History, anything goes, including pictures

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5 April, 1908
Bette Davis is born



Bette Davis was one of Hollywood's great actresses during its golden age. She was the first actor or actress to be nominated ten times, winning twice for "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938).

Other significant roles during her career included her comeback film "All About Eve" (1950) and the horror "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962) with Joan Crawford with whom she has a real life rivalry.

In 1941 she became the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, In 1977 she was also the first woman to be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.

Born: April 5, 1908
Birthplace: Lowell, Massachusetts, USA

Star Sign: Aries

Died: October 6, 1989 (aged 81)
Cause of Death: Breast cancer

 

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The Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Thanks Mellowyellow ... what an amazing piece, so ornate.

 

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5 April, 1908
Bette Davis is born

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Bette Davis was one of Hollywood's great actresses during its golden age. She was the first actor or actress to be nominated ten times, winning twice for "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938).

Other significant roles during her career included her comeback film "All About Eve" (1950) and the horror "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962) with Joan Crawford with whom she has a real life rivalry.

In 1941 she became the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, In 1977 she was also the first woman to be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.

Born: April 5, 1908
Birthplace: Lowell, Massachusetts, USA

Star Sign: Aries

Died: October 6, 1989 (aged 81)
Cause of Death: Breast cancer

Incredible actress. She gave me the horrors in "All About Eve" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?".

 

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5 April 1614 – Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.

Pocahontas (1596–1617) was a Native American woman notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas was captured and held for ransom by the English during Anglo-Indian hostilities in 1613. During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca. When the opportunity arose for her to return to her people, she chose to remain with the English.

The abduction of Pocahontas 1619, Johann Theodor de Bry. Engraving depicting a full narrative of the event. Portrait engraving by Simon de Passe, 1616. Statue of Pocahontas at St George's Church in Gravesend.

In April 1614, at the age of 17, she married tobacco planter John Rolfe on 5 April 1614, by chaplain Richard Buck, probably at Jamestown. For two years they lived at Rolfe's plantation, Varina Farms, across the James River from Henricus. Their son, Thomas, was born on 30 January 1615. In 1616, the Rolfes travelled to London. Pocahontas was presented to English society as an example of the "civilised savage" in hopes of stimulating investment in the Jamestown settlement.

In 1617, the Rolfes were to set sail for Virginia, but Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes, aged around 20-21. She was buried in St George's Church, Gravesend in England, but the exact location of her grave is unknown, as the church has been rebuilt.

 

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5 April 1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.

Easter Island is a Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

A View of the Monuments of Easter Island, Rapanui. William Hodges, circa 1775–1776. The earliest known painting of Easter Island. Moai facing inland at Ahu Tongariki, restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s.

Polynesian people most likely settled on Easter Island sometime between 700 and 1100 AD and created a thriving and industrious culture as evidenced by the island's numerous enormous stone moai and other artifacts. However, human activity, the introduction of the Polynesian rat and overpopulation led to gradual deforestation and extinction of natural resources which severely weakened the Rapa Nui civilisation.

By the time of European arrival in 1722, the island's population had dropped to 2,000–3,000 from an estimated high of approximately 15,000 just a century earlier. European diseases and Peruvian slave raiding in the 1860s further reduced the Rapa Nui population, to a low of only 111 inhabitants in 1877.

 

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5 April 1932 – In the Dominion of Newfoundland, ten thousand rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.

This episode was precipitated by a crisis in Newfoundland's public finances in 1932. Newfoundland had accumulated a significant amount of debt by building a railway across the island and raising its own regiment for the First World War. Economic frustration combined with anger over government corruption led to a general dissatisfaction with democratic government.

Map of the Dominion of Newfoundland. Flag. Coat of Arms. Newfoundland dollar bill issued in 1920. Postage stamp. Current scenes.

Before attaining dominion status, Newfoundland was a British colony, self-governing from 1855. Newfoundland then became a British dominion from 1907 to 1949. In 1934, Newfoundland became the only dominion to give up its self-governing status, ending 79 years of self-government.

The system of a six-member Commission of Government continued to govern Newfoundland until it joined Canada in 1949 to become Canada's tenth province.

 

[mellowyellow]

April 6

Richard the Lionheart dies

Full Name: Richard I
Profession: King

Why Famous: King of England for ten years from 1189 to 1199.

Birthplace: Oxford, England
Died: 6 April, 1199 (aged 41)
Cause of Death: Infection after being wounded by a crossbow

He is remembered for being a chivalrous medieval king; for battling Saladin during the Crusades; and for rebelling against his father, Henry II

 

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April 6
View attachment 158479
Richard the Lionheart dies

Full Name: Richard I
Profession: King

Why Famous: King of England for ten years from 1189 to 1199.

Birthplace: Oxford, England
Died: 6 April, 1199 (aged 41)
Cause of Death: Infection after being wounded by a crossbow

He is remembered for being a chivalrous medieval king; for battling Saladin during the Crusades; and for rebelling against his father, Henry II

Thanks Mellowyellow, interesting story about his death and multiple entombments:

In March 1199, Richard was in Limousin suppressing a revolt by Viscount Aimar V of Limoge. On 26 March 1199, Richard was hit in the shoulder by a crossbow, and the wound turned gangrenous. The person responsible reportedly turned out to be a boy who said Richard had killed his father and two brothers, and that he had killed Richard in revenge. The boy expected to be executed, but as a final act of mercy Richard forgave him, saying "Live on, and by my bounty behold the light of day", before he ordered the youth to be freed and sent away with 100 shillings. Richard died on 6 April 1199 in the arms of his mother.

Richard's heart was buried at Rouen in Normandy, his entrails in Châlus (where he died), and the rest of his body at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou with his father. Pictured: Tomb containing the heart of King Richard at Rouen Cathedral, tomb at Fontevraud Abbey.

 

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6 April 1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

The Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter in Latin submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and defending Scotland's right to use military action when unjustly attacked.

“… for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

Generally believed to have been written in the Arbroath Abbey by Bernard of Kilwinning, then Chancellor of Scotland and Abbot of Arbroath, and sealed by fifty-one magnates and nobles, the letter is the sole survivor of three created at the time. In 2016 the Declaration of Arbroath was placed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

 

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6 April 1895 – Waltzing Matilda is first performed at the North Gregory Hotel, Winton, Queensland.

"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's best-known bush ballad, and has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and were first published as sheet music in 1903. The song itself was first performed on 6 April 1895 by Sir Herbert Ramsay at the North Gregory Hotel in Winton, Queensland. The occasion was a banquet for the Premier of Queensland.

It has been widely accepted that "Waltzing Matilda" is probably based on the following story:
In 1891 the Great Shearers' Strike in Queensland brought the colony close to civil war and was broken only after the Premier of Queensland, Samuel Griffith, called in the military. In September 1894, some shearers at Dagworth Station were again on strike. The situation turned violent with the striking shearers firing their rifles and pistols in the air and setting fire to the woolshed at Dagworth, killing dozens of sheep. The owner of Dagworth Station and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister – also known as "Frenchy". Rather than be captured, Hoffmeister shot and killed himself at the Combo Waterhole.

A fortified temporary shearing shed at Dagworth Station following the 1894 arson of the main shed. The three troopers at left are thought to be those referred to in "Waltzing Matilda", while the squatter was Bob Macpherson, fourth from right. State Library of Queensland.

 

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6 April 1896 – The opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated in Athens, 1500 years after the original games were banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee, which had been created by Pierre de Coubertin, the Games were held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.

The opening ceremony in the Panathenaic Stadium. Cover of the official report of 1896 Athens Summer Olympics, sometimes referred to as the poster of the Games. Some of the winning athletes.

 

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Moscow, Russia
A sculpture exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth opens at Vnukovo airport. Photograph: Mikhail Japaridze/Tass

 

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Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren 1894

 

[mellowyellow]

April 7
1948 World Health Organization formed by the United Nations
When diplomats met to form the United Nations in 1945, one of the things they discussed was setting up a global health organization. WHO's Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day.

 

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April 7
1948 World Health Organization formed by the United Nations
When diplomats met to form the United Nations in 1945, one of the things they discussed was setting up a global health organization. WHO's Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day.

Such a worthy ideal. Seems to run a little contrary to current pandemic conditions IMO.

 

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Moscow, Russia
A sculpture exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth opens at Vnukovo airport. Photograph: Mikhail Japaridze/Tass

So brilliant but a difficult life healthwise ...

When Ludwig van Beethoven’s magisterial 9th Symphony premiered in 1824, the composer had to be turned around to see the audience cheering — he could not hear the audience’s rapturous applause. Beethoven first noticed difficulties with his hearing decades earlier, sometime in 1798, when he was about 28. By the time he was 44 or 45, he was totally deaf and unable to converse unless he passed written notes back and forth to his colleagues, visitors and friends. He died in 1827 at the age of 56.

Like many men of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he suffered from a plethora of other illnesses and ailments. In Beethoven’s case, the list included chronic abdominal pain and diarrhea that might have been due to an inflammatory bowel disorder, depression, alcohol abuse, respiratory problems, joint pain, eye inflammation, and cirrhosis of the liver. This last problem, given his prodigious drinking, may have been the final domino that toppled him into the grave. Bedridden for months, he died in 1827, most likely from liver and kidney failure, peritonitis, abdominal ascites, and encephalopathy. An autopsy revealed severe cirrhosis and dilatation of the auditory and other related nerves in the ear.

 

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7 April 1141 – Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England, adopting the title 'Lady of the English'.

Empress Matilda (1102–1167) was the claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy as the daughter of King Henry I of England. Henry died in 1135 but his other children Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and were unable to pursue their claims. The throne was instead taken by Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church. In 1139 Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and her uncle, King David I of Scotland, while her first husband Geoffrey of Anjou focused on conquering Normandy.

15th-century depiction of the Empress. Stamp.

Matilda's forces captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, and Empress Matilda’s quasi reign as Queen of England began on 7 April 1141. However, the Empress's attempt to be crowned at Westminster collapsed in the face of bitter opposition from the London crowds. As a result of this retreat, Matilda was never formally declared Queen of England, and was instead titled the Lady of the English.

 

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7 April 1827 – John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match that he had invented the previous year.

John Walker (1781–1859) was an English inventor who invented the friction match. He developed a keen interest in trying to find a means of obtaining fire easily. Several chemical mixtures were already known which would ignite by a sudden explosion, but it had not been found possible to transmit the flame to a slow-burning substance like wood.

Walker's sales-book contains an account of no fewer than 250 sales of friction matches, the first entry bearing the date 7 April 1827. The price of a box of 50 matches was one shilling. With each box was supplied a piece of sandpaper, folded double, through which the match had to be drawn to ignite it.

 

[mellowyellow]

7 April 1827 – John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match that he had invented the previous year.

John Walker (1781–1859) was an English inventor who invented the friction match. He developed a keen interest in trying to find a means of obtaining fire easily. Several chemical mixtures were already known which would ignite by a sudden explosion, but it had not been found possible to transmit the flame to a slow-burning substance like wood.

Walker's sales-book contains an account of no fewer than 250 sales of friction matches, the first entry bearing the date 7 April 1827. The price of a box of 50 matches was one shilling. With each box was supplied a piece of sandpaper, folded double, through which the match had to be drawn to ignite it.

We still need matches for lighting candles in the blackout.

 

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April 8
The famous ancient Greek statue, Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos on this day in 1820.

Originally carved in two blocks of marble then fitted together, the statue stands 6 feet 7 inches from head to toe and is the creation of an artist named Alexandros of Antioch, about whom little is known.

It arrived in France in 1821 and was presented to Louis XVIII, who donated it to the Louvre Museum, where it remains today.

 

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April 8
The famous ancient Greek statue, Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos on this day in 1820.

Originally carved in two blocks of marble then fitted together, the statue stands 6 feet 7 inches from head to toe and is the creation of an artist named Alexandros of Antioch, about whom little is known.

It arrived in France in 1821 and was presented to Louis XVIII, who donated it to the Louvre Museum, where it remains today.

Such an amazing discovery, thanks Mellowyellow.

 

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8 April 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.

Winchester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. The original cathedral was founded in 642 on a site immediately to the north of the present one. This building became known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971. In 1079, Walkelin, the first Norman bishop of Winchester, began work on a completely new cathedral. Much of the limestone used to build the structure was brought across from the Isle of Wight.
The building was consecrated on 8 April 1093. A substantial amount of the fabric of Walkelin's building, including the crypt, transepts and the basic structure of the nave, survives today.

 

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8 April 1817 – Australia's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales, now Westpac, is established.

The Bank of New South Wales, also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney on 8 April 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th and early 20th century, the Bank opened branches first throughout Australia and Oceania. It merged with many other financial institutions, finally merging with the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982 to form the Westpac Banking Corporation.
The first Australia bank didn't have a safe! Notice in the Sydney Gazette, March 29 1817. Head Office. State Library of NSW.

A tent branch at Wyalong, in the Northern Riverina, opened in 1894. Financial Review.

 

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8 April 1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter and co-founder of the first film Oscars is born.

Gladys Louise Smith (8 April 1892 – 29 May 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-born film actress and producer. She was a co-founder of both the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio along with Douglas Fairbanks, and later, the United Artists film studio with Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who present the yearly "Oscar" award ceremony.
Mary Pickford, 1916. Mary Pickford with her Best Actress Academy Award for Coquette.

Pickford was known in her prime as "America's Sweetheart" and the "girl with the curls". She was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford was one of the earliest stars to be billed under her own name, and was one of the most popular actresses of the 1910s and 1920s, earning the nickname "Queen of the Movies". She is credited as having defined the ingénue archetype in cinema.

 

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April 9
1869 Hudson Bay Company cedes its territory to Canada

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), chartered 2 May 1670, is the oldest incorporated joint-stock merchandising company in the English-speaking world. HBC was a fur trading business for most of its history, a past that is entwined with the colonization of British North America and the development of Canada.

After incorporation by English royal charter in 1670, the company functioned as the de facto government in parts of North America for nearly 200 years until the HBC sold the land it owned (the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin, known as Rupert's Land) to Canada in 1869 as part of the Deed of Surrender.