Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also played more than fifty roles in a long film career. In 1930 he had a West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, building it into a highly respected company. From 1963 to 1973 he was the founding director of Britain's National Theatre, running a resident company that fostered many future stars. His own parts there included the title role in Othello (1965) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1970). Among Olivier's films are Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955). His later films included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978).

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1866:

England's worst mining disaster occurred when a series of explosions caused by flammable gases ripped through the Oaks Colliery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaks_explosion

1905:

In support of the December Uprising in Moscow, the Council of Workers' Deputies of Kiev staged a mass uprising, establishing the Shuliavka Republic in the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuliavka_Republic

1936:

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China was kidnapped by Marshal Zhang Xueliang, a former warlord of Manchuria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_Incident

1988:

Three trains collided near Clapham Junction railway station in London, killing 35 people and injuring 484 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapham_Junction_rail_crash

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

fard: 1. (transitive, archaic) To paint, as the cheeks or face. 2. (transitive, archaic) To embellish or gloss over. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fard

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Our duty is to feel what is great and love what is beautiful — not to accept all the social conventions and the infamies they impose on us.   --Madame Bovary https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madame_Bovary