Good News In History, November 5

Good News In History, November 5

70 years ago, the Vienna State Opera reopened having been destroyed during World War II. Few cities have contributed more to classical music than the capital of Austria, and the State Opera hall has sourced many musicians to the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, and hosted Gustav Mahler as its artistic director for many years. READ more about its design, destruction, and rebirth… (1955)

The State Opera was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka. A monumental demand for various kinds of fine stone existed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, so three different kinds were used. The public didn’t like the building at all.

In March 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The auditorium and stage were destroyed by flames, as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, however, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room.

Lengthy discussion took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. It was rebuilt largely according to the original, unpopular design, but with modern improvements and finishings to reflect the stye of the day including new wooden flooring to help with acoustics. It opened with a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio, the only opera the great composer ever wrote.

More Good News on this Date:

• The Gunpowder Plot failed when Guy Fawkes was seized from the cellar before he could blow up the English Parliament (1605)
• Suffragist Susan B. Anthony voted in her hometown of Rochester, New York, in defiance of the law prohibiting women from casting ballots—she later refused to pay the $100 fine, and continued her fight until in 1920 the right for women to vote became the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution (1872)
• Parker Brothers released the board game Monopoly, the property trading game based on streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey that became licensed in more than 103 countries and printed in 37 languages—with charity versions that have raised thousands for nonprofits (1935)
• Ella Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband (1974)
• NPR news show Morning Edition premiered (1979)
• Apartheid fighter Govan Mbeki was released from South African jail after 24 years (1987)

556 years ago, Guru Nanak, the spiritual teacher and founder of Sikhism, was born. A poet, mystic, philosopher, and singer, Guru Nanak’s philosophy centered on belief in one God for all of creation, a God that is formless, omnipresent, compassionate, and attainable through prayer, humility, service, meditation, and virtuous living.  

Nanak was born in Punjab, an area of Northern India and Pakistan. After a revelatory experience at the age of 37, Nanak traveled extensively to spread his message, that there is one God and one human race. He denounced ritualism, discrimination against women—and against those of lower socioeconomic status. This philosophy became the foundation of Sikhism (meaning: seeker or truth or disciple), which is today the fifth-largest religion in the world. (1469)

69 years ago today, The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC. It was the first variety program ever hosted by an African American. Starting at just 15 minutes, the program was eventually extended to 30 minutes. Unlike today’s similar programs, and perhaps unsurprisingly given Cole’s fantastic singing voice, the program mainly featured musical performances, both by Cole and by his guests and both as repertoire and theater numbers with costumes and sets.

Named one of the 50 greatest voices in America, Cole was a born entertainer, and the program featured many musical guests like Tony Bennet, Eartha Kitt, and Ella Fitzgerald. Running two seasons, the program was eventually canceled due to a lack of sponsorship money. WATCH an episode below… (1956)

418 years ago today, a remarkable woman was born. Anna Maria van Schurman was a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, hyperpolyglot, and scholar who was the first woman to attend a Dutch university. A fierce defendant of a woman’s right to education, she remained celibate her entire life in order to protect her reputation as a learned woman.

From her very early age, it was clear that Anna Maria was, in her own words “immensely gifted by God in the arts.” At the age of ten, she learned embroidery in three hours. In some of her writings, she talks about how she invented the technique of sculpting in wax, saying, “I had to discover many things which nobody was able to teach me.” Her self-portrait wax sculpture was so lifelike that her friend, the Princess of Nassau, had to prick one with a pin just to be sure it was not real.

From about 11 years old, Schurman was taught Latin and other subjects by her father along with his sons, an unusual decision at a time when girls in noble families were not generally tutored in the classics. To learn Latin she was given Seneca to read by her father.

In 1636 she became the first female student in a Dutch university. When she attended lectures she sat behind a screen or in a curtained booth so that the male students could not see her. At the university she studied Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, Syriac, and Ethiopian, and by her mid-30s she was fluent in 14 languages and wrote in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, French, Arabic, Persian, Ethiopian, German, and Dutch.

She pioneered an engraving method of diamond on glass and excelled at sculpture, wax modeling, and the carving of ivory and wood. She became the first known Dutch painter to use pastels in a portrait. She gained honorary admission to the St. Luke Guild of Painters in 1643.

She published many books in multiple languages, including The Learned Maid or, Whether a Maid may be a Scholar, On the End of Life, Minor works in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and French in prose and poetry by the most noble Anne Maria van Schurman, as well as a theological defense of the Ladbadists, and most likely others that were lost.

Schurman argued in The Learned Maid for education on the basis of moral grounds, because “ignorance and idleness cause vice”. But Schurman also took the position that “whoever by nature has a desire for arts and science is suited to arts and science: women have this desire, therefore women are suited to arts and science.” (1607)

Happy 84th Birthday to Art Garfunkel, the singer, poet, and actor who rose to fame in the 1960s and 70s with the world-renowned folk duo Simon and Garfunkel.

Born in Queens, New York, the son of a traveling salesman, he met Paul Simon in school while acting in a play. After earning 8 Grammys with Simon, he performed as a solo act (alongside his son)—and attained a Top-10 single, All I Know—until his voice gave out.

In 1989, he released an acclaimed collection of prose poetry. He has also walked across Japan, Europe, and America, writing poetry along the way. Garfunkel’s memoir What Is It All But Luminous: Notes From An Underground Man, was published in 2017. WATCH a touching Note to Myself, woven in a bio of his best works… (1941)

And, 108 years ago today, a historic US Supreme Court ruling decided that a city ordinance prohibiting the sale of property to blacks in white-majority neighborhoods or buildings violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

In Louisville, Kentucky, the city ordinance forbade any black individuals to own or occupy buildings in an area in which a greater number of white persons resided. After a white property owner, Charles H. Buchanan, filed suit so he could sell to a black man, the high Court unanimously agreed in Buchanan v. Warley that the law “destroy(ed) the right of the individual to acquire, enjoy, and dispose of his property,” and therefore was unconstitutional. (1917)

Happy 65th Birthday to the stylish Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.

She won an Oscar for her performance in the film Michael Clayton, a BAFTA Award for We Need to Talk About Kevin, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in The Deep End. She is also known for her performance as the ‘White Witch’ in The Chronicles of Narnia series—and many other films.

Born into a Scottish aristocratic family, she now lives in her ancient homeland in Nairn, Scotland, with the twin children she had with her former husband, playwright John Byrne.

One recent project, produced during the pandemic last summer by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, was a one-act 30-minute short called The Human Voice. Capturing our isolation in lockdown, a woman in her apartment is on the verge of a breakdown as she takes a phone call from the lover who has ended their 4-year relationship. WATCH the trailer below. (1960)