Nicolo Giraud (born c. 1795 – unknown) was a friend and possibly lover of the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. The two met in 1809 while Byron was staying in Athens. Giraud was reported to have taught him Italian, and was his travel companion in Greece. Byron paid for Giraud's education and left him £7,000 in his will. Years after they parted company, Byron changed his will to exclude Giraud. Other than his involvement with Byron, little is known of Giraud's life. The friendship between Byron and Giraud has become a topic of interest among scholars and biographers of Byron. Many believe that the pair's relationship was platonic, but correspondence between Byron and his friends has been used since the late 20th century to argue that the two were engaged in a love affair. The earliest claim of a sexual relationship between them comes from George Colman's poem Don Leon, published in 1833, in which Byron is the principal character and Giraud is portrayed as his liberator from the sexual prejudices in Britain. One modern writer says that the poem and the fictional discussion of their relationship provides insights into 19th-century British views on homosexuality.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolo_Giraud

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1771:

The Battle of Alamance—the final battle of the War of the Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control—was fought. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alamance

1811:

Peninsular War: An allied force of British, Spanish, and Portuguese troops clashed with the French at the Battle of Albuera south of Badajoz, Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Albuera

1929:

The 1st Academy Awards (statuette pictured) ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Academy_Awards

1961:

The Military Revolution Committee, led by Park Chung-hee, carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Bo-seon, ending the Second Republic of South Korea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_16_coup

1966:

Chinese leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution officially as a campaign to rid China of its liberal bourgeois elements and to continue revolutionary class struggle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

hue and cry: 1. (historical) The public pursuit of a felon; accompanied by shouts to warn others to give chase. 2. (by extension) A loud and persistent public clamour; especially one of protest or making some demand. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hue_and_cry

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.   --Man and Superman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Man_and_Superman