Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) was a Russian composer, a member of a group of prominent composers known as The Five, who worked together in Saint Petersburg in the mid-19th century. Considered a master of orchestration, his best-known compositions, which include Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade, are considered staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of Rimsky-Korsakov's frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects; he also left a considerable body of original Russian nationalist compositions. His preparation of works by The Five for performance brought them into the active classical repertoire, although his editing of the music of Modest Mussorgsky created controversy. As a shaper of a generation of younger composers and musicians during his decades as an educator, he is considered the main architect of what the classical music public considers the Russian style of composition.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1831:

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, leading to the formation of his law of induction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction

1842:

The Treaty of Nanking, an unequal treaty ending the First Opium War, was signed, forcing the Chinese Qing dynasty to give control of the island that is now the site of Hong Kong, and other concessions to the British. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong

1903:

The Russian battleship Slava, the last of the five Borodino- class battleships, was launched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Slava

1930:

The last 36 residents of St Kilda, Scotland, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural and cultural qualities, voluntarily evacuated to Morvern. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland

2007:

Six nuclear warheads were alleged to have been mistakenly loaded onto a United States Air Force heavy bomber that flew from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_United_States_Air_Force_nuclear_weapons_incident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Skynet: 1. A family of United Kingdom military communications satellites. 2. (science fiction) A distributed artificial intelligence system that is aware of the physical world and acts autonomously through cyborgs and computer control systems. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Skynet

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Like most people of my age, I feel a longing for what is lost and cannot be restored. But if the happy pursuits and casual beauty of youth prove ephemeral, something better can endure, and endure until our last moment on earth. And that is the honor we earn and the love we give if at a moment in our lives we sacrifice for something greater than self- interest. We cannot choose the moments. They arrive unbidden by us. We can choose to let the moments pass, and avoid the difficulties they entail. But the loss we would incur by that choice is much dearer than the tribute we once paid to vanity and pleasure.   --John McCain https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_McCain