Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 August 29

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) was a Russian composer, a member of a group of prominent composers known as The Five, who worked together in Saint Petersburg in the mid-19th century. Considered a master of orchestration, his best-known compositions, which include Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade, are considered staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of Rimsky-Korsakov's frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects; he also left a considerable body of original Russian nationalist compositions. His preparation of works by The Five for performance brought them into the active classical repertoire, although his editing of the music of Modest Mussorgsky created controversy. As a shaper of a generation of younger composers and musicians during his decades as an educator, he is considered the main architect of what the classical music public considers the Russian style of composition. (Full article...)

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Joseph and Amalie Joachim

... that Joseph and Amalie Joachim (pictured) received two songs from Johannes Brahms, one to begin their marriage, the other decades later to repair it?
... that the rosy razor clam tries to evade capture by rapidly burrowing deeper into the sediment?
... that in 1978, airline captain Gordon Vette rescued a Cessna pilot who was lost over the Pacific Ocean and running out of fuel?
... that supporter liaison officers are claimed to be a major factor in the 20 percent reduction of crowd disorder in Swedish football?
... that Amabel Anderson Arnold, a St. Louis lawyer and law professor, received degrees from both Benton College of Law and City College of Law and Finance within a five-day period?
... that the Catholic University of Madagascar awarded the country's first theology degree in 1961?
... that Christian William Miller, inventor of a water desalination device promoted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, was considered one of the most beautiful men in the 1940s New York gay society?
... that the Jugendkulturhaus Dynamo, a youth center in Zürich, was built from an old brewery after youth riots in the city were sparked by a grant of 61,000,000 Swiss francs to the Zürich Opera?

In the news

Hurricane Harvey on August 25

The Women's Rugby World Cup concludes with New Zealand defeating England in the final.
Hurricane Harvey (satellite image pictured) makes landfall in Texas, causing severe flooding and at least 8 fatalities.
At least 36 people are killed in riots in Northern India after guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is convicted of rape.
Typhoon Hato strikes South China and Vietnam, killing at least 26 people.
The Supreme Court of India rules that the practice of instant divorce is unconstitutional.

On this day...

August 29

Michael Faraday

1831 – Michael Faraday (pictured) discovered electromagnetic induction, leading to the formation of his law of induction.
1842 – The Treaty of Nanking, an unequal treaty ending the First Opium War, was signed, forcing the Chinese Qing dynasty to give control of the island that is now the site of Hong Kong, and other concessions to the British.
1903 – The Russian battleship Slava, the last of the five Borodino-class battleships, was launched.
1930 – The last 36 residents of St Kilda, Scotland, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural and cultural qualities, voluntarily evacuated to Morvern.
2007 – Six nuclear warheads were alleged to have been mistakenly loaded onto a United States Air Force heavy bomber that flew from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (b. 1780) · Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (b. 1809) · Lale Andersen (d. 1972)

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Richard Rush (1780–1859) was United States Attorney General under President James Madison and United States Secretary of the Treasury under John Quincy Adams. He was also Adams' running mate when he ran for re-election on the National Republican ticket in 1828. Adams and Rush were defeated by Andrew Jackson and his running mate, John C. Calhoun.

Engraving: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restoration: Andrew Shiva

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