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April 25 Dateline

ANZAC DAY / Remembrance Day

 
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. We will remember them." ~ The Ode of RemembranceThe verse, which became the League Ode, was already used in association with commemoration services in Australia in 1921. 
 

Birthdays


1599 - Oliver Cromwell, English Lord, general and statesman who led the Parliament of England's armies against King Charles I during the English Civil War and ruled the British Isles as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. He acted simultaneously as head of state and head of government of the new republican commonwealth.

1917 - Ella Fitzgerald, African-American jazz singer sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. Her accolades included fourteen Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. Her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable acts outside of her solo career. These partnerships produced some of her best-known songs such as "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Cheek to Cheek", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You", and  "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". (E. Fitzgerald - These Foolish Things Remind Me of You. uploaded by Praguedive. Accessed April 25, 2011.)

1940 - Al Pacino (born Alfredo James Pacino), American actor and filmmaker. He has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He is one of the few performers to have received the Triple Crown of Acting. He has also been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts. Wide acclaim and recognition came with his breakthrough role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, for which he received his first Oscar nomination, and he would reprise the role in the sequels The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III. Pacino received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Serpico, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and ...And Justice for All, ultimately winning it for playing a blind military veteran in Scent of a Woman. Pacino has acted in several productions for HBO, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries. (Scent of a Woman: The Tango. Youtube, Uploaded by Universal Pictures. Accessed April 25, 2014.)

1945 - Bjorn Ulvaeus (born Björn Kristian Ulvaeus), Swedish songwriter, producer, a member of the Swedish musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!. He co-produced the film Mamma Mia! with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson.

1969 - Renee Sellweger (born Renée Kathleen Zellweger), American actress and film producer. She has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two BAFTA Awards. Zellweger was one of the world's highest-paid actresses by 2007 and was named Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Woman of the Year in 2009. For her portrayals of Bridget Jones in the romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary and Roxie Hart in the musical crime drama Chicago, Zellweger garnered consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a loquacious farmer in the epic drama Cold Mountain. Her other notable films include White Oleander, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Cinderella Man, Miss Potter, and Bridget Jones's Baby. In 2019, Zellweger starred in her first major television role in the Netflix anthology series What/If and garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the biopic Judy, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. (Miss Potter (2006) [Full movie](High definition], YouTube, uploaded byThe Film Archiver. Accessed April 25 2020.)

Leftie:
None known
 
More birthdays and historical events today, 25 April - On This Day.

 
Feature:  
Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot 

Below is the famous "Nessun dorma" from Turandot most famously interpreted by the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti. YouTube, uploaded by noé èon. Accessed April 25, 2018.



Turandot Links: 

Puccini: Turandot. Montserrat Caballé - Luciano Pavarotti. Chailly 1977.  YouTube, uploaded by ENCOREPAPAGENO. Accessed April 25, 2017. Artists: Montserrat Caballé. Calaf: Luciano Pavarotti. Liù: Leona Mitchell. Timur: Giorgio Tozzi. L'imperatore: Raymond Manton. Ping: Dale Duesing. Pang: Rémy Corazza. Pong: Joseph Frank. Un Mandarino: Aldo Bramante. Tre Principesse: Pamela South, Carol Vaness, Gwendolyn Jones. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. San Francisco. November 4, 1977.

Turandot. An Opera by Giacomo Puccini.  The Opera 101. Accessed April 25, 2017.

Historical Events


1859 - The construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt begins. The 101-mile-long (162.5 km) artifical canal allows ship access from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea, rather than having to sail around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

1881 - Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Patience is first staged, in London.

1898 - The United States declares war on Spain with the goal of ousting Spanish leadership in Cuba.

1898 - William S Porter enters the Ohio penitentiary to begin serving a sentence for embezzlement. He will later become known by the pen name O. Henry (American short story writer.)

1915 - ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Troops land in Gallipoli. Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during WWI. The soldiers are known as Anzacs. ANZAC Day remains one of the most important national occasion of both countries, and compelling as they share the same remembrance in facing life struggles together.  (The Ode of Remembrance. RSL Australia. Remember to Remember. Accessed April 25, 2023.)  

The Battle of Gallipoli began this day in 1915 on what now is known as Anzac Cove, Turkey. While the British troops landed at Cape Helles, the ANZACs were to alight at "Z Beach"  which is a site north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast. Unfortunately, plans got in disarray when they landed 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the target location, before dawn of April 25. The pitch darkness with sheer ravines and rough terrain, the troop practically ran straight into the enemies hail of bullets. About 1/3 of the total ANZAC forces sent to the battle of Gallipoli died, with 8,709 Australians and 4,852 New Zealanders.

1926 - Giacomo Puccini's last opera Turandot (with the last scene completed by Franco Alfano) is produced posthumously at La Scala Milan.

1983 - Soviet leader Yuri Andropov invites and American schoolgirl to visit the U.S.S.R. after reading her letter outlining her fear of nuclear war. She accepts and becomes American's youngest Ambassador.



Resources:

1. Asiado, Tel. The World's Movers and Shapers. New Hampshire: Ore Mountain Publishing House (2005)
2. Britannica. www.britannica.com
3. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 19th Ed. London: Chambers Harrap, 2011
4. Dateline. Sydney: Millennium House, (2006)
5. Grun, Bernard. The Timestables of History, New 3rd Revised Ed. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone (1991)
6. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org


(c) June 2007. Updated 25 April 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

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