22 March: Anthony Van Dyck

This date in 1599 was the birthdate of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish artist. Here are 10 things you might not know:

1. Born in Antwerp, he was the seventh of twelve children. His father was a silk merchant and his mother was a skilled embroiderer.

2. His talent as an artist emerged when he was very young. He was an apprentice to Hendrik van Balen at ten. He had his own studio when he was a teenager and by 19 he was a master painter in the esteemed Antwerp Guild of St Luke.

3. He gave up his studio when he met Peter Paul Rubens, in order to become his assistant and learn from him. Rubens referred to Van Dyck as the best of his students.

4. He was a success throughout Europe, spending time in Italy and eventually settling in England. In his time spelling wasn’t standardised, so there were multiple variations of his name. Anthony van Dijk, Antonio Wandik, Anttonio Vandique, Bandeique, and Anthonius van Dyck were among the variations that existed.

5. In terms of his love life, he apparently put himself about a bit. He had many lovers and at least one long term mistress called Margaret Lemon. She was said to be jealous and possessive, but neither of them was faithful to the other. He probably had many illegitimate children, and it’s speculated that he left Antwerp to escape the consequences of getting some of his lovers pregnant. He only ever acknowledged one illegitimate child, a daughter, Maria-Theresia, shortly before he died.

6. He eventually married at the age of 41. His wife’s name was Mary Ruthven. By this time his health was declining. He died at the age of 42, just a week after the birth of his only legitimate child, Justiniana.

7. His portraits were famous for his depiction of hands, Eyes and suits of armour. He developed a style of full length portraits.

8. In case you’re wondering why he’s Sir Anthony Van Dyck, that came about after he became the principal court painter for King Charles I. Charles liked his work so much that he knighted him and also provided him with a house and a pension of £200 which would be five figures in today’s money.

9. Van Dyck was buried in St Paul's Cathedral despite being a Catholic. Unfortunately, his grave was destroyed in the Great fire of London although there is a memorial in the new cathedral to him and others whose graves met the same fate, which was installed in 1913.

10. Van Dyck was an influence to several famous painters who came after him, including Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

21 March: Modest P Mussorgsky

This date in 1839 was the birthdate of the Russian composer Modest P Mussorgsky. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He was born in Karevo, 250 miles south of St Petersburg, to an aristocratic family which was descended from Rurik, a legendary founder of the Russian state.

2. The family name was derived from another ancestor who had had the nickname "Musorga," which meant, appropriately enough, 'Music maker.' However, the name was also quite similar to the Russian word for rubbish, so from 1863 they altered the name so it sounded less like that.

3. He started learning Piano at six and by the age of nine could play complicated pieces.

4. A career in music wasn’t his family’s first choice for him, though. They wanted him to join the military so at the age of 13 he was enrolled in the Cadet School of the Guards. He was, however, allowed to continue playing the piano. In due course he graduated and got a commission with the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the top regiment of the Imperial Guard.

5. Here, he met the composer Aleksandr Borodin, and also became friends with César Cui, Mily Balakirev, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. They became known as “The Five”, a group of influential Russian composers. Modest eventually resigned his commission in order to concentrate on music.

6. His mission in music was to create music which sounded Russian, rather than following the usual Western styles. Some of his most famous works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral piece Night on Bald Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

7. He was 29 when he wrote Boris Godunov, using as reference Pushkin's play and Karamzin's history. However, the opera was rejected by the theatre at first because it had no principle female role. Mussorgsky revised it, making the changes the theatre had asked for and more. The new version was accepted.

8. His family lost much of their land because of the emancipation of the serfs. Mussorgsky had to spend time trying to help his family, which made it hard to find time to compose. He had a day job as a civil servant to support himself but it wasn’t a very secure job and at times, he didn’t get paid.

9. He was an alcoholic and went into decline when he and his composer friends began to go their separate ways. He suffered from seizures and delirium tremens and was admitted to a hospital. He seemed to improve at first and had a portrait painted by Ilya Repin, which depicted him with a drink induced red nose. However, Mussorgsky died a week after his 42nd birthday.

10. The progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer performed and recorded an arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in 1971, featuring lyrics by Greg Lake, and released it as a live album.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

20 March: Big Bird

20 March is the birthday of the Sesame Street character, Big Bird. Here are 10 facts about him:

1. He’s 8 feet 2 inches tall (249cm), is bright Yellow and lives in a nest behind 123 Sesame Street, next to Oscar the Grouch's trash can.

2. It’s up for debate what species of bird he is. His colour suggests that he’s a Canary, and he’s said himself that this is the case and that his scientific name is Bigus canarius. That said, he’s also described himself as a lark, and when asked if he was a Cassowary said that he was a golden condor. Others have suggested he might be an ibis, or a crane (or a unique species evolved from a crane). Oscar the Grouch calls him a Turkey but that is probably more of an insult than fact. Big Bird’s grandfather, however, is said to be an Emu.

3. While Big Bird may not be a turkey, his suit is made from turkey feathers which have been died yellow and glued on About 6,000 are in use at any given time.

4. The Big Bird suit weighs ten pounds, and his head alone weighs four pounds. Operating the suit is not for the faint hearted. The person inside gets very hot and can’t see where they are going, so they use a monitor strapped to the chest in order to navigate. The operator’s right arm is raised to operate the head, using the right hand to operate the mouth while the little finger operates the eyes.

5. Big Bird’s operator from 1969 to 2018 was Caroll Spinney. When he retired at the age of 84, the role went to his long time understudy Matt Vogel. Here is a classic case of nominative determination as Vogel is German for “bird”.

6. As for family, Big Bird was raised by his grandmother and an aunt called Nani Bird. He has a sister called Esmerelda, an Uncle Slim (a cowbird from Wyoming) and numerous cousins including Cousin Bubba from the North Pole, Floyd, a surfer bird from Los Angeles. He also has a Teddy bear called Radar.

7. Big Bird’s suit was designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love. It was based on a seven foot tall dragon character than Henson designed for another project.

8. While Big Bird has been around for well over 50 years, he is portrayed as a perpetual six year old.

9. Big Bird can Roller skate, Ice skate, Dance, Swim, Sing, write poetry, draw, and ride a unicycle.

10. He almost went into space. In the 1980s when NASA was considering sending an ordinary citizen into space on the Space Shuttle, Carroll Spinney was invited to be that person, going into orbit in Big Bird persona. Spinney was hesitant at first, but eventually decided he was up for it, only to find that the Big Bird costume wouldn’t fit in the confined space. Which turned out to be a lucky escape, as the mission in question was the January 1986 Challenger one that exploded soon after launch, killing everyone on board. Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was ultimately chosen as the ordinary citizen instead.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

19 March: Avon Representative Day

Today is Avon Representative Day, so here are 10 facts about Avon.

1. There are 6.4 million Avon representatives throughout the world, so a lot of people are celebrating today!

2. Avon was founded by David H. McConnell, originally a door to door salesman selling books, based in New York. He hit on the idea of selling perfumes that way instead. He set up an office for his new company at 126 Chambers Street, Manhattan, New York in 1886.

3. It was originally known as the "California Perfume Company," because McConnell had a business partner who lived there and suggested it because many Flowers grow there.

4. The name Avon was not adopted until 1939.

5. With sales of $9.1 billion worldwide, Avon is the fourteenth-largest beauty company.

6. McConnell employed women as salespeople, believing that women should have some financial independence. While we’ve all heard the term “Avon Lady”, there are Avon gentlemen, too nowadays.

7. In 1989, Avon announced that it would no longer test its products on animals. However, some of its products are required to be tested in other countries where animals are still used. Hence People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has not included Avon on their cruelty-free list.

8. As well as selling cosmetics and personal care products, Avon is involved in charity work, raising money for good causes like breast cancer research.

9. They were the first mass-market company to stabilise Vitamin C.

10. At time of writing the company is based in London and the CEO is Kristof Neirynck, appointed in 2023.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

18 March: Grover Cleveland Quotes

Former US president Grover Cleveland was born on this date in 1837. 10 quotes from the days when what presidents said made sense and weren’t just ramblings about dead people walking around with no legs.

1. In calm water every ship has a good captain.

2. A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves.

3. Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters.

4. A cause worth fighting for is worth fighting for to the end.

5. Men and times change-but principles-never.

6. Above all, tell the truth.

7. What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?

8. Honour lies in honest toil.

9. What do you imagine the American people would think of me if I wasted my time going to the ball game?

10. Good ball players make good citizens.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

17 March: 76

 Today is the 76^th day of the year. 10 fun facts about the number 76:

1. “Seventy six trombones led the big parade, With a hundred & ten cornets close at hand.” so goes the song from the musical The Music Man. It’s basically a sales pitch to encourage parents in a small Iowa town to buy musical instruments for their kids.

2. Seventy-Six is a historical fiction novel by John Neal. Published in Baltimore in 1823, it is about the American Revolutionary War.

3. There are (or have been) at least four towns or communities in the US called Seventy-Six. Two in Iowa, one in Kentucky and one in Missouri.

4. 76 Freia is a large main-belt asteroid discovered by the astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest in 1862, in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was his first and only asteroid discovery. It is named after the goddess Freyja in Norse mythology.

5. '76, formerly Lions of '76, is a 2016 Nigerian historical fiction drama film directed by Izu Ojukwu about a young soldier mistakenly accused of taking part in a coup.

6. 76 is a chain of gas (petrol) stations in the US.

7. '76 is an eight-issue comic book series published by Image Comics, and written by B. Clay Moore and Seth Peck, and illustrated by Ed Tadem and Tigh Walker. It is set in the year 1976 and features storylines based in New York City and Los Angeles.

8. Fallout 76 is a multiplayer video game set in the post-nuclear wasteland of America.

9. 76 is the debut album of Dutch trance producer and DJ Armin van Buuren.

10. In numerology, a person influenced by this number is realistic, pragmatic, and family oriented. They are loyal and conscientious and able to focus on details. They build and plan for the future.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

16 March: James Madison Quotes

Another former US president, James Madison, was born on this date in 1751. 10 quotes from him:

1. If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.

2. Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.

3. The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

4. If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

5. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

6. Conscience is the most sacred of all property.

7. Philosophy is common sense with big words.

8. If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

9. Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrant.

10. Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/