[lit-ideas] What a day!
- From: cblists@xxxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:10:56 +0200
Lots of stuff (I choose the colloquialism deliberately to note in
passing the query, 'What IS the ontological status of past historical
events?') happened on this day in history: among other things
my radio informs me it is the anniversary of the Battle of Las Navas
de Tolosa in 1212, in which (as Wikipedia puts it) "the forces of
Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of
Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim
leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the
Reconquistaand in the medieval history of Spain."
and I read that on July 16th, 1945 the first nuclear test explosion
(the unholy TRINITY: "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds")
was carried out in New Mexico.
On the cultural front, I note that Salinger's CATCHER IN THE RYE was
published on this date in 1951,
and apparently 230 years ago today Emperor Joseph II complained to
Mozart after the premiere of 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' that it
'contained too many notes.'
(List members not familiar with this episode are encouraged to look
for its [re]enactment in Peter Shaffer's film 'Amadeus'.)
Chris Bruce,
getting out the DVD for a couple of
hours of diverting entertainment, in
Kiel, Germany
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