#OtD 2 May 1933 Nazi Germany abolished all labour unions: police units occupied all trades union offices, union officials and leaders were arrested and union funds appropriated https://t.co/LYPHII6W8R https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9215/Nazis-abolish-all-unions?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
American illustrator Jessie Willcox Smith died #OTD in 1935.
Smith’s career took off when she began working for the Ladies' Home Journal, for which she created many covers and interior illustrations. She illustrated over 60 books throughout her career, including classics such as Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies, Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, and Clement Moore’s The Night Before Christmas.
Jessie Willcox Smith at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/7158
#OTD in 1715.
A total solar eclipse is visible across northern Europe and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within four minutes accuracy. He also drew a predictive map showing the path of totality across Great Britain. The original map was about 20 miles off the observed eclipse path, mainly due to his use of inaccurate lunar ephemeris. After the eclipse, he corrected the eclipse path, and added the path and description of the 1724 total solar eclipse.
Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian Niccolò Machiavelli was born #OTD in 1469.
The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise written in the form of a realistic instruction guide for new princes. "Discourses on Livy" is another important work by Machiavelli, which is a broader political analysis but centers on the concept of republican government, as opposed to the monarchical focus in "The Prince".
Books by Niccolò Machiavelli at PG
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/563
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci died #OTD in 1519.
He was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he has also become known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology.
Books by Leonardo Da Vinci at PG
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1629
English writer & humourist Jerome K. Jerome was born #OTD in 1859.
He is best known for his comic masterpiece, Three Men in a Boat, which continues to be celebrated for its vivid depiction of pre-World War I Britain and its light-hearted & humorous examination of the British temperament. Other works include the essay collections Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, Three Men on the Bummel.
Books by Jerome K. Jerome @ PG
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/173
English writer and poet Edith Nesbit died #OTD in 1924.
She published over 60 books for children, including novels, collections of stories, and picture books. Among her most famous works are "The Railway Children," "Five Children and It," and "The Phoenix and the Carpet." Her work is seen as a precursor to the modern children's fantasy literature genre, influencing later writers such as C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling.
Books by Edith Nesbit at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/407
English novelist and poet Charlotte Smith was born #OTD in 1749.
Smith's first significant literary success came with the publication of "Elegiac Sonnets" in 1784. In addition to her poetry, Smith wrote several novels: her first novel, "Emmeline, or The Orphan of the Castle" (1788), was followed by others such as "Ethelinde" (1789), "The Old Manor House" (1793), and "Desmond" (1792).
Books by Charlotte Smith at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/41281
Polish Physicist Albert A. Michelson died #OTD in 1931
His most famous experiment - Michelson-Morley experiment, was conducted in 1887 in collaboration with Edward Morley. Their experiment for the expected motion of the Earth relative to the æther, the hypothetical medium in which light was supposed to travel, resulted in a null result. Their results leaded H. Lorentz to devise his Lorentz contraction equations as a means of explaining the null result.
#OTD in 1921.
The première of Luigi Pirandello's Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore at the Teatro Valle in Rome divides the audience.
An absurdist metatheatric play about the relationship among authors, their characters, and theatre practitioners, it premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome to a mixed reception, with shouts from the audience of "Manicomio!" and "Incommensurabile!", a reaction to the play's illogical progression.
“I feel that if I have to answer for the deeds done in my body just as much as a man, I have a right to have as much as a man.”
#OnThisDay, 9 May 1867, Sojourner Truth addresses the American Equal Rights Association, arguing for equal rights for Black women.
Read a brief history of Truth’s life: https://wams.nyhistory.org/a-nation-divided/antebellum/sojourner-truth/
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #EqualRights #BlackAmericanHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons
American author of fantasy fiction and belles-lettres James Branch Cabell died #OTD in 1958.
His career took a significant turn with the publication of "Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice" (1919), which is part of a larger series called "The Biography of the Life of Manuel". Although largely overlooked today, James Branch Cabell was highly regarded in his time, with admirers such as H.L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis.
Books by James Branch Cabell at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/166
Scottish astronomer Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was born #OTD in 1857.
Fleming's most significant contributions came in the field of stellar classification. She developed a system for classifying stars based on their spectra, which became known as the Harvard Classification Scheme. In 1890, she published the first catalog of stellar spectra, which contained over 10,000 stars classified according to her system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification#Harvard_spectral_classification
German Poet, Playwright, Historian Friedrich Schiller died #OTD in 1805.
Initially intended for the priesthood, in 1773 he entered a military academy in Stuttgart and ended up studying medicine. His first play, The Robbers, was written at this time and proved very successful. His major plays include "Don Carlos", and the Wallenstein trilogy, which delves into the tumultuous period of the Thirty Years' War.
Books by Friedrich Schiller at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/289
American author L. Frank Baum died #OTD in 1919.
His breakthrough came with the publication of Mother Goose in Prose (1897), which was followed by Father Goose, His Book (1899), a collection that became a bestseller. In 1900, Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, illustrated by W.W. Denslow. Baum's Oz series eventually spanned fourteen books with Baum introducing new characters and lands in each subsequent volume.
Books by L. Frank Baum at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/42
Austrian Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was born #OTD in 1856.
He is considered the father of psychoanalysis. Freud's main contributions lie in his theories of the unconscious mind, the mechanisms of repression, and the role of sexuality in human psychology, which he discussed in major works like The Interpretation of Dreams, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, and Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.
Books by Sigmund Freud at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/391
Scottish Playwright & Novelist J.M. Barrie was born #OTD in 1860.
His early works were modestly successful, including novels such as "Auld Licht Idylls" & "A Window in Thrums". His famous Peter Pan character first appeared in a section of "The Little White Bird", a novel for adults. This was expanded into the stage play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," which premiered in London in 1904 & was an immediate hit.
Books by J.M. Barrie at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/10
#OTD in 1923.
The première of Bertolt Brecht's play In the Jungle of Cities (Im Dickicht der Städte) at the Residenz Theatre in Munich is disrupted by Nazi demonstrators, hooting, whistling and throwing stink bombs at the actors on the stage.
This production was directed by Erich Engel, with set design by Caspar Neher. The cast included Otto Wernicke as Shlink the lumber dealer, Erwin Faber as George Garga, and Maria Koppenhöfer as his sister Mary.
American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau died #OTD in 1862.
In addition to "Walden," Thoreau is well-known for his essay "Civil Disobedience," which was inspired by his 1846 arrest for refusing to pay poll taxes as a protest against slavery and the Mexican-American War. His political writings later influenced many political leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Books by Henry David Thoreau at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/54
#OTD in 1940.
John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
The book was first published in April 14, 1939. The book won the National Book Award & Pulitzer Prize for fiction, & it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. When preparing to write the novel, Steinbeck wrote: "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects]."
Very early #OnThisDay, 6 May 1944, Marguerite 'Peggy' Knight parachutes into occupied France to be a courier for the Special Operations Executive. The British SOE supported the French resistance.
Knight fought her way out of an attempted capture, and returned to the UK in September 1944.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #Histodons
#OtD 10 May 1933 German Nazis held their first book-burning. In Berlin they burned the library of the Sexology Institute, founded by Magnus Hirschfeld, which supported LGBT+ rights. Joseph Goebbels declared: "No to decadence and moral corruption!" More: https://t.co/fmyF7rAItD https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/11315/nazi-book-burning?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright John Dryden died #OTD in 1700.
Dryden was one of the most influential literary figures of his time and is often referred to as the "Father of English Criticism." As a poet, Dryden's works ranged from satires and political verse to heroic couplets and translations. He was also a prolific playwright, producing numerous comedies, tragedies, and heroic dramas.
Books by John Dryden at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/807
Brazilian novelist & journalist Lima Barreto was born #OTD in 1881.
His literary career began in the early 20th century, and he is best known for novels such as "Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma" - a bitter satire of the first years of the República Velha in Brazil, was published in 1911. Despite facing difficulties & setbacks during his lifetime (alcoholism and mental health issues), he continued to write until his death.
Books by Lima Barreto at PG
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Lima+Barreto&submit_search=Go%21
Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker Hokusai died #OTD in 1849.
The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji are noteworthy not only for their beauty and technical prowess but also for the cultural significance of Mount Fuji in Japan. Hokusai's innovative use of the then-new Prussian blue pigment helped to popularize his prints during his lifetime and influenced not only Japanese art but also Western artists like Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.
