From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Art and culture
- 1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
- 1962 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time (National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.).
- 1824 - Wilkie Collins, British novelist (d. 1889)
- 1836 - Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch artist (d. 1912)
- 1863 - Paul Scheerbart, German author and artist (d. 1915)
- 1897 - Dennis Wheatley, British author (d. 1977)
- 1922 - José Bénazéraf, Moroccan-born French filmmaker
- 1931 - Bill Graham, German-born American music promoter (d. 1991)
- 1933 - Jean-Marie Straub, French film director
- 1935 - Elvis Presley, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
- 1937 - Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
- 1941 - Boris Vallejo, Peruvian illustrator
- 1942 - George Passmore, British artist (Gilbert & George)
- 1947 - David Bowie, English musician
- 1642 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and scientist (b. 1564)
- 1896 - Paul Verlaine, French poet (b. 1844)
- 1948 - Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
- 1972 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)
- 1992 - Nicolas Schöffer, Hungarian-born French artist (b. 1912)
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