 Mt Fuji climbing season ends
(Fuji-Yoshida
Hi Matsuri)
Beginning on July 1, the
season in which pilgrims climb Mt Fuji ends today. Soon the fire
goddess of Fuji will again be snow capped. Long ago, a demon asked
her for a night's lodging and was refused. In revenge, the demon
made the mountain snowy for most of the year. The Sengen-jinja
shrine at Fuji-Yoshida hosts the torch-lit ceremonies.
The climbing tradition comes from an Edo period (1603 to 1867) climbing
cult. A sacred mountain since ancient times, Fujiyama's
summit was forbidden to women until the Meiji Era.
Fujiyama live
webcam, July 2 in the Book of Days
Jokomiyoji Hiwatari, or Fire-Walking Rite, Japan
At the Jokomiyoji Shrine, Kamakura,
Japan, today is the day for the spectacular firewalking ceremony of
the shrine priests.
Ganesh
Chaturthi (Hinduism; date
varies annually, approx.
Aug 20
to Sep 15)
Ishiki Ochochin Matsuri, or Lantern Festival, Japan (Aug 26 - 27)
The Ishiki Ochochin Matsuri is a festival of lanterns at
Japan's Suwa Shrine. A local legend has it that long ago a dragon
was destroyed here by being cooked on a bonfire, so for years
bonfires were lit in commemoration. These days, huge lanterns, about
ten metres high, are lit and burned for three days, being taken down
after a performance of sacred dance and song.
 Late August, early September:
Freeing the Insects, Japan
An ancient rite held when the 'seven grasses of
summer' are in full bloom. People buy insects in small bamboo cages
from vendors (usually bought on May 28),
and free them in public parks. The person listens for the chirpings
as they go free.
Feast day of St Abundius
Feast day of St Adrian of
Nicomedia
Feast day of St Alexander
of Bergamo
Feast day of St Bichier
Feast day of St Bregwin
Feast day of St Elias
Feast day of St Felix of Pistoia
Feast day of St Gelasinus, a
comedian at Heliopolis
Gelasinus might have been the same person
as St Genesius
of Rome, comedian and martyr (feast day August 25).
"In a remarkably similar manner, this
saint, whose name also sounds much like that of yesterday's Saint
Genesius, was baptized in jest in a warm bath on the stage in
Heliopolis, Phoenicia. Arising from the tub, he professed
himself a Christian and was stoned to death by the audience."
Source
Feast day of St Herluin
Feast day of St Irenaeus
Feast day of St Jeanne
Elizabeth des Bichier des Anges, virgin, co-founder of the
Sisters of St Andrew (or Daughters of the Cross)
Joan Elizabeth Mary Lucy Bichier, born in 1773, founded a community
of nuns Daughters of the Cross) to care for the sick and teach
girls.
Feast day of St John
Bassano
Feast day of St John of
Caramola
Feast day of St Margaret of
Faenza
Feast day of St Pandonia (Pandwyna)
Feast day of St Pantagathus
Feast day of St Rufinus
Feast day of St Secundus
Feast day of St Teresa de
Gesu, Jornet y Ibars
Feast day of St Teresa Coudere
Feast day of St Thomas Percy
Feast day of St Victor
Feast
day of St Zephyrinus,
pope and martyr (feast suppressed in 1969)
(Banded amaryllis, Amaryllis
vittata, was
today's plant, dedicated to St Zephyrinus, whose feast day this was, until
suppressed by the Catholic Church.)
Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Shop saints
Namibia Day, Namibia
Sultan's Birthday, Zanzibar
Water Festival, Tibet
Imilchil
Marriage Feast, Morocco
Women's
Equality Day, USA
Today marks the anniversary of the 1920 proclamation
of the Nineteenth Amendment to the USA Constitution, which gave the
vote to women in that country. It is also known as Susan B
Anthony Day after the great feminist.
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here
1676 Robert Walpole, British prime minister in
1721 - 1742 (d. 1745)
1740 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (d. 1810), French
inventor of hot air balloon with brother
Jacques Étienne
1743 Antoine Lavoisier (d. 1794),
French chemist, inventor of the terms oxygen and hydrogen (executed
during the French Revolution, May 8,1794)
1819
Prince Albert
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bavarian-born husband of Queen Victoria
The
'Prince Albert'
It has been rumoured that
the very proper consort of Queen Victoria had his foreskin pierced
and fitted with a ring, to which was attached a chain, to tether the
royal member so that it did not make an improper bulge when he was
wearing skin-tight breeches.
Genealogy tree of Albert &
Victoria (1MB image, opens in new
window)
1845
JC
Williamson (James Cassius Williamson; d. July 6, 1913, in Paris),
American-born Australian actor and theatrical entrepreneur,
whose career started as a stagehand in the USA. He brought many
international stars thousands of miles across the oceans to Australia, such as the great French actress Sarah Bernhardt
in 1891. Well into the 20th
Century JC Williamson's was the best known of all Australian
theatrical production companies (in friendly competition with others,
such as Bland
Holt's company).
"His father was a doctor of Irish
descent, his mother's forefathers had come from Scotland. He
received a good education at primary and high schools and his family
having moved to Milwaukee, he began to act there in private
theatricals. When he was 16 he obtained an engagement at the local
theatre, and a year later was playing in Canada. In 1863 he found
his way to New York, obtained an engagement in Wallack's company,
then the best in the United States, and became the general utility
man. On one occasion he learned and played the part of Sir Lucins
O'Trigger at 24 hours' notice. His next engagement was at the old
Broadway theatre as principal comedian, and in 1871 he was given a
high salary to go to San Francisco. There he met Maggie
Moore (q.v.) and was married to her in 1873. He went to
Australia in 1874 and opened at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne in Struck
Oil, which proved to be an immediate success. Williamson went to
India in 1875 and in the following year opened in London with Struck
0i1, and had a long season. This was followed by two or three
years in the United States, and in 1879 he again came to Australia
and opened in Pinafore, in which he played Sir Joseph Porter.
He had not intended to become a theatrical manager, but the
suggestion was made by Messrs Arthur Garner and George
Musgrove (q.v.) that they should enter into partnership with
him. The association of these men under the name of Williamson,
Garner and Musgrove continued for nine years, and it became the
leading theatrical firm in Australia. During the next 30 years, with
various changes in his partners, Williamson was to introduce to the
Australian public such famous people as Genevieve Ward, Bernhardt,
Margaret Anglin, Albani, Ada Crossley, Melba,
Kyrle Bellew and Mrs Browne Potter, Charles Warner, the Gaiety
Company with Fred Leslie and Nellie Farren, J. L. Toole, Cuyler
Hastings, Oscar Asche, and a host of others. In his later years,
Williamson lived at Sydney, but made many visits to Europe in
connexion with his work. He began to take a less strenuous part in
management in 1907, and in 1911 the organization was converted into
a company under the name of J. C. Williamson Ltd. He died in Paris
on 6 July 1913. He was survived by his second wife, originally Mary
Weir, and two daughters." Source
"Williamson and his
wife Maggie Moore, arrived in Sydney in 1874. They presented the
play, Struck Oil. Both were American. Williamson had started
his career in New York at Wallacks Theatre. He had subsequently
moved to San Francisco where he had met Maggie. The two, like many
before them decided to try their luck in Sydney. It was to be the
start of a lifelong relationship between Williamson and the city.
"In 1878, the
Williamson and Moore pairing returned to Australia. Williamson had
secured the rights to HMS Pinafore from Gilbert. This was the
beginning of a profitable relationship for both men. In 1879 he
produced the authorised HMS Pinafore at the Theatre Royal in
Sydney ...
"In 1882 Williamson
formed a partnership, known as the firm or the triumvirate, with two
other men, George Musgrove and Arthur Garner. Musgrove had the
advantage of being in a relationship with the popular Australian
musical comedy star, Nellie Stewart. The three men soon controlled
the Theatre Royal in Melbourne, the Royal in Adelaide and the
Theatre Royal in Sydney ...
"In 1885, the Royal
also saw the first appearance of Mrs Armstrong, who was later better
known, as Nellie Melba." Source
Lawson
& Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson
More
More
1845 Mary Anne Nicholls (d. 1888), the first confirmed victim of Jack the Ripper
 1873
Lee De
Forest (d. 1961),
American radio and television pioneer, inventor of the vacuum
tube.
He made broadcasting possible
Lee De Forest, the
American inventor, made broadcasting possible by introducing the
'grid' into the thermionic valve. He was responsible in
1910 for
the world's first musical broadcast and in
1916 for the first
radio program. His other achievements include methods for putting
sound on film and the radio transmission of photographs.
1875 Sir John Buchan (d. February 11,
1940),
Scottish author (The Thirty-Nine Steps, 1915) and
Governor-General
of Canada
1880 Guillaume Apollinaire
(d. 1918),
Italian-born French poet
The ground is poisonous but pretty in autumn
Slowly the cattle
Poison themselves
The saffrons are colored circular and lilac
Like your eyes and flourishing
Purplish like rings and like the autumn
And for your eyes my life takes poison slowly Dressed like hiccups playing harmonicas
Noisily children out of school
Pluck the saffrons that are like mothers
Daughters of daughters the colors of your eyelids
Flutter and are flowers in a crazy wind
The cowboy sings very softly
The slow and lowing herd forever
Abandons the meadow poisoned by flowers
1882 James
Franck, German-born American nuclear physicist
1897 Yoon
Boseon, President of South Korea (d. 1990)
1898 Peggy Guggenheim, art collector (d. 1979)
1900 Hellmuth Walter, engineer and inventor
(d. 1980)
1901 Eleanor
Dark,
AO, Australian author (The
Timeless Land; Storm of Time)
1901 General Maxwell Taylor, soldier (d. 1987)
1904 Christopher
Isherwood (prior to
1946 Christopher
William Bradshaw-Isherwood; d. January
4, 1986),
British-born American author. Isherwood was one of the first internationally known figures to
announce his homosexuality. His novels
Mr Norris Changes Trains and
Goodbye
to Berlin were based on his experience of post-slump, pre-Hitler Berlin.
These became the basis, first of the play (1952) and film (1955)
I Am a
Camera, and then of the
musical (1966) and
film (1972) Cabaret.
Erika
Mann, the lesbian
daughter of German novelist Thomas
Mann, once asked Isherwood to marry her so that she could obtain
a British passport and escape the Nazis. He did not feel that he could do it, so he contacted the
English-born gay poet WH Auden
who did marry her, in 1935. In the 1930s, Christopher Isherwood collaborated with Auden in several
plays, and travelled with him in China in
1938. In January,
1939, they emigrated
to America and, in 1946, Auden became a US citizen.
From Wikipedia:
Arriving in Hollywood in 1939, he first met Gerald
Heard, the mystic-historian who founded his own monastery at Trabuco Canyon
that was eventually gifted to the Vedanta
Society. Through Heard, who was the first to discover Swami
Prabhavananda and Vedanta,
Isherwood joined an extraordinary band of mystic explorers that included Aldous
Huxley, Bertrand
Russell, Chris Wood, John Yale and Jiddu
Krishnamurti. Through Huxley, Isherwood befriended the Russian composer Igor
Stravinsky.
Christopher
Isherwood at IMDB More
Famous lesbian and gay couples Was
Lincoln Gay?
1906 Albert Sabin (d. 1993),
Polish-born American polio vaccine developer
1909 Jim Davis, actor (d. 1981)
1914 Julio Cortázar, writer (d. 1984)
1921 Benjamin Bradlee, journalist
1922 Irving R Levine, American broadcaster
and journalist
1923
Dita Cobb (d. 1991), Australian
broadcaster, newspaper columnist
and actress (The
Dunera Boys; How
to Seduce a Woman)
1935 Geraldine Ferraro, American
politician; first woman Vice
Presidential candidate, in 1984
1941 Barbet Schroeder, director
1942 Dennis Turner, Labour Party member of Parliament (UK)
1942
Vic Dana,
American
dancer and
singer ('Red Roses For a Blue
Lady')
1944 Richard Alexander Walter
Windsor, Duke of Gloucester
1946 Valerie Simpson, singer
1950 Bob Cowsill, American
singer with The Cowsills ('The
Rain, The Park, and Other Things'; 'Hair';
'Indian Lake')
1951 Delvene Delaney,
Australian actress and quiz show hostess
1952 Michael Jeter, actor (d. 2003)
1960 Branford Marsalis, saxophonist,
bandleader
1971 Thalía, Mexican
actress
1980
Macauley Culkin,
American actor (Home Alone;
Uncle Buck)
"By the age of 9, the young
actor had nearly upstaged star
John Candy in
Uncle Buck (1989) (his
deadpan interrogation of Candy was Buck's funniest scene). Then
in 1990 writer John
Hughes turned his finished
Home Alone (1990)
script over to director
Chris Columbus
with a suggestion to consider Culkin for the lead. Though
Macaulay was the first kid Columbus saw he was skeptical about
having him in the lead and saw over 200 other possible actors
and he admitted that no one came as close to being as good as
Culkin. By the callback interview, Mack had memorized two
scenes, and Columbus was sure he found his Kevin McCallister.
The movie grossed more than $285 million in the US alone,
becoming one of the highest grossing movies of all time and
making Macaulay Culkin one of the biggest movie stars of the
time."
Source
Phew!!
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22 Be
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23 Hug
Your Sweetheart Day
23 Ride
The Wind Day
25 Kiss
And Make Up Day
26 Women's
Equality Day
26 Cherry
Popsicle Day
26 Toilet
Paper Day
27 Just
Because Day
27 Banana
Lovers Day
29
Lemon
Juice Day
29 Chop
Suey Day
30 Toasted
Marshmallow Day
31 Eat
Outside Day
September
1 Cherry
Popover Day
3 Football
Day
5 Labor
Day
5 Be
Late For Something Day
5 Teachers'
Day (India)
5 Cheese
Pizza Day
6 Coffee
Ice Cream Day
7 Do
It Day
9 Teddy
Bear Day
9 Hot
Dog Day
11 Grandparents
Day
12 Chocolate
Milkshake Day
13 Positive
Thinking Day
13 Programmers'
Day
14 Cream-filled
Donut Day
16 Independence
Day (Mexico)
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