Marie Lloyd (1870–1922) was an English music hall singer, comedienne
and musical theatre actress, known as the "Queen of the Music Hall". She
was best known for her performances of songs such as "The Boy I Love is
Up in the Gallery" and "Oh Mr Porter What Shall I Do", and was both
criticised and praised for her use of innuendo and double entendre. She
made her professional debut in 1884 and thereafter frequently topped the
bill in London's West End. Between 1894 and 1900, she became an
international success when she toured France, America, Australia and
Belgium. In 1907, she assisted other performers during the music hall
war and protested for better pay and conditions for performers. During
the First World War, she helped the war effort and toured hospitals and
industrial institutions to boost morale. Lloyd had a turbulent private
life that was often the subject of press attention. She also suffered
from bouts of ill-health and became alcohol-dependent. In later life,
she was still in demand and had success in 1919 with her renowned
performance of "My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)". Lloyd was taken ill
on stage at the Alhambra Theatre, London, and died a few days later.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Lloyd>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1053:
Humphrey of Hauteville led the armies of the Normans in the
Battle of Civitate against the combined forces of Pope Leo IX and the
Holy Roman Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Civitate>
1858:
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist
Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to
publish his theory of evolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_of_Darwin%27s_theory>
1953:
A Douglas C-124 Globemaster II aircraft crashed just after
takeoff from Tachikawa, Japan, killing all 129 people on board in the
first aviation accident with over 100 fatalities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachikawa_air_disaster>
1983:
Iranian teenager Mona Mahmudnizhad and nine other women were
hanged because of their membership in the Bahá'í Faith.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Mahmudnizhad>
1994:
The Troubles: Members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force
attacked a crowded bar in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, with assault
rifles, killing six.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loughinisland_massacre>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiaroscuro:
An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the
use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of
volume.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiaroscuro>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The ability of so many people to live comfortably with the idea
of capital punishment is perhaps a clue to how so many Europeans were
able to live with the idea of the Holocaust: Once you accept the notion
that the state has the right to kill someone and the right to define
what is a capital crime, aren't you halfway there?
--Roger Ebert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert>