Month: February 2009

  • Today is Felix Mendelssohn’s Birthday

    Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a musical wunderkind, a prodigy who was performing by age 9, composing symphonies by age 12, and publishing works by age 13. He was largely responsible for the revival of interest in Bach after decades of neglect, because it was his conducting the St. Matthew Passion that helped place that composition…

  • Today is Hannah More's Birthday (1745)

    Hannah More (1745 – 1833) was, according to the title of a recent biography, The First Victorian. That is, though she died before the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), she was ahead of her time in so many ways that her lifework makes more sense as part of the story of the nineteenth century…

  • The Shack: Four Walls, Five Reviews

    The Kids-Book Author: Have you read the Shack of Mack? Have you read this paperback? Would you give it to your friends? Will you spoil how it ends? I have read the Shack of Mack. I have read this paperback. I would not give it to my friends. I might just spoil how it ends.…

  • Today Started Black History Month

    February is recognized as Black History Month in America. Why? Because Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) decided it was a good idea to set aside a month for special attention to black history in a month that contained the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. A lot of people agreed, and that’s how traditions get…