05/02 - El dos de Mayo 1808

Goya's El dos de Mayo 1808 memorializes a popular uprising against Napoleon Bonaparte's occupying troops in Madrid on May 2, 1808. The scene in question, "The Charge of the Mamelukes" attempts to capture some of the street fighting between the populace and the Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard that took place in the vicinity of the Puerta del Sol. This uprising was one of the drivers of the nationwide insurrection against French rule. The eventual Spanish War of Independence that grew out of it overlapped the Peninsular War between the forces of Britain, Portugal and Spain, largely under Sir Arthur Wellesley against France.

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On this day in history:

1670 – King Charles II of England granted a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America. 1808 – The people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation. 1829 – Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declared the Swan River Colony in Australia. 1866 – Peruvian defenders fought off the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao. 1885 – Cree and Assiniboine warriors won the Battle of Cut Knife over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion. 1889 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signed the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea. 1933 – Germany's independent labor unions were replaced by the German Labour Front. 1941 – Following the coup d'état against Iraq Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launched the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power. 1945 – The Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin. 1945 – The surrender of Caserta went into effect, by which German troops in Italy ceased fighting. 1945 – The US 82nd Airborne Division liberated Wöbbelin concentration camp 1945 – A death march from Dachau to the Austrian border was halted by the Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army 1952 – A De Havilland Comet madesthe first jetliner flight with paying passengers 1963 – Berthold Seliger launched a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven. 1964 – An explosion sunk the US aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. 1972 – A fire broke out at the Sunshine Mine in Idaho, killing 91 workers. 1986 – The City of Chernobyl was evacuated six days after the disaster. 1989 – Hungary began dismantling its border fence with Austria, allowing some East Germans to defect. 1995 – The Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fired cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians. 1998 – The European Central Bank was founded in Brussels 1999 – Mireya Moscoso became the first woman to be elected President of Panama. 2004 – About 630 Muslims were killed by Christians in the Yelwa massacre 2011 – Osama bin Laden, was killed by the US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

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Some people who were born on this day:

But I don't believe in organised politics, organised religion, organised music, organised anything.

~~ Link Wray 1551 – William Camden, historian and topographer 1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, composer 1695 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, painter and architect 1707 – Jean-Baptiste Barrière, cellist and composer 1752 – Ludwig August Lebrun, oboe player and composer 1754 – Vicente Martín y Soler, composer 1772 – Novalis, author and poet 1773 – Henrik Steffens, philosopher and poet 1797 – Abraham Pineo Gesner, physician and geologist 1802 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, chemist and physicist 1810 – Hans Christian Lumbye, composer and conductor 1813 – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne, novelist and poet 1822 – Jane Miller Thengberg, governess and educator 1828 – Désiré Charnay, archaeologist and photographer 1830 – Otto Staudinger, entomologist and author 1843 – Elijah McCoy, engineer 1859 – Jerome K. Jerome, author and playwright 1860 – John Scott Haldane, physiologist, physician, and academic 1872 – Ichiyo Higuchi, writer 1882 – Isabel González, activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans' American citizenship 1890 – E. E. Smith, engineer and author 1894 – Joseph Henry Woodger, biologist, philosopher, and academic 1895 – Lorenz Hart, playwright and lyricist 1897 – John Frederick Coots, songwriter 1898 – Henry Hall, bandleader, composer, and actor 1901 – Edouard Zeckendorf, doctor, army officer and mathematician 1905 – Charlotte Armstrong, author 1909 – Teddy Stauffer, bandleader, musician, and actor 1912 – Axel Springer, journalist and publisher 1915 – Doris Fisher, singer and songwriter 1920 – Jean-Marie Auberson, violinist and conductor 1920 – Otto Buchsbaum, journalist and activist 1920 – Vasantrao Deshpande, singer and sitar player 1921 – B. B. Lal, archaeologist 1924 – Theodore Bikel, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor 1927 – Michael Broadbent, wine critic and writer 1929 – Link Wray, singer, songwriter and guitarist 1933 – Bunk Gardner, musician 1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck, singer and pianist 1936 – Michael Rabin, violinist 1939 – Sumio Iijima, physicist and engineer 1941 – Eddy Louiss, jazz musician 1945 – Randy Cain, soul singer 1945 – Judge Dread, singer and songwriter 1945 – Bianca Jagger, model, actress, and activist 1945 – Goldy McJohn, keyboard player 1946 – Lesley Gore, singer and songwriter 1948 – Larry Gatlin, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor 1950 – Lou Gramm, singer and songwriter 1951 – John Glascock, singer and bass player 1959 – Tony Wakeford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1968 – Ziana Zain, singer, songwriter and actress 1972 – Ahti Heinla, programmer and businessman, co-developed Skype 1976 – Jeff Gutt, singer and songwriter 1985 – Lily Allen, singer and songwriter and actress 1987 – Justin Young, singer and songwriter

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Some people who died on this day:

“It has always been my attitude that a life has only been worth living if one has made full use of all one's abilities and tried to live out every kind of experience human life has to offer.”

~~ Clara Immerwahr 1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor, inventor and architect 1627 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, composer and educator 1683 – Stjepan Gradic, philosopher and mathematician 1 1819 – Mary Moser, painter and academic 1915 – Clara Immerwahr, chemist and activist 1925 – Johann Palisa, astronomer 1977 – Nicholas Magallanes, principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet 1979 – Giulio Natta, chemist and engineer 1985 – Larry Clinton, trumpet player and bandleader 1994 – Dorothy Marie American poet and author 1998 – hide, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 2000 – Sundar Popo, musician 2002 – W. T. Tutte, mathematician and academic 2009 – Kiyoshiro Imawano, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor ) 2012 – Zenaida Manfugás, pianist 2013 – Jeff Hanneman, guitarist and songwriter 2015 – Guy Carawan, singer and musicologist

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)

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MUSIC goes here; With apologies ;-)

Alessandro Scarlatti

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