non-violent People Power Revolution, with
Corazon Aquino taking over the government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution>
1994:
Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim Arabs
praying at the mosque in Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29
people and wounding 125 others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs_massacre>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
king's ransom:
(idiomatic) A very large sum of money.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/king%27s_ransom>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The culture as a whole is losing its individual notes, its
diversity. And this is… it's not only sad. It's devastating. It's
devastating because routine language means routine thought. And it means
unquestioning thought.
--John Leonard
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Leonard_(critic)>