The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their achievements through artworks. Dong was commissioned, and completed the oil painting in three months in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. The success of the painting was assured when Mao viewed it and liked it, and it was reproduced in large numbers for display in homes. Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang from the painting in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967, after government purges. In 1972 a reproduction was painted by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1832:

The first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas convened to seek reforms from the Mexican government in hopes of quelling the widespread belief that settlers in Texas wished to secede from Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_1832

1861:

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, a book on housekeeping and cooking which remains in print today, was first published in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Beeton%27s_Book_of_Household_Management

1910:

A large bomb destroyed the Los Angeles Times building in Los Angeles, killing 21 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times_bombing

1975:

In boxing, Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in a match known as the "Thrilla in Manila". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrilla_in_Manila

1987:

Denmark became the first country to legalise civil unions between same-sex couples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Denmark

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

songcraft: (music) The practice or skill of crafting or composing songs. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/songcraft

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Virtue is not a mushroom, that springeth up of itself in one night when we are asleep, or regard it not; but a delicate plant, that groweth slowly and tenderly, needing much pains to cultivate it, much care to guard it, much time to mature it, in our untoward soil, in this world's unkindly weather.   --Isaac Barrow https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Barrow