Polymnia Blues

Looking backwards in order to look forward. Knowledge is power; learning is fun.

1. 1970 The Beatles released the album Let It Be.
2. 2012 American artist Maurice Sendak, who was best known for his illustrated children’s books, died at age 83.
3. 1737 English historian Edward Gibbon, who was best known for the book The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–88), was born in Putney, Surrey.
4. 1429 Largely due to the efforts of Joan of Arc, English troops ended their siege of the French city of Orléans, which was the military turning point of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.
5. 1823 “Home! Sweet Home!” by John Howard Payne is 1st sung in London.
6. 1835 1st installment of Hans Christian Andersen “Fairy Tales” published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark.
7. 1899 The Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin opens.
8. 1953 WIPB TV channel 49 in Muncie, IN (PBS) begins broadcasting.
9. 1958 Classic Hammer horror film “Dracula” film starring Christopher Lee as the eponymous vampire alongside Peter Cushing, directed by Terence Fisher released.
10. 1963 1st James Bond film, “Dr. No”, starring Sean Connery, premieres in US.
11. 1979 The Cure release their debut album “Three Imaginary Boys” (Boys Don’t Cry in US, Australia).
12. 2010 Betty White becomes the oldest “Saturday Night Live” host.
13. 2019 Singapore passed anti-fake news laws.
14. 1941 Anita O’Day recorded “Let Me Off Uptown” with Gene Krupa and his band.
15. 1945 President Truman and Prime minister Churchill declared victory in Europe, celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany.
16. 1932 The comic strip character “Goofy” (originally named “Dippy Dawg”) makes his first appearance in the Disney short film “Mickey’s Revue.”
17. 1971 The Rolling Stones release their classic album “Sticky Fingers,” featuring hits like “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses.”
18. 2009 The movie “Star Trek” directed by J.J. Abrams is released, rebooting the popular science fiction franchise.
19. 1915 A German submarine sunk the Lusitania, a British ocean liner, indirectly contributing to the entry of the United States into World War I.
20. 1911 Japanese director Honda Ishirō, perhaps best known for a series of Godzilla movies, was born in Yamagata prefecture.
21. 1861 Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, short-story writer, song composer, playwright, essayist, and painter who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, was born in Calcutta (Kolkata).
22. 1711 Scottish philosopher David Hume, known for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism, was born in Edinburgh.
23. 1952 Beth Henley, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Crimes of the Heart) is born.
24. 1940 Peter Benchley, novelist (Jaws, The Deep) is born.
25. 1937 Thomas Pynchon, novelist (Gravity’s Rainbow)

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