Boris Pasternak

Russian poet and novelist Boris Leonidovich Pasternak sadly died on 30th May 1960, from lung cancer. He was born 10 February 1890. At first Pasternak aspired first to be a musician. Inspired by Scriabin, Pasternak studied at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1910 he abruptly left for the German University of Marburg, where he studied under Neo-Kantian philosophers Hermann Cohen and Nicolai Hartmann. Although Professor Cohen encouraged him to remain in Germany and to pursue a Philosophy doctorate, Pasternak decided against it. and returned to Moscow upon the outbreak of World War I. His first poetry anthology was published later that year.

During World War I, Pasternak taught and worked at a chemical factory in Vsevolodovo-Vilve near Perm, which undoubtedly provided him with material for Dr. Zhivago. Unlike the rest of his family and many of his closest friends, Pasternak chose not to leave Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. remained in Moscow throughout the Civil War (1918–1920), making no attempt to escape abroad or to the White-occupied south, as a number of other Russian writers did at the time. No doubt, like Yuri Zhivago, he was momentarily impressed by the “splendid surgery” of the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917. However he soon began to harbor profound doubts about the claims and credentials of the regime, not to mention its style of rule. The terrible shortages of food and fuel, and the depredations of the Red Terror, made life very precarious in those years, particularly for the “bourgeois” intelligentsia. Published in 1921, Pasternak’s My Sister, Life revolutionised Russian poetry and made Pasternak the model for younger poets, and decisively changed the poetry of Osip Mandelshtam, Marina Tsvetayeva and others. By 1927, Pasternak’s close friends Vladimir Mayakovsky and Nikolai Aseyev were advocating the complete subordination of the Arts to the needs of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.So he broke off relations, with both of them. By 1932, Pasternak had altered his style to make it acceptable to the Soviet public and printed the new collection of poems aptly titled The Second Birth, He simplified his style and language even further for his next collection of verse, Early Trains (1943). This prompted his former admirer, Vladimir Nabokov, to mock Pasternak as a “weeping Bolshevik”. After Joseph Stalin was acclaimed as leader of the CPSU in 1929, Pasternak became further disillusioned with the Party’s tightening censorship of literature.

Still unwilling to conform, Pasternak remained a close friend of Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam, who recited his searing indictment of Stalin, the Stalin Epigram, to Pasternak soon after its composition in late April 1934. After listening, Pasternak told Mandelstam, “I didn’t hear this, you didn’t recite it to me, because, you know, very strange and terrible things are happening now: they’ve begun to pick people up. Mandelstam was arrested shortly afterwards. Pasternak was concerned that he might be blamed for fingering Mandelstam to the secret police So he wrote to Stalin to explain that injustices were being committed in the name of the Leader.

Although Pasternak was never arrested by the Soviet secret police during the Great Purge, which took place in the Soviet Union in the late 1930s and involved the, repression of peasants, Red Army leadership, Old Bolsheviks and unaffiliated persons, he lost many friends. Soon after, Pasternak appealed directly to Stalin. He wrote about his family’s strong Tolstoyan convictions. Pasternak was certain that he would be instantly arrested, but he was not. Stalin is said to have crossed Pasternak’s name off an execution list during the Great Purge. After the outbreak of war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Pasternak was elated. With the end of the war in 1945, there was a great expectation that the Soviet people would not only see the end of the devastation of Nazism, but also the end of Stalin’s Purges. However, sealed trains began carrying large numbers of prisoners to the Soviet Gulags. Some were Nazi collaborators but most were ordinary Soviet officers and men. Pasternak watched as ex-POWs were directly transferred from Nazi to Soviet concentration camps. White emigres who had returned due to pledges of amnesty were also sent directly to the Gulag, as were Jews from the Anti-Fascist Committee and other organizations. Many thousands of innocents were incarcerated as part the Leningrad Affair and the Doctor’s Plot, while whole ethnic groups were deported to Siberia. :O

Pasternak’s translation of the first part of Faust caused contorversy and he was accused of distorting Goethe’s “progressive,” meanings to support “the reactionary theory of ‘pure art’”, as well as introducing aesthetic and individualist values. When Stalin died of a stroke on 5 March 1953, there were waves of panic, confusion, and public displays of grief Across the nation. Pasternak wrote, “Men who are not free… always idealize their bondage. For so long we were ruled over by a madman and a murderer, and now by a fool and a pig. The madman had his occasional flights of fancy, he had an intuitive feeling for certain things, despite his wild obscurantism. Now we are ruled over by mediocrities.” During this period, Pasternak delighted in reading a clandestine copy of George Orwell’s Animal Farm in English. In conversation with Ivinskaya, Pasternak explained that the swine dictator Napoleon, “vividly reminded,” him of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Doctor Zhivago was completed in 1956 and imediately caused controvery – The author, like his protagonist Yuri Zhivago, showed more concern for the welfare of individual characters than for the “progress” of society.

Censors also regarded some passages as anti-Soviet, especially the novel’s criticisms of Stalinism, Collectivisation, the Great Purge, and the Gulag. As a result Russian people were unwilling to publish it, however Thanks to the efforts of a Communist Italian Journalist and Helped considerably by the Soviet campaign against the novel, Doctor Zhivago became an instant sensation throughout the non-Communist world upon its release in November 1957. Pasternak also received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, an event which both humiliated and enraged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. By the time of his death the campaign against Pasternak had severely damaged the international credibility of the U.S.S.R. He remains a major figure in Russian literature to this day. Furthermore, tactics pioneered by Pasternak were later continued, expanded, and refined by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and other Soviet dissidents.

Wilbur Wright

American Aviation Pioneer and eldest of The Wright brothers, Wilbur Wright sadly died 30 May 1912 . He was born April 16, 1867. Wilbur, together with his younger brother Orville. is credited with inventing and building the world’s first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. The Wright Brothers spent a great deal of time observing birds in flight. They noticed that birds soared into the wind and that the air flowing over the curved surface of their wings created lift. Birds change the shape of their wings to turn and maneuver. They believed that they could use this technique to obtain roll control by warping, or changing the shape, of a portion of the wing. as a resultThe Wright Brothers designed their first aircraft: a small, biplane glider flown as a kite to test their solution for controlling the craft by wing warping. Wing warping is a method of arching the wingtips slightly to control the aircraft’s rolling motion and balance.

During the next three years, Wilbur and his brother Orville designed a series of gliders which would be flown in both unmanned (as kites) and piloted flights. They read about the works of Cayley, and Langley, and the hang-gliding flights of Otto Lilienthal. They corresponded with Octave Chanute concerning some of their ideas. They recognized that control of the flying aircraft would be the most crucial and hardest problem to solve. Following a successful glider test, the Wrights built and tested a full-size glider and They selected Kitty Hawk, North Carolina as their test site because of its wind, sand, hilly terrain and remote location.

In 1900, the Wrights successfully tested their new 50-pound biplane glider with its 17-foot wingspan and wing-warping mechanism at Kitty Hawk, in both unmanned and piloted flights. In fact, it was the first piloted glider. Based upon the results, the Wright Brothers planned to refine the controls and landing gear, and build a bigger glider. So in 1901, at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers flew the largest glider ever flown, with a 22-foot wingspan, a weight of nearly 100 pounds and skids for landing.

However, as with any new invention, they encountered a few problems; the wings did not have enough lifting power; forward elevator was not effective in controlling the pitch; and the wing-warping mechanism occasionally caused the airplane to spin out of control. Following these problems the Wrights reviewed their test results and decided that the calculations they had used were not reliable. So they built a wind tunnel to test a variety of wing shapes and their effect on lift. Based upon these tests, the inventors had a greater understanding of how an airfoil (wing) works and could calculate with greater accuracy how well a particular wing design would fly. Following extensive testing in the wind tunnel They planned to design a new glider with a 32-foot wingspan and a tail to help stabilize it.

During 1902, the brothers flew numerous test glides using their new glider. Their studies showed that a movable tail would help balance the craft and the Wright Brothers connected a movable tail to the wing-warping wires to coordinate turns. With successful glides to verify their wind tunnel tests, the inventors planned to build a powered aircraft. After months of studying how propellers work the Wright Brothers designed a motor and a new aircraft sturdy enough to accommodate the motor’s weight and vibrations. The craft weighed 700 pounds and came to be known as the Flyer. The brothers also built a movable track to help launch the Flyer. This downhill track would help the aircraft gain enough airspeed to fly. After two attempts to fly this machine, one of which resulted in a minor crash, Orville Wright took the Flyer for a 12-second, sustained flight on December 17, 1903. This was the first successful, powered, piloted flight in history.

Voltaire 🟦⬜️🟥

French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) died on 30 May 1778 aged 83. He was born 21 November 1694 in Paris. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand (1704–1711), where he was taught Latin, theology, and rhetoric. By the time he left school, Voltaire had decided he wanted to be a writer, against the wishes of his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer. Voltaire, pretending to work in Paris as an assistant to a notary, spent much of his time writing poetry. When his father found out, he sent Voltaire to study law, this time in Caen, Normandy. But the young man continued to write, producing essays and historical studies. Voltaire’s wit made him popular among some of the aristocratic families with whom he mixed. In 1713, his father obtained a job for him as a secretary to the new French ambassador in the Netherlands, the marquis de Châteauneuf, the brother of Voltaire’s godfather At The Hague, Voltaire fell in love with a French Protestant refugee named Catherine Olympe Dunoyer. Their affair, considered scandalous, was discovered by de Châteauneuf and Voltaire was forced to return to France.

Most of Voltaire’s early life revolved around Paris. From early on, Voltaire got into trouble with the authorities for critiques of the government. As a result, he was twice sentenced to prison and once to temporary exile to England. One satirical verse, in which Voltaire accused the Régent of incest with his daughter, resulted in an eleven-month imprisonment in the Bastille. The Comédie-Française had agreed in January 1717 to stage his debut play, Œdipe, and it opened in mid-November 1718, seven months after his release. Its immediate critical and financial success established his reputation. Both the Régent and King George I of Great Britain presented Voltaire with medals as a mark of their appreciation. He mainly argued for religious tolerance and freedom of thought. He campaigned to eradicate priestly and aristo-monarchical authority, and supported a constitutional monarchy that protects people’s rights.

Voltaire’s next play, Artémire, was published 1720 and set in ancient Macedonia. He next wrote an epic poem about Henry IV of France that he had begun in early 1717. This was eventually published in The Hague In the Netherlands, where Voltaire was struck and impressed by the openness and tolerance of Dutch society. On returning to France, he secured a second publisher in Rouen, who agreed to publish La Henriade clandestinely. After Voltaire’s recovery from a month-long smallpox infection in November 1723, the first copies were smuggled into Paris and distributed. While the poem was an instant success, after heavy revision Voltaire’s next play, Mariamne,opened at the Comédie-Française in April 1725 to a much-improved reception. It was among the entertainments provided at the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska in September 1725.

In 1726, a young French nobleman, the chevalier de Rohan-Chabot, taunted Voltaire about his change of name, and Voltaire retorted that his name would be honored while de Rohan would dishonor his. Infuriated, de Rohan arranged for Voltaire to be beaten up by thugs a few days later. Seeking compensation, redress, or revenge, Voltaire challenged de Rohan to a duel, but the aristocratic de Rohan family arranged for Voltaire to be arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille on 17 April 1726 without a trial or an opportunity to defend himself. Voltaire suggested he be exiled instead so On 2 May, 1726 he was escorted from the Bastille to Calais, where he was to embark for Britain.

PART TWO

After moving to England, Voltaire lived in Wandsworth, with acquaintances including Everard Fawkener. From December 1727 to June 1728 he lodged at Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. Voltaire circulated throughout English high society, meeting Alexander Pope, John Gay, Jonathan Swift, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and many other members of the nobility and royalty. Voltaire’s exile in Great Britain greatly influenced his thinking. He was intrigued by Britain’s constitutional monarchy in contrast to French absolutism, and by the country’s greater support of the freedoms of speech and religion. He was influenced by the writers of the age, and developed an interest in earlier English literature, especially the works of Shakespeare, whom he saw as an example that French writers might emulate, since French drama, despite being more polished, lacked on-stage action. Later, however, as Shakespeare’s influence began growing in France, Voltaire tried to set a contrary example with his own plays, decrying what he considered Shakespeare’s barbarities. Voltaire may have been present at the funeral of Isaac Newton, and met Newton’s niece, Catherine Conduit. In 1727, he published two essays in English, Upon the Civil Wars of France, Extracted from Curious Manuscripts and Upon Epic Poetry of the European Nations, from Homer Down to Milton.

In 1730 Voltaire returned to France, and after a few months living in Dieppe, the authorities permitted him to return to Paris. At a dinner, French mathematician Charles Marie de La Condamine proposed buying up the lottery that was organized by the French government to pay off its debts, and Voltaire joined the consortium, earning perhaps a million livre he managed to convince the Court of Finances that he was of good conduct and so was able to take control of a capital inheritance from his father that had hitherto been tied up in trust. His next play Zaïre, published in 1733 carried a dedication to Fawkener praising English liberty and commerce. He also published his views on British attitudes toward government, literature, religion and science in a collection of essays in letter form entitled Letters Concerning the English Nation. However Because the publisher released the book without the approval of the royal censor and Voltaire regarded the British constitutional monarchy as more developed and more respectful of human rights (particularly religious tolerance) than its French counterpart, the French publication of Letters caused a huge scandal; the book was publicly burnt and banned, and Voltaire was forced to flee Paris again.

In 1733, Voltaire met Émilie du Châtelet, a married mother of three who was 12 years his junior and with whom he was to have an affair for 16 yearss. To avoid arrest after the publication of Letters, Voltaire took refuge at her husband’s château at Cirey-sur-Blaise, on the borders of Champagne and Lorraine. Voltaire paid for the building’s renovation, and Émilie’s husband, the Marquis du Châtelet, sometimes stayed at the château with his wife and her lover. Voltaire and the Marquise du Châtelet also collected around 21,000 books. Voltaire continued to write plays, such as Mérope (or La Mérope française) and began his long research into science and history having been influenced by the works of Sir Isaac Newton. Voltaire strongly believed in Newton’s theories; he performed experiments in optics at Cirey, and was one of the sources for the famous story of Newton and the apple falling from the tree. In 1735, Voltaire was visited by Francesco Algarotti, who was preparing a book about Newton in Italian. The Marquise translated Newton’s Latin Principia into French in full, and it remained the definitive French translation into the 21st century.

Voltaire was also curious about the philosophies of Gottfried Leibniz, a contemporary and rival of Newton, although Voltaire remained a firm Newtonian. Voltaire published his own book Elements of Newton’s Philosophy which made Newton accessible and understandable to a far greater public, and the Marquise wrote a celebratory review in the Journal des savants. Voltaire’s book was instrumental in bringing about general acceptance of Newton’s optical and gravitational theories in France.

Voltaire and the Marquise studied history, particularly those persons who had contributed to civilization. Voltaire’s second essay in English had been “Essay upon the Civil Wars in France”. It was followed by La Henriade, an epic poem on the French King Henri IV, glorifying his attempt to end the Catholic-Protestant massacres with the Edict of Nantes, and by a historical novel on King Charles XII of Sweden. Voltaire and the Marquise also explored philosophy, particularly metaphysics, the branch of philosophy that deals with being and with what lies beyond the material realm, such as whether or not there is a God and whether people have souls. Voltaire and the Marquise analyzed the Bible Voltaire concluded that church and state and religious freedom should be separate

In 1736, Frederick the Great, then Crown Prince of Prussia began corresponding with Voltaire. Voltaire also moved to Holland for two months and met the scientists Herman Boerhaave and Gravesande. Between 1739 and 1740 Voltaire lived in Brussels, before travelling to the Hague on behalf of Frederick in an attempt to dissuade a dubious publisher, van Duren, from printing without permission Frederick’s Anti-Machiavel. Voltaire and Frederick (now King) met for the first time in Moyland Castle near Cleves and in November Voltaire was Frederick’s guest in Berlin for two weeks. In 1742 they met in Aix-la-Chapelle. Voltaire was sent to Frederick’s court in 1743 by the French government as an envoy and spy to gauge Frederick’s military intentions in the War of the Austrian Succession. Though deeply committed to the Marquise, Voltaire by 1744 found life at the château confining. On a visit to Paris that year, he found a new love—his niece Marie Louise Mignot !? And they lived together, and remained together until Voltaire’s death. Meanwhile, the Marquise also took a lover, the Marquis de Saint-Lambert.

The Marquise tragically died in childbirth in September 1749, Voltaire briefly returned to Paris and in mid-1750 moved to Prussia at the invitation of Frederick the Great. The Prussian king (with the permission of Louis XV) made him a chamberlain in his household, appointed him to the Order of Merit, and gave him a salary of 20,000 French livres a year” He had rooms at Sanssouci and Charlottenburg Palace and in 1751 he completed Micromégas, a piece of science fiction involving ambassadors from another planet witnessing the follies of humankind. However, his relationship with Frederick the Great began to deteriorate after he was accused of theft and forgery by a Jewish financier, Abraham Hirschel, who had invested in Saxon government bonds on behalf of Voltaire at a time when Frederick was involved in sensitive diplomatic negotiations with Saxony.

PART THREE

He also encountered other difficulties: an argument with Maupertuis, the president of the Berlin Academy of Science and a former rival for Émilie’s affections, provoked Voltaire’s Diatribe du docteur Akakia (“Diatribe of Doctor Akakia”), which satirized some of Maupertuis’s theories and his abuse of power in his persecutions of a mutual acquaintance, Johann Samuel König. This greatly angered Frederick. So in 1752, Voltaire offered to resign as chamberlain and return his insignia of the Order of Merit; at first, Frederick refused until eventually permitting Voltaire to leave. Upon returning to France, Voltaire stayed at Leipzig and Gotha for a month each, and Kassel for two weeks, before arriving at Frankfurt where he was detained by Frederick’s agents, for over three weeks while they, Voltaire and Frederick argued over the return of a satirical book of poetry Frederick had lent to Voltaire. Marie Louise joined him in June but left in July after some unwanted advances from of one of Frederick’s agents and Voltaire’s luggage was ransacked.

Voltaire attempted to vilify Frederick for his agents’ actions at Frankfurt Then composed Mémoires pour Servir à la Vie de M. de Voltaire, that paints a largely negative picture of his time spent with Frederick. Voltaire’s slow progress toward Paris continued through Mainz, Mannheim, Strasbourg, and Colmar, however in 1754 Louis XV banned him from Paris so instead he turned for Geneva, and bought a large estate (Les Délices) in 1755. However the law in Geneva, banning theatrical performances, and the publication of The Maid of Orleans against his will, soured his relationship with Calvinist Genevans. So in 1758, he bought an estate at Ferney, on the French side of the Franco-Swiss border. In 1759, Voltaire published Candide, ou l’Optimisme (Candide, or Optimism) which satirizes Leibniz’s philosophy of optimistic determinism. Voltaire frequently entertained distinguished guests, such as James Boswell, Adam Smith, Giacomo Casanova, and Edward Gibbon. In 1764, he published the Dictionnaire philosophique, a series of articles mainly on Christian history and dogmas.

From 1762, he began to champion unjustly persecuted people, such as Huguenot merchant Jean Calas Who had been tortured to death in 1763, supposedly because he had murdered his eldest son for wanting to convert to Catholicism, His possessions were confiscated and his two daughters were taken from his widow and were forced into Catholic convents. Voltaire, seeing this as a clear case of religious persecution, managed to overturn the conviction in 1765. Voltaire was initiated into Freemasonry in 1778 And attended la Loge des Neuf Sœurs in Paris, where he became an Entered Apprentice Freemason. He also returned to Paris, however The arduous five-day journey took it’s toll on him and Because of his well-known criticism of the Church, which he had refused to retract before his death, Voltaire was denied a Christian burial in Paris, but friends and relations managed to bury his body secretly at the Abbey of Scellières in Champagne, where Marie Louise’s brother was abbé. His heart and brain were embalmed separately.

Paul Rubens

German born Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens sadly died 30 May 1640 from heart failure, brought on by chronic gout and was interred in Saint Jacob’s church, Antwerp. He was Born 28th June 1577. He was a prolific artist and was a proponent of extravagant Baroque style that emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, he was known for his Counter Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintingso mythological and allegorial sujects.In addition to running a studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, King of Spain, and Charles I, King of England. Religion figured prominently in much of his work and Rubens later became one of the leading voices of the Catholic Counter-Reformation style of painting .In Antwerp, Rubens studied Latin and classical literature. By fourteen he began his artistic apprenticeship with Tobias Verhaeght. Subsequently, he studied under two of the city’s leading painters, Adam van Noort and Otto van een. his earliest training involved copying woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger and Marcantonio Raimondi’s engravings. Rubens completed his education in 1598, and entered the Guild of St. Luke as an independent master. In 1600, Rubens travelled to Venice, Italy, where he saw paintings by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, before settling in Mantua at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The style of Veronese and Tintoretto had an immediate effect on Rubens’s painting, and his later, mature style was profoundly influenced by Titian.

With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled to Rome via Florence in 1601. There, he studied classical Greek and Roman art and copied works of the Italian masters, the Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and his Sons was especially influential on him, as was the art of Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio. He later made a copy of Caravaggio’s Entombment of Christ. He recommended that his patron, the Duke of Mantua, purchase The Death of the Virgin and was instrumental in the acquisition of The Madonna of the Rosary for the Dominican church in Antwerp. Whilst invRome, Rubens completed his first altarpiece commission, St. Helena with the True Cross for the Roman church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Rubens travelled to Spain on a diplomatic mission in 1603, delivering gifts from the Gonzagas to the court of Philip III. In Spain he studied the extensive collections of Raphael and Titian that had been collected by Philip II. He also painted an equestrian portrait of the Duke of Lerma during his stay . He returned to Italy in 1604, and stayed for the next four years, first in Mantua and then in Genoa and Rome. In Genoa, Rubens painted numerous portraits, such as the Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria and the portrait of Maria di Antonio Serra Pallavicini. He also began a book illustrating the palaces in the city, which was published in 1622 as Palazzi di Genova.

Rubens

Rubens returned to Antwerp in 1608 during a period of renewed prosperity in the city, he was appointed as court painter by Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, sovereigns of the Low Countries. In 1610, Rubens moved into a new house and studio that he designed. Now the Rubenshuis Museum, in the centre of Antwerp, it accommodated his workshop and made the most of his extensive collection of paintings, and his personal art collection and library,. During this time he created.Altarpieces such as The Raising of the Cross (1610) and The Descent from the Cross (1611–1614) for the Cathedral of Our Lady which were particularly important in establishing Rubens as Flanders’ leading painter . The Raising of the Cross also demonstrates the artist’s synthesis of Tintoretto’s Crucifixion for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, Michelangelo’s dynamic figures, and Rubens’s own personal style. The Spanish Habsburg rulers also entrusted Rubens with a number of diplomatic missions, Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens’s diplomatic career was particularly active, and he moved between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring peace between the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces. He also made several trips to the northern Netherlands as both an artist and a diplomat. It was during this period that Rubens was twice knighted, first by Philip IV of Spain in 1624, and then by Charles I of England in 1630. He was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1629.

In 1621, the Queen Mother of France, Marie de’ Medici, commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband, Henry IV, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The Marie de’ Medici cycle was installed in 1625 Rubens’s reputation with collectors and nobility grew during this decade, and his workshop continued to paint monumental paintings for local patrons in Antwerp. Such as The Assumption of the Virgin Mary for the Cathedral of Antwerp. Rubens’s last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. He continued to paint Major works for foreign patrons stsuch as the ceiling paintings for the Banqueting House at Inigo Jones’s Palace of Whitehall. In 1630, he married 16-year-old Hélène Fourment who inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s, including The Feast of Venus, The Three Graces and The Judgment of Paris . In an intimate portrait of her, Hélène Fourment in a Fur Wrap, also known as Het Pelsken Rubens’s wife is even partially modelled after classical sculptures of the Venus Pudica, such as theMedici Venus. In 1635, Rubens bought an estate outside of Antwerp, the Steen, where he spent much of his time. Landscapes, such as his Château de Steen with Hunter and Farmers Returning from the Fields, reflect the more personal nature of many of his later works. He also drew upon Pieter Bruegel the Elder for inspiration in later works like Flemish Kermis.

The artist had eight children, three with Isabella and five with Hélène; his youngest child was born eight months after his death. Rubens was a prolific artist. His commissioned works were mostly religious subjects, “history” paintings, which included mythological subjects, and hunt scenes. He painted portraits, especially of friends, and self-portraits, and in later life painted several landscapes. Rubens designed tapestries and prints, as well as his own house. He also oversaw the ephemeral decorations of the Joyous Entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635. His drawings are mostly extremely forceful but not detailed; he also made great use of oil sketches as preparatory studies. He was one of the last major artists to make consistent use of wooden panels as a support medium, even for very large works, but he used canvas as well, especially when the work needed to be sent a long distance. For altarpieces he sometimes painted on slate to reduce reflection problems. His fondness of painting full-figured women gave rise to the terms ‘Rubensian’ or ‘Rubenesque’ for plus-sized women.Rubens was a great admirer of Leonardo da Vinci’s work. Using an engraving done 50 years after Leonardo started his project on the Battle of Anghiari, Rubens did a masterly drawing of the Battle which is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Tim Burgess (the Charlatans)

English singer-songwriter and record label owner, Tim Burgess was born 30 May 1967 in Salford, and grew up in Moulton, near Northwich, Cheshire. He is best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Charlatans.The band were originally formed in the West Midlands by bassist Martin Blunt, Rob Collins (keyboards), Jon Brookes (drums), Jon Day (Jonathan Baker) (guitar) and singer/guitarist Baz Ketley (who was replaced by Tim Burgess). Although the Charlatans become popularly associated with the Madchester scene, the band’s roots are in the Midlands. Early demos were dominated by Collins’s Hammond organ underpinned by the driving rhythm section of Blunt’s powerful running bass and Brookes’s drumming. With their sound – fusing 1960s soul, R&B and garage rock as featured in Birmingham bands The Spencer Davis Group and early Dexys Midnight Runners.

Although the name The Charlatans was already being used when the original members of the band were still located in the West Midlands, many sources state that they formed in Northwich, Cheshire. This is because the band relocated to the home town of new lead singer Tim Burgess (who was born in Salford, but lived in Northwich from an early age) before the 1990 release of The Charlatans’ debut single “Indian Rope”, on the band’s own Dead Dead Good Records label. Thus based on the definition of hometown used by Guinness World Records the band was formed in Northwich, and consequently Northwich is recorded as their home town in such publications as British Hit Singles & Albums – although the founding members are actually from Walsall.

The debut single “Indian Rope” proved to be an indie hit and the group soon found a major label in Beggars Banquet offshoot Situation Two in time for the release of the singles “The Only One I Know”, “Then” and their debut album Some Friendly. The Charlatans were forced to add UK to their name for an American tour due to competing claims by a 1960s rock band also known as The Charlatans. Baker left the band after 1991’s “Over Rising” single to be replaced by Mark Collins (no relation to Rob). The band brought in producer Flood for their second album Between 10th and 11th (named after the address of the New York Marquee, the site of the group’s first US concert). Released in early 1992, contained the single “Weirdo”.

The band suffered a major setback later that year, when Rob Collins was charged with armed robbery after a friend had robbed an off licence while he was waiting in the car outside. Collins claimed to have no knowledge of the robbery until he heard a gunshot inside the shop and his friend exited, although he later admitted that he should not have picked up his friend after he had realised what he had done. In court he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of “assisting an offender after an offence” and served four months in prison. Their third album Up To Our Hips was released in1994. In 1995 they released their self-titled fourth album containing the song “Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over”.

Sadly in 1996 Keyboard player Rob Collins was tragically killed in a car crash during the recording of the band’s fifth album Tellin’ Stories. The Charlatans decided to continue, drafting in the Primal Scream and former Felt keyboardist Martin Duffy until a permanent replacement for Collins could be found, for The Charlatans’ support slot at Oasis’ Knebworth concerts in mid-1996. Tellin’ Stories was released in 1997, featuring singles “One to Another”, “North Country Boy” and “How High”.The Charlatans then released of the career-spanning compilation Melting Pot, the B-sides collection Songs From The Other Side and the DVD Just Lookin’ 1990–1997. The next album Us And Us Only featured new keyboard player Tony Rogers and had a slightly country sound, heavily influenced by Burgess’s love of Bob Dylan. The soul influenced album “Wonderland” was released in 2001, followed by the album Up At The Lake in 2004.

The band released their ninth full-length album “Simpatico” in 2006, featuring a reggae and dub tinged sound and containing the songs “NYC (There’s No Need to Stop)” and “Blackened Blue Eyes”. Their follow-up to Simpatico was the career-spanning singles compilation entitled Forever: The Singles which was released on CD and DVD in 2006 preceded by the re-recorded song (remixed by Youth) “You’re So Pretty We’re So Pretty”. The band also played a number of high-profile supporting gigs in mid-2007, including for The Who and The Rolling Stones at venues including Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium in London, as well as the Bingley Music Live event, Nass Festival 2007 and at Delamere Forest in Cheshire. In 2007The band contributed the song “Blank Heart, Blank Mind” to a Love Music, Hate Racism compilation CD And released the new singles “You Cross My Path” and “Oh! Vanity” through XFM and released their tenth album You Cross My Path IN 2008 and Their eleventh studio album, Who We Touch, was released 2010 which was also the twentieth anniversary of the band’s debut album Some Friendly, which they played live at Primavera Sound Festival 2010

Sadly in 2010, drummer Jon Brookes collapsed during a performance in Philadelphia and Brookes was diagnosed with a brain tumour and was flown back to the UK for an operation and course of radiation and chemotherapy treatment. The Verve’s Peter Salisbury acted as a stand-in drummer for the remainder of the Charlatans UK dates. Brookes returned to the stage for the band’s Christmas and New Year Eve’s gigs in 2010. In 2011 Universal Music re-released a deluxe edition of the band’s 1999 album Us & Us Only, featuring a collection of bonus tracks including B-sides, live recordings, radio sessions and rare remixes. Tim Burgess and Mark Collins also played an acoustic tour of the UK, to coincide with which they released an EP Warm Sounds, which featured six stripped-down and reworked versions of Charlatans tracks including “North Country Boy”, “The Only One I Know” and “Smash The System”.

The Charlatans also performed Tellin’ Stories in its entirety at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo, O2 Apollo Manchester and Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom in June 2012. In May 2013 the Mountain Picnic Blues DVD was released, a documentary about their Tellin’ Stories album from its creation in 1997 to the 15th anniversary of the album. Sadly in August 2013 the band’s drummer Jon Brookes succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 44, having undergone several operations and treatment for the condition. The band paid tribute to him in a special event, with Pete Salisbury playing in his place and bands such as Beady Eye, The Vaccines and Manic Street Preachers also joining the bill. Proceeds from the night went to The Brain Tumour Charity, of which The Charlatans are now patrons; the charity have set up The Jon Brookes Fund as a lasting tribute to the drummer.

The Charlatans released their twelfth studio album Modern Nature in 2015 Featuring eleven new tracks including “Talking In Tones” It features contributions from the band’s temporary drummers Peter Salisbury (of The Verve), Stephen Morris (of New Order) and Gabriel Gurnsey (of Factory Floor), producer Dave Tollan, backing singers Melanie Marshall and Sandra Marvin, strings by Sean O’Hagan and brass courtesy of Jim Paterson from Dexys Midnight Runners. The Charlatans thirteenth album, Different Days, was released on 26 May 2017 and Tim Burgess latest solo album “I Love the New Sky” was released May 2020.

Tom Morello

American musician, singer, songwriter, actor and political activist. Thomas Baptiste Morello was born May 30, 1964. in Harlem, New York, and raised in Libertyville, Illinois, Morello became interested in music and politics while in high school. He attended Harvard University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies. Morello’s paternal great-uncle, Jomo Kenyatta, was the first elected president in Kenyan history. His parents met in August 1963 while attending a pro-democracy protest in Nairobi, Kenya. His father, Ngethe Njoroge was a Kenyan participant in the Mau Mau Uprising and served as Kenya’s first ambassador to the United Nations.

Mary returned to the United States with Njoroge in November and married in New York City. However When Morello was 16 months old, his Father Ngethe Njoroge returned to his native Kenya and denied his paternity of his son. Morello was raised by his mother in Libertyville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. There, he attended Libertyville High School, where his mother was a U.S. history teacher. She was the homeroom teacher for Tom’s classmate and fellow guitarist Adam Jones, of the band Tool, while teaching at Libertyville. Morello sang in the school choir and portrayed Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

At age 13, Morello joined his first band; a Led Zeppelin cover band as the lead singer. At this same age, Morello purchased his first guitar. Around 1984, Morello first started studying the guitar seriously. He had formed a band in the same year called the Electric Sheep which featured future Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass. The band wrote original material that included politically charged lyrics. None of the songs composed by the Sheep contained solos; soloing was a skill that Morello began learning in college. He has said that he was profoundly influenced by Run-D.M.C, and Jam Master Jay in particular. This influence can be heard in songs like “Bulls on Parade” where his guitar solos mimic a DJ scratching. Additionally, the Bomb Squad and Public Enemy has had a large impact on his musical style.

At the time, Morello’s musical tastes lay in the direction of hard rock and heavy metal, particularly Kiss and Iron Maiden. As he stated in Flight 666, he is a huge fan of Piece of Mind, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath. He cited Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath as one of his biggest influences as a riff writer. Morello developed his own unique sound through the electric guitar. Later, his musical style and politics were greatly influenced by punk rock bands like The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and Devo, and artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

Morello developed leftist political leanings early, and has described himself as having been “the only anarchist in a conservative high school”, and has since identified as a nonsectarian socialist. In the 1980 mock elections at Libertyville, he campaigned for a fictitious anarchist “candidate” named Hubie Maxwell, who came in fourth place in the election. He also wrote a piece headlined “South Africa: Racist Fascism That We Support” for the school alternative newspaper The Student Pulse. Morello graduated from high school with honors in June 1982 and enrolled at Harvard University as a political science student that autumn. Morello graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies. He moved to Los Angeles, where he supported himself, first by working as an exotic male stripper. He went by the moniker of Tom “Meat Swinger” Morello.Adam Jones, his high school classmate, moved to Los Angeles as well; Morello introduced Jones and Maynard James Keenan to Danny Carey, who would come to form the band Tool. From 1987 to 1988, Morello worked in the office of California Democratic Senator Alan Cranston

After his previous band Lock Up disbanded in 1991, Morello met Zack de la Rocha, and the two founded Rage Against the Machine together. He also drafted drummer Brad Wilk, who he knew from his band Lock Up, where Wilk unsuccessfully auditioned for a drumming spot. Zack then convinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to play bass. in 1992 Rage Against he Machine released their self titled debut album. In 2000 in Los Angeles during the Democratic National Convention, Rage Against the Machine performed outside the Staples Center to a crowd numbering in the thousands while the Convention took place inside. The Los Angeles Police Department subsequently turned off the power and ordered the audience to disperse. In late 2000, after Commerford’s stunt at the VMA’s, the disgruntled de la Rocha quit the band. Rage Against the Machine performed their last concert at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Although Rage Against the Machine disbanded in October 2000 after de la Rocha departed amid disputes over the direction of the band, their fourth studio album, Renegades, became a collection of cover songs from artists such as Bob Dylan, MC5, Bruce Springsteen and Cypress Hill. Their last album, titled Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium was releasd in 2003 it featured, an edited recording of the band’s final two concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles and DVD release of the last show plus a previously unreleased music video for “Bombtrack”.

After disbanding, Morello, Wilk and Commerford went on to form Audioslave with then-former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell and released three albums as well as a DVD from the band’s concert in Cuba. After de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, the remaining bandmates began collaborating with former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell at the suggestion of producer Rick Rubin. The band released their eponymous debut album on November 19, 2002. It was a critical and commercial success, attaining triple-platinum status. The band released their second album, Out of Exile, in 2005. they also released a DVD documenting their trip as the first American rock band to play a free show in Cuba. The band’s third album, Revelations, was released in the fall of 2006. As of February 15, 2007, Audioslave have broken up as a result of frontman Cornell’s departure due to “irresolvable personality conflicts”.

The band reunited with Zack de la Rocha and resumed their previous band, Rage Against the Machine. On April 29, 2007, Rage Against the Machine reunited at the Coachella Music Festival and played seven more shows in the United States in 2007 (including their first non-festival concert in seven years at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin), and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside the US since re-forming as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand. In August 2008 they headlined nights at the Reading and Leeds festivals. The have also headlined Lollapalooza in Chicago. In 2008 the band also played shows in Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis, Minnesota to coincide with the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention, respectively. In July 2011, Rage Against the Machine played at L.A. Rising, a concert formed by the band in Los Angeles, Alongside Muse and Rise Against.

As of 2016, Morello is a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello was also a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. He also created an acoustic solo side project called The Nightwatchman which is described as a political folk alter ego and gives nim an outlet to express his political views while playing music. He has performed at open mic nights with friends for some time. Morello is also the co-founder (along with Serj Tankian) of the non-profit political activist organization Axis of Justice, which airs a monthly program on Pacifica Radio station KPFK (90.7 FM) in Los Angeles

Topper Headon (The Clash)

Topper Headon, English drummer and songwriter with British Punk bands the Clash and Mirkwood was born 30 May 1955. He joined the Clash in 1976 alongside Joe Strummer Mick Jones and Paul Simonen as part of the original wave of British punk. Before joining The Clash Strummer also had previous musical experience with The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, and rockabilly. The Clash became one of the most prominent of the emerging bands in the UK punk rock scene, their second album, Give ‘Em Enough Rope (1978) reaching number 2 on the UK charts. Soon after, they began achieving success in the US, starting with London Calling (1979), and peaking with 1982′s Combat Rock, reaching number 7 on the US charts and being certified 2x platinum there.

The Clash achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their debut album, The Clash, in 1977. Their third album, London Calling, released in the UK in December 1979, earned them popularity in the United States when it was released there the following month. It was declared the best album of the 1980s a decade later by Rolling Stone magazine. In 1982 they reached new heights of success with the release of Combat Rock, which spawned the US top 10 hit “Rock the Casbah”, helping the album to achieve a 2× Platinum certification there. The Clash’s politicised lyrics, musical experimentation, and rebellious attitude had a far-reaching influence on rock, alternative rock in particular. They became widely referred to as “The Only Band That Matters”, originally a promotional slogan introduced by the group’s record label, CBS. Sadly internal tensions within the band led to Headon leaving the group in 1982, and Jones also departed the following year. The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986 shortly after the fnal album, Cut the Crap, was released.

After the Clash split Strummer embarked on his own solo music career and also acted wrote film scores for television and movies, and presented radio program’s and went on to become one of the most iconic figures of the British punk movement. The Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 2003. Strummer sadly passed away 22 December 2002 however, Strummer’s friends and family established theStrummerville Foundation in his memory which promotes new music, and each year there are many festivals and both organised and spontaneous ceremonies worldwide to celebrate his memory. In January 2003, the band—including original drummer Terry Chimes—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Clash number 28 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

National biscuit day

National Biscuit Day, Takes place annually on 29th May in the UK. Biscuits are a flour-based baked and shaped food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. Types of biscuit include sandwich biscuits, digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, shortbread biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-coated marshmallow treats, Anzac biscuits, biscotti, and speculaas. In most of North America, nearly all hard sweet biscuits are called “cookies” and savoury biscuits are called “crackers”, while the term “biscuit” is used for a soft, leavened quick bread similar to a less sweet version of a scone.

Biscuits didn’t become known as a sweet confectionary until the 7th century, when the Persians experimented by adding different ingredients to the standard water and flour mixture. Biscuits were created to solve The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at sea,
It was initially solved by taking livestock along with a butcher/cook. However The introduction of the baking of processed cereals, including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat, brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellum. Roman cookbook Apicius describes: “a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened, it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper.” Many early physicians believed that most medicinal problems were associated with digestion. Hence, for both sustenance and avoidance of illness, a daily consumption of a biscuit was considered good for health.

Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem, early bakers attempted to create the hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies’ hardtack will survive rough handling and high temperature. Baked hard, it can be kept without spoiling for years as long as it is kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two. To soften hardtack for eating, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal. Anthony the Great (who lived in the 4th century AD) ate biscuits which may have been a popular food among monks of the time and region. At the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the daily allowance on board a Royal Navy ship was one pound of biscuit plus one gallon of beer. Samuel Pepys in 1667 first regularised naval victualling with varied and nutritious rations. Royal Navy hardtack during Queen Victoria’s reign was made by machine at the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard at Gosport, Hampshire, stamped with the Queen’s mark and the number of the oven in which they were baked. When machinery was introduced into the process the dough was thoroughly mixed and rolled into sheets about 2 yards (1.8 m) long and 1 yard (0.9 m) wide which were stamped in one stroke into about sixty hexagonal-shaped biscuits. This left the sheets sufficiently coherent to be placed in the oven in one piece and when baked they were easy to separate. The hexagonal shape rather than traditional circular biscuits meant a saving in material and were easier to pack. Biscuits remained an important part of the Royal Navy sailor’s diet until the introduction of canned foods. Canned meat was first marketed in 1814; preserved beef in tins was officially added to Royal Navy rations in 1847

Early biscuits were hard, dry, and unsweetened. They were most often cooked after bread, in a cooling bakers’ oven; they were a cheap form of sustenance for the poor. By the 7th century AD, cooks of the Persian empire had learnt from their forebears the techniques of lightening and enriching bread-based mixtures with eggs, butter, and cream, and sweetening them with fruit and honey. One of the earliest spiced biscuits was gingerbread, in French, pain d’épices, meaning “spice bread”, brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Grégoire de Nicopolis. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, of Lesser Armenia to live in Bondaroy, France, near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years and taught French priests and Christians how to cook gingerbread. This was originally a dense, treaclely (molasses-based) spice cake or bread.

With the combination of knowledge spreading from Al-Andalus, and then the Crusades and subsequent spread of the spice trade to Europe, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe. By mediaeval times, biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked (e.g., gingerbread), or from cooked bread enriched with sugar and spices and then baked. King Richard I of England (aka Richard the Lionheart) left for the Third Crusade (1189–92) with “biskit of muslin”, which was a mixed corn compound of barley, rye, and bean flour.

As the making and quality of bread had been controlled to this point, so were the skills of biscuit-making through the craft guilds. As the supply of sugar began, and the refinement and supply of flour increased, so did the ability to sample more leisurely foodstuffs, including sweet biscuits. Early references from the Vadstena monastery show how the Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease digestion in 1444. The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 16th century, where they were sold in monastery pharmacies and town square farmers markets. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution in Britain sparked the formation of businesses in various industries, and the British biscuit firms of McVitie’s, Carr’s, Huntley & Palmers, and Crawfords were all established by 1850. Chocolate and biscuits became products for the masses, thanks to the Industrial Revolution and the consumers it created. By the mid-19th century, sweet biscuits were an affordable indulgence and business was booming. Manufacturers such as Huntley & Palmers in Reading, Carr’s of Carlisle and McVitie’s in Edinburgh transformed from small family-run businesses into state-of-the-art operations. British biscuit companies vied to dominate the market with new products and eye-catching packaging. The decorative biscuit tin, invented by Huntley & Palmers in 1831, saw British biscuits exported around the world.In 1900 Huntley & Palmers biscuits were sold in 172 countries, and their global reach was reflected in their advertising. Competition and innovation among British firms saw 49 patent applications for biscuit-making equipment, tins, dough-cutting machines and ornamental moulds between 1897 and 1900.In 1891, Cadbury filed a patent for a chocolate-coated biscuit. Along with local farm produce of meat and cheese, many regions of the world have their own distinct style of biscuit due to the historic prominence of this form of food.