December 28: Give us the nice bright colors

On December 28, 1895 the Lumiere Brothers held the first public movie screening in the basement of a café in Paris. It was the birth of the cinema. Their father ran a photography shop in Lyon. The story goes that their father saw Edison’s Kinestoscope in Paris (where you had to look into a peephole to see the picture) and suggested to his sons that they could improve this by moving the “image out of the box.” They did, and in 1895, the first movie show was held.

The first showing was of 10 movies, each about 40 seconds in length. You can see all of them at the Lumiere Institute’s web site: http://www.institut-lumiere.org/english/frames_lum.html The first was Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory; look at the guy with the handkerchief about 33 seconds in: what is he doing?. The second is really funny, named the “The Vaulting.” These films are in black and white.

 

The Lumiere brothers also invented the Autochrome, a new process for creating color photographs. This was a huge improvement over previous methods, and was the primary method used between 1907 and the 1930’s. The Albert Kahn Museum in Paris has a collection of 72,000 Autochrome photographs, the largest in the world.

The history of the invention and some pictures can be seen at http://www.institut-lumiere.org/english/frames_lum.html

 

Anyway, the café where the first movie screening took place was called the Salon Indien du Grand Café, located at 14 Boulevard Des Capucines in Paris.

On this same date, December 28, 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen published a paper on a new form of radiation (x-rays). It turns out he conducted experiments at the very same café.

 

Today, the site of the café is occupied by the Hotel Scribe, a 5* Sofitel property. One of its restaurants is called Le Lumiere:

http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-0663-hotel-scribe-paris-managed-by-sofitel/index.shtml#./restaurant.shtml and you can see a picture of the Lumiere brothers over the fireplace.

 

Sort of related tidbits:

-- at 35 Boulevard des Capucines, in 1874, was the first impressionist exhibition, including work by Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, Degas, and Monet.

--- Monet painted two pictures called Boulevard Des Capucines; one is in Moscow, the other in Kansas City.

---Capucine is also the name of an actress; you will recognize her from The Pick Panther and What’s New Pussycat:

Capucine_The_Pink_Panther.jpg

December 23: Dirty Rotten ...Row?

Today is the birthday of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham (1621).  He was Lord Chancellor and a member of Parliament. He became Baron Finch in 1673 and Earl of Nottingham in May 1681.

He built a house in (the village of) Kensington called the Nottingham House  It was acquired by King William III in 1689 because he wanted a residence near London but far away enough away from the smoke that covered London; the king was an asthmatic.  The king's official residence was St. James Palace in London.  Interestingly, it remains the official residence of the king/queen today even though no monarch has lived there for over 200 years.  In 1941, representatives of several countries met at the palace to sign the Declaration of St. James's Palace, which then became the charter of the United Nations.

Anyway, the house Finch built became Kensington Palace.  Christopher Wren made many enhancements to the house; he is responsible, among other things, for the architecture of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  

A road was built from St. James Palace to Kensington Palace, and was called the "Route de Roi" or the road of kings.  Over time, the name evolved to "Rotten Row." I don't know how the name changed, but one hypothesis is that it comes from the Gaelic phrase Rat-an-righ, which translates as "Road Of The Kings" 

The road runs just south of Hyde Park, and still exists.  You can see a picture of it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotten_Row_-_Hyde_Park.jpg  The Household Cavalry exercises its horses on Rotten Row.

December 22: Oh what a night, late December...

Not what you are thinking, it was late December back in 1808, in Vienna. It was the date of a great concert, featuring the debut of Beethoven’s 5th and 6th symphonies, his 4th piano concerto, and the Choral Fantasy. Beethoven conducted and played the piano. 

 The debut was held at the Theater An Der Wien in Vienna, one of the nicest concert halls I have been to. My wife and I went there after we were first married, and saw a performance of the Merry Widow, by Franz Lehar. That operetta also had its debut at this theater, in 1905. In fact, they are performing it again next week.

The Theater An Der Wien has an interesting history, besides hosting the debut performance of great compositions. It was built by Emanuel Schikaneder, who wrote the libretto to the Magic Flute (Mozart), and sang the role of Papageno in the premiere. The theater has a statue of him in that role over one of its doors; he died in poverty in 1812.

In November of this year, a concert was held at the theater featuring one of Mozart’s favorite pianos; this piano returned to Vienna after 200 years. It had been donated to a museum in Salzburg soon after his death, and is now on display at Mozart’s house/museum. You can see a picture of it at http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1192179!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/mozart26n-2-web.jpg

December 21: Wynne'ng words

On December 21, 1913, the first crossword puzzle was published. It was created by Arthur Wynne, a journalist born in Liverpool, who emigrated to the USA in 1891. He first worked for the Pittsburgh Press, and also was a violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He later moved to New York, and the first puzzle was published in the New York World’s “fun” section. It was called a word-cross. The story goes that a typesetting error reversed the words and dropped the hyphen a few weeks later, and the crossword puzzle was born.

The first collection of crossword puzzles was published as a book in 1924. It was the first publication of two young men called Simon and Schuster. Simon’s aunt wanted to buy a book of crosswords for her daughter; Simon decided to publish one. They paid the newspaper $25 for each puzzle. The book was a spectacular success; they sold more than 300,000 books in the first year. Each book came with a pencil attached to it. Today, the company is owned by CBS and is one of the largest book publishers in the world.

September 20: Not quite around the world

On this day in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Sanlúcar de
Barrameda in Spain to circumnavigate the globe. This has an
interesting background. In the late 1400's, it was known that the
Americas were a separate continent, and not part of Asia. The problem
for Spain was how to get to the Spice Islands ( the Moluccas, in
Indonesia today). They could not go round the Africa: a treaty signed
in 1494 gave the Portugese the sole right to this eastern route. So
they needed a western route.

Magellan proposed finding this route to Charles I of Spain, and the
project was approved because if successful, they would have a route
without having to go to war with the Portugese.

Five ships sailed on September 20, 1519. Ships from Portugal followed
them, but he got past them. When the arrived in South America, they
could not land in Brazil, it was Portugese territory. They landed
instead in Argentina (near Rio), there was a mutiny but Magellan
prevailed. Then they started to sail south, looking for a way around.
They found what we now call the Magellan Straits, sailed into the
Pacific (which was named by Magellan: Mar Pacifico because it was
peaceful), and they were the first cross the Pacific.

Magellan did not make it back: he was killed in the Battle of Mactan
in the Phillipines in 1521. Two of the ships continued the journey,
made it to the Spice Islands. They continued westward, around Africa,
almost died, and one ship, captained by Juan Sebastián Elcano, finally
returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Elcano and his surviving crew were
the first to circumnavigate the globe.

December 11: If Not For Max

The physicist Max Born was born on December 11, 1882. He was one of the pioneering developers of quantum mechanics. He won the Nobel prize in 1954. Some of his most productive years were at the University of Gottingen, in Germany. He had to leave Germany in 1933, and went to the UK, first to Cambridge and then to Edinburgh, but returned after retiring in 1953. He is buried in Gottingen. His tombstone has on it his fundamental equation or matrix mechanics, you can see a picture here: http://www.origin-life.gr.jp/3004/3004229/126.jpg

The singer/actress Olivia Newton-John is his granddaughter. Max’s daughter, Irene, married Brinley Newton-John, who worked for British intelligence during WWII, and then moved to Australia in the 1950’s to teach at the University of Melbourne’s Ormond College.

Her first solo album was titled “If Not For You,” released in 1971. The title song was written by Bob Dylan and previously recorded by George Harrison, and was her first international hit. You can watch/hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwTYhnQgJjA. There is also a version by Dylan/Harrison at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tctzUNMp5po

December 10: More Music Died

December 10 marks the anniversary of the death of Otis Redding in 1967. He was 26. The plane he was traveling in crashed outside Madison, Wisconsin, in bad weather. He died three days after recording the song “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” The song was released in January 1968, and was his only number 1 single on the Billboard 100. It was actually the first posthumous number one song in history. Interestingly, he intended to replace the whistling at the end of the song with a new verse, but never did. I wonder what he had in mind. You can hear it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzrXc68gNjQ

You can also hear his version of “Satisfaction,” the song by the Rolling Stones at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmSDExVBR94

The story goes that Otis did not know some words to the song and made them up. His version includes horns playing the main riff, which I understand was originally intended by Keith Richards.

There have been 7 posthumous #1 hits, including songs by Janis Joplin, Jim Croce, and John Lennon.

Other musicians who died in plane crashes in the rock and roll era include Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens, all on the same plane in 1959; and Jim Croce in 1973. The first event, of course, was known as the day the music died, as immortalized in Don McLeans ballad.

December 8: Unspeakable Tragedy

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon died. On the Monday Night football game that day (Patriots vs. Dolphins), Howard Cosell announced it, calling it an “unspeakable tragedy.”

 

The Beatles had their origin in the Quarrymen, who were a skiffle/rock group Lennon formed in 1956. The name comes from the Quarry Banks School, which the members attended; Paul McCartney joined the band in 1957 and George Harrison in 1958. In 1997, there was a concert by the surviving members of the original Quarrymen, 40 years after their first performance in 1957, the performance at which John and Paul first met. Perhaps their first recording was Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day."The band is still around, you can find them at http://www.originalquarrymen.co.uk/index.html, and in fact, they are giving a concert tonight in Bristol. Ringo Starr never played for the Quarrymen, he joined the Beatles in 1962.

Skiffle is a mix of blues, folk, and jazz that uses improvised instruments, such as washboards and jugs. It became very popular in the UK in the 1950's, and one big skiffle star was Lonnie Donegan; his recording of "Rock Island Line," originally by Leadbelly, sold over a million copies.

If you want to hear some of the original Quarrymen recordings and the songs that influenced them, read on.

You can see/hear the Quarrymen’s first two recordings and more:

---In Spite of All The Danger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuuOAA9ekbg

---That'll Be The Day at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4_LMMKq8Hw

---“I’ll Follow the Sun” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfKX4yyX0k

Leadbelly had a great version of the song “House of the Rising Sun,” later a huge hit for The Animals. You can hear it at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5tOpyipNJs

His original version of Rock Island Line is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCiJ4QQG9WQ while the Donegal version is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQgG98VSOs I love this version, by George Harrison and Paul Simon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iotkCBxnzc from 1976.

December 7: Play it again, Tony

December 7, 1963 featured the first instant replay on TV, in the 4th quarter of the Army-Navy game played at Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia. It was invented by Tony Verna, a CBS sports director, who was 29 at the time. He figured out how to use a standard videotape recorder provide an instant replay. He wrote about it in a book, "Instant Replay: The Day That Changed Sports Forever." It completely changed the football viewing experience; you could see replays in the dead time between snaps. By having multiple cameras, you could be shown different angles and different parts of the field in the replay.

The first replay was of Army QB Rollie Stichweh running for a 1 yard TD. It was replayed at the original speed, and the announcer had to warn viewers that Army had not scored again, that this was a replay. It was the only replay shown in the game.

Roger Staubach was the Navy QB, and Navy won 21-15; Staubach also won the Heisman trophy that year. At the time of Stichweh's touchdown, Navy was ahead 21-7, with halfback Pat Donnely having scored 3 TD's. Stichweh followed the TD with a run in for 2-point conversion, and recovered the onside kick. Army then made it all the way to the 2 yard line when time ran out.

December 6: Strong Bitter Beer

December 6 is the birthday of the French chemist Gay Lussac, who invented a way to measure the alcohol content of, among other things, beer, wine, and spirits.  What we call ABV (alcohol by volume) is also called "degrees Gay Lussac" after him, so in France, for example, you may see "6.8% GL" on a bottle.  It is the official measure of alcohol content in Europe. 

Another measure is "proof," which is twice ABV in the US.  In the UK, proof is different; 100 proof is about 57% ABV, while in the US, 100 proof is 50% ABV. 

The term "proof" has its origins in proving that there was the stated amount of alcohol in rum, which was used as a means of payment to sailors.  They found that if you mixed gunpowder with rum and set it on fire, it would not burn if it had less than 57.15% of alcohol, and this number became 100% proof that the rum was not watered down.

For beer, besides alcohol content, there is also a measure of bitterness, IBU for international bittering unit.  It measures the amount of a certain acid in the beer.  For benchmarking, a pale lager style beer may have 10 IBU, a pilsner 25 IBU, an IPA about 50 IBU.  Among the highest is barleywine, which may go up to 80 or 90 IBU.

By the way, Gay Lussac also discovered boron. You have probably used borax, a compound of boron, found in cleaning agents.  Borax has been around for thousands of years, boron was isolated by Gay Lussac and his colleagues in 1808.  He also coined the terms "burette" and "pipette" that you  used in high school chemistry.

December 5: My name is Harley

December 5 marks the birthday of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford.  He was almost the first Prime Minister of England, but not quite; the title is held by Walpole.  Harley was a "Chief Minister."

Anyway, an important part of London was developed by his son, Edward Harley.  Edward inherited Wimpole Hall though his wife.  He developed Harley Street, the center of medical specialists in London.

Wimpole Street, named after Wimpole Hall, was also developed by Harley junior.  It has an interesting history.  Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) was an opthalmologist and had his office on Wimpole Street.  In the early days of the Beatles, Paul McCartney lived at the home of  the parents of his girlfriend, Jane Asher, on Wimpole St. and apparently Paul and John Lennon wrote the lyrics to "I wanna to hold your hand" at this house, and McCartney also wrote the words to "Yesterday," easily one of the best songs written in my lifetime. 

A curious tidbit is that there was a toy store on Wimpole Street, called the Abbatt toy store.  It was designed by an architect called Erno Goldfinger.  The Bond character in the film of that name was named after Erno, who knew Ian Fleming.  Apparently, Goldfinger thought about suing Fleming on the use of the name, but relented after Fleming threatened to rename the character Goldprick (and Fleming paid the lawyers fees).