Quite
possibly the worst photo
ever taken of the Mona Lisa
(Taken by the author in 2009.)
A new week presents new opportunities, new challenges, and
new events to note. Let's begin, shall we?
Monday:
Last week, we mentioned
that Wednesday was anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci being commissioned to paint the portrait that became known as the Mona Lisa. Well, today is the anniversary of the museum that is the
painting's home.
In 1793, the French government opened the Louvre to the public as a museum. Built as a fortress in the 12th
century, and gradually converted into a palace, following the French Revolution, it eventually became the most-visited art museum
in the world (approximately 8.5 million visitors a year), with a collection of
nearly 400,000 items - ranging from ancient Egyptian
antiquities to six centuries of masterpiece paintings– of which "only" 35,000 are on display at any one time.
Our birthday of note today is that of Edmond Halley, born in 1656. Halley (pronounced "Holly," not
"Hal-ee," or "Hailey") was the English astronomer
who realized that not only were the various celestial objects that had visited the Earth since 466 BCE actually only one comet, but also that the
comet was in such an orbit that it would return like clockwork every 76 years.
In 1705, Halley predicted that the comet would return in 1758 – which it did.
Unfortunately, Halley never actually saw his prediction confirmed, as he died
in 1742.
Speaking of deaths, we note the 1965 passing of newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, who was nationally known for her "Voice of
Broadway" column in New York's Journal-American, as well as for her weekly appearances on the What's My Line? game show. Always political, she became obsessed with
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, doing extensive interviews and investigations, and coming
to the conclusion that there had been a massive cover-up of the murder.
She
claimed to have evidence that would blow the lid off the case, but was found
dead in her apartment under very mysterious circumstances. Apparently healthy only hours before, she was found sitting in bed in a
bedroom she never used, fully made-up and dressed, with a book she had finished
weeks earlier by her side, and her reading glasses nowhere nearby. Her husband
claimed she had come home at midnight, but eyewitnesses had seen her out on the
town as late as 2:00 a.m. All her research on the assassination had mysteriously
vanished. The official verdict said that her death was due to either a heart
attack or a drug overdose, but we have our suspicions.
In happier news, Conan O'Brien will make his TBS
debut tonight, with his new talk show, the eponymously-titled Conan. We should probably make the
nearly-obligatory joke about the barbarian of the same name, but haven't those been done to death?
Suggested Sites...
- Le Louvre - home of the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Nike of Samothrace -- and a McDonald's.
- Stealing Mona Lisa - whodunnit?
- A Brief History of Halley's Comet - hope you're around in 2061.
- What Did Dorothy Know? - too much, apparently.
- Wikipedia: The War for Late Night - Jay? Dave? Conan? Kimmel? Fallon? Does anyone come out well here?
No comments:
Post a Comment