History
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The Life You Give: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe *VIII 28 1749
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, born August 28, 1749, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. Goethe is the only German literary figure whose range and international standing equal those of Germany’s supreme philosophers (who…
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An avocado portrait epitomizing the primitive
Hardly any other fruit epitomizes the past, like the avocado. Giant mammals delighted on these fruits millennia ago, bitting them directly from the trees where they grow in pairs. Growing in pairs appears to be the reason they are called avocados, from the Nahuatl word for testicles.
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The Life You Give: Anne Frank *1929
Anne Frank, born Annelies Marie Frank, June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, February/March 1945, is the girl whose diary of her family’s two years in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands became a classic of war literature. Early in the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, Anne’s father, Otto Frank (1889–1980), a…
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The Life You Give: Carl Linnaeus *1707
Carolus Linnaeus, born on May 23, 1707, in Råshult, Småland, Sweden, is the naturalist and explorer who was the first to frame principles for defining natural genera and species of organisms and to create a uniform system for naming them (binomial nomenclature). Linnaeus was the son of a curate and grew up in Småland, a…
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The Life You Give: Bartolomeo Cristofori *1655
Bartolomeo Cristofori, born Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori, May 4, 1655, in Padua, Republic of Venice, Italy, is the harpsichord maker generally credited with the invention of the piano, called in his time gravicembalo col piano e forte, or “harpsichord that plays soft and loud.” The name refers to the piano’s ability to change loudness according…
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Roméo et Juliette (Gounod), premiered on April 27 1867
Roméo et JulietteTragic Opera in five actsComposer – Charles GounodLibretto – Jules Barbier und Michel CarréLanguage – FrenchBased on – Romeo and Julia, William ShakespearePremiere – 27. April 1867, Théatre Lyrique, ParisLength – 2 ½ hours Roles: Juliette – soprano Roméo, son of Montague – tenor Frère Laurent – bass Mercutio, Romeo’s friend – baritone…
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The Life You Give: Leonardo da Vinci *1452
Leonardo da Vinci, born April 15, 1452, in Anchiano, near Vinci, Republic of Florence [Italy], is the painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose skill and intelligence, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503–19) are among the most widely popular…
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The Life You Give: Maya Angelou *1928
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson, on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., is the poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her paternal grandmother in rural…
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The Virtuous Black XVII: James Baldwin
James Baldwin, born James Arthur Baldwin on August 2 1924 in New York, New York, is the essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the United States and, later, through much of western…
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Nelson Mandela — April 20 1964 / The Rivonia Trial
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Hendry Mphakanyiswa of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand where he studied law. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against…
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The Virtuous Black VIII: Miles Davis
Miles Davis, born Miles Dewey Davis III on May 26 1926, in Alton, Illinois, U.S.A., is the jazz musician, and great trumpeter who as a bandleader and composer was one of the major influences on the art from the late 1940s. Davis grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, where his father was a prosperous…
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The Life You Give — Aretha Franklin *March 25 1942
Aretha Franklin, born Aretha Louise Franklin, on March 25 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A., is the singer who defined the golden age of soul music of the 1960s. Franklin’s mother, Barbara, was a gospel singer and pianist. Her father, C.L. Franklin, presided over the New Bethel Baptist Church of Detroit, Michigan, and was a minister…
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Another Croissant with rolled vegetables (commonly known as cigars) — celebrating the National Croissant Day / January 30th
There’s something mysterious– even alchemical— about the qualities that have to come together to yield the ideal croissant. It needs to be buttery and tender, but never mushy or overly moist. It requires a delicate flakiness-to-slight-chewiness ratio, and the layers of all-butter puff pastry should be well differentiated, without falling apart into a crumby mess…
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Martha Argerich — Early Recordings
A prodigy, Argerich was performing professionally by age eight. In 1955 she went to Europe, where her teachers included Friedrich Gulda and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. She won two prestigious competitions in 1957 at age 16: the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. In 1965 she won the Chopin Piano Competition…
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The Life You Give: J.R.R. Tolkien *1892
J.R.R. Tolkien, born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, January 3 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, is the English writer and scholar who achieved fame with his children’s book The Hobbit (1937) and his richly inventive epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). At age four Tolkien, with his mother and younger brother, settled near Birmingham,…
Sila Blume 