The US Civil War included unprecedented levels of bloodshed in the American experience, and a great deal of blood was shed as part of the institution of slavery itself. On this day the subject led to bloodshed on the floor of the Senate. Canadians observe today as Victoria Day, but that's a Monday-rule holiday and I'll treat it in detail when that grand lady's birthday coincides with the bank holiday. And we have a pair of creative geniuses in the birthday list whose genius didn't extend to good sense in their own lives.
Of Richard Wagner the composer Rossini once remarked, "Wagner has good moments, but bad quarter hours." For those of us who take a dim view of opera, Wagner is almost certainly the cause. He lived a dissident life and got away with it, other than having to move rather often. He included many of his affairs in his autobiography, which he dictated to Cosima Liszt who was one of them. In fact, Cosima had three of Wagner's children, two while she was still married to Hans von Bulow. He had a taste for fur and pink silk and satin. He anonymously published an attack on several Jewish musicians, later added to it and released it under his name. Hitler loved his music, but that's probably not Wagner's fault. Nietszche asked, "Is Wagner a human being at all? Is he not rather a disease?"
I think of Conan Doyle almost exclusively as the creator of Sherlock Holmes and his London, but there is another side to him. He was a firm believer in spiritualism, ghosts, and fairies and wrote that his friend Houdini had true spiritual gifts despite Houdini's repeated statements that they were only deception. He maintained that a series of photo-hoaxes of fairies in an English garden in 1917 were real, apparently able to forget that he had written a chapter in the 1915 book from which the hoax was apparently modeled. Gilbert Chesterton said, "It has long seemed to me that Sir Arthur's mentality is much more that of Watson than it is of Holmes."
1856 - Senator Charles Sumner, Massachusetts Republican and outspoken abolitionist had made an impassioned speech on the 19th calling pro-slavery settlers "assassins and thugs" and generally abusing anyone not firmly opposed to slavery, specifically including Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. On this day, while Sumner was at his desk on the Senate floor, Butler's cousin Democratic Congressman Preston Brooks responded to the insults against his state and family by caning Senator Sumner severely, breaking the cane while knocking Sumner senseless. Both men were heroes to their causes; Brooks resigned from Congress and was immediately reelected and several expensive gold-headed canes were presented to him by fans, Sumner distributed over a million copies of the offending speech.
1900 - Regional Associated Press cooperatives merge and the modern AP is incorporated as a not-for-profit cooperative in New York City with Melville E. Stone as its first general manager.
National Sovereignty Day and Thanksgiving Day, Haiti - The former is dedicated to the head of state and to the nation's culture, the latter is self explanatory.
National Maritime Day, US - Pays tribute to the American Merchant Marine, first proclaimed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Date is from the departure of the SS Savannah from Savannah, Georgia in 1819, the first transatlantic crossing by a steamship.
1813
- Wilhelm Richard Wagner, German composer - Born in Leipzig, Germany,
father dies later in year, mother marries Ludwig Geyer in 1814, Geyer
suspected of being Wagner's real father anyway. Geyer dies in 1821, family
moves to Prague, Richard goes to school in Dresden under Geyer name 1822,
joins family (now back in Lepzig) and goes to school under Wagner name
in 1828. Writes string quartet, two piano sonatas, and a piano arrangement
of Beethoven's Ninth in the next two years. Skipped a lot of school, drank,
gambled, and issued challenges for duels he never fought. Skipped town
to avoid creditors several times, but seemed to get on well with his lovers'
husbands. Despite irresponsible lifestyle wrote numerous operas including
the Ring Cycle, which takes a full 12 hours. Died following a heart attack
in Venice on 13 February 1883.
1859 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British author - Born at Picardy Place, Edinburgh, educated at Jesuit schools, graduated Edinburgh University and qualified as a physician in 1885. Specialized in the eye until he turned to full-time writing in 1891, first Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet" published 1887, killed Holmes in 1893. Briefly served as physician in field hospital in Boer War. Knighted 1902, resurrected Holmes 1903. After son's death in WW I dedicated himself to spiritualism, spent over $1 million on promoting it. Died from heart disease at his home, Windlesham, Sussex on 7 July 1930.
The taxpayers cannot be relied upon to support performing arts such as
opera. As a taxpayer, I am forced to admit that I would rather undergo
a vasectomy via Weed Whacker than attend an opera.
- Dave Barry
Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and instead of bleeding,
he sings.
- Ed Gardner
I do not mind what language an opera is sung in so long as it's a language
I don't understand.
- Sir Edward Appleton
No author ever drew a character consistent to human nature, but he was
forced to ascribe to it many inconsistencies.
- Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton
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