The Chanson de Roland is a tale long in the telling and vastly longer in the explication and discussion. Allegedly the first and hence oldest chanson de geste, it is about the battle of Roncesvalle Pass in the Pyrrenees, or the battle of Roncevaux Pass for the purists among you. There are numerous versions this tale of the ambush and defeat of a detachment of Charlemagne's forces by a bunch of Basques that can run up to about 4,000 lines of verse. For more discussion I suggest either a comp. lit. degree or, of course, da wiki: ((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Roland) The wiki cite, while discussing France's National Epic, obfuscates the history for which the easiest approach is a differing wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roncevaux_Pass) While a model of chivalry and all that jazz, Roland's actions are boneheaded, leading to the annihilation of his entire troop, while merely blowing his damn horn early on might have brought succor and victory, but it seems that there werr silly French kniggits as well as English ones.
We also have 2 endpoints of the Macbeth saga, Kublai Khan and the divine wind, Woodstock, and the vowelMac.
On this day in history:
0778 -- The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland was killed.
0927 -- The Saracens conquered and destroyed Taranto, home of the tarantella.
1040 -- King Duncan I died in battle against Macbeth. Who succeeded him as King of Scotland.
1057 -- King Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan.
1281 -- The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan was destroyed by a "divine wind"
1914 -- The Panama Canal opened to traffic
1947 -- India gained Independence from Britain
1960 -- Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) became independent from France.
1965 -- The Beatles played at Shea Stadium -- the birth of stadium rock.
1969 -- The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened in upstate New York
1970 -- Patricia Palinkas was the first woman to play US pro football.
1971 -- President Richard Nixon completed the break from the gold standard
1971 -- Bahrain gained independence from Britain
1973 -- The US stopped bombing Cambodia
1977 -- The Big Ear, received the "Wow! signal" from space
1998 –- iApple iintroduced the iMac icomputer, istarting an iugly itrend
2013 –- The Smithsonian announced the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. (Not sure if that counts Jimmy Buffet)
2020 –- Russia began production of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
Was it the brown acid or the blue?
Some people who were born on this day:
The race of mankind would perish did they cease to aid each other. We cannot exist without mutual help. All therefore that need aid have a right to ask it from their fellow-men; and no one who has the power of granting can refuse it without guilt.
~~ Sir Walter Scott
1613 -- Gilles Ménage, lawyer, philologist, and scholar; one of 3
1702 -- Francesco Zuccarelli, painter and academic
1769 -- Napoleon Bonaparte, general, emperor & exile
1771 -- Walter Scott, author, poet, and playwright
1798 –- Sangolli Rayanna, Revolutionary and warrior
1824 -- John Chisum, cattle baron, come a ki yi yippie yippie yi yippie yay
1875 –- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, pianist, violinist, and composer
1882 –- Marion Bauer, composer and critic
1885 -- Edna Ferber, author and playwright
1892 -- Louis de Broglie, physicist and academic,
1909 –- Hugo Winterhalter, composer and bandleader 1912 -- Julia Child, chef and author
1924 -- Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle shit
1925 –- Rose Maddox, singer, songwriter, and fiddle player
1925 -- Oscar Peterson, pianist and composer
1925 -- Bill Pinkney, singer (The Drifters)
1933 -- Bobby Helms, singer and guitarist
1933 –- Stanley Milgram, social psychologist
1934 -- Bobby Byrd, singer, songwriter, and producer (The Famous Flames) 1
1935 -- Vernon Jordan, lawyer, businessman, and activist
1938 -- Stephen Breyer, lawyer and judge
1938 –- Stix Hooper, jazz drummer 1
1938 -- Maxine Waters, educator and politician
1940 -- Gudrun Ensslin, militant leader, founded Red Army Faction
1942 –- Pete York, rock drummer
1946 -- Jimmy Webb, singer, songwriter, and pianist
**********
Some people who died on this day:
As regards the artists themselves, most of them gave up their freedom quite lightly, placing their art at the service of someone or something. As a rule, their concerns and their ambitions are those of any old careerist. I thus acquired a total distrust of art and artists, whether they were officially recognised or were endeavouring to become so, and I felt that I had nothing in common with this guild. I had a point of reference which held me elsewhere, namely that magic within art which I had encountered as a child.
~~ René Magritte
1040 -- King Duncan I of Scotland (supra).
1057 -- King Macbeth (ditto)
1274 -- Robert de Sorbon, theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne
1967 -- René Magritte, painter
1982 -- Ernie Bushmiller, cartoonist
1995 -- John Cameron Swayze, journalist and actor
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Hey! Celebrate yourself for a change!
Today's Tunes
Destruction of Taranto
Napoleon Bonaparte
John Chisum
The Olinguito
Hugo Winterhalter
Oscar Peterson
The Very Tall Band (Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Milt Jackson)
Oscar Peterson Trio with Milt Jackson
Oscar Peterson Solo (Ja Da)
Bill Pinkney
Bobby Byrd
Stix Hooper
Pete York
Jimmy Webb
Renee (and Georgette) Magritte
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com Open thread, Chanson de Roland, Roncesvaux, Macbeth, divine wind, Taranro, Napoleon, Woodstock, olinguito, Oscar Peterson, Rene Magritte