Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 October 15b

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Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer whose music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān, and large-scale, technically intricate works like Sequentia cyclica. He had a lifelong tendency to seclusion and felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and ancestry; his mother was English and his father a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India. After playing his music publicly between 1920 and 1936, Sorabji imposed restrictions on its performance, which he lifted in 1976. He has been likened to the composer-pianists he admired, including Franz Liszt and Charles-Valentin Alkan, and his harmonic language and complex rhythms anticipated works from the mid-20th century onwards. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Johann Adam von Questenberg

... that Johann Adam von Questenberg (pictured), who worked for the Austrian Imperial Court, was an amateur lutenist who made his palace a music centre?
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... that in his sculptures for the Daily Mirror, Ben Enwonwu carved a "religious group" flying news all over the world?
... that Zenith equipped the floppy-only models of the Eazy PC with power supplies too weak to accommodate a hard drive?
... that after the footballer Romeo Beckham was released by Arsenal, he trained in tennis before returning to football five years later?
... that the Düben collection contains the sole surviving copies of many works by Dieterich Buxtehude?
... that the tiny bivalve mollusc Montacuta substriata attaches to the spines of the purple heart urchin, where it resembles a grain of sand?
... that Abdullah Aidit did not want his son to change his name, mainly because he did not want to deal with the administrative consequences?

In the news

Sir David Amess

British Member of Parliament Sir David Amess (pictured) dies after being stabbed during a constituency meeting.
A tower fire in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, kills at least 46 people and injures 41 others.
At the Boston Marathon, Diana Kipyokei and Benson Kipruto win the women's and men's races, respectively.
Alexander Schallenberg becomes Chancellor of Austria following the resignation of Sebastian Kurz.

On this day

October 15: Vijayadashami (Hinduism, 2021)

Mata Hari

1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces captured Glasgow, Missouri, although it had little long-term benefit as Price's Missouri Expedition was defeated a week later.
1888 – George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee in London, received a letter allegedly from Jack the Ripper.
1917 – Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari (pictured) was executed by a firing squad for spying for Germany.
1954 – Hurricane Hazel made landfall in the Carolinas in the United States before moving north to Toronto in Canada later the same day, killing a total of 176 people in both countries.
2011 – Global demonstrations against economic inequality, corporate influence on government, and other issues, were held in more than 950 cities in 82 countries.

Lambert of Italy (d. 898)
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (b. 1802)
Julia Yeomans (b. 1954)

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Jake Gyllenhaal in 2016

American actor and producer Jake Gyllenhaal has received numerous awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award for playing Jack Twist in Ang Lee's romance Brokeback Mountain (2005). After receiving his first nominations for the 1999 film October Sky, Gyllenhaal's performance as the title character in the 2001 psychological thriller film Donnie Darko earned him a Young Hollywood Award. He received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role opposite Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. In 2014, Gyllenhaal starred in Nightcrawler as a stringer selling footage of violent late-night events; he was awarded Best Actor by several regional film critics associations and nominated for Best Actor at the 68th British Academy Film Awards and the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. For his performance in the Broadway play Sea Wall/A Life, he was nominated for Best Actor in a Play at the 74th Tony Awards. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is endemic to Cuba and is the smallest bird in the world and smallest known dinosaur. This immature male has yet to develop the iridescent blue plumage of the adult. The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar, probing deep into flowers with its bill and moving its tongue rapidly in and out. In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. As it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen, and in this way plays an important role in plant reproduction. In one day, the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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