| (1519) Magellan’s fleet sets sail to circle the globe
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Explorer Ferdinand Magellan leads a fleet of five Spanish ships bound westward for an Atlantic crossing, then to sail into what Magellan will name the ‘Mar Pacifico,’ meaning ‘peaceful sea.’ He will die before his one surviving vessel completes the first circumnavigation of the Earth. . |
| (1793) Revolutionaries open French royal art collection to the public
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| France’s revolutionary government opens to the public what used to be a grand royal residence, displaying a previously private collection of 537 paintings and 184 objects. Paris’ Louvre Museum will grow to hold almost 35,000 works and become the world’s most visited art museum.. |
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| (1937) Electric guitars get their start in Hawaiian-music craze
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America’s love affair with exotic Hawaiian music gives musician George Beauchamp a reason to turn up the volume, as acoustic guitars just aren’t loud enough to please large crowds. He receives a patent on his ‘Frying Pan,’ a cast-aluminum guitar with amplifying electric pickups, which he had created in 1931.. |
| (1950) Old Hollywood meets mid-century cynics in new noir
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| Former silent-screen star Norma Desmond dreams of resurrection, while hard-boiled screenwriter Joe Gillis just wants to avoid the repo men as a dark take on Hollywood hubris, ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ premieres. The film will garner 11 Oscar nominations and be named one of the best movies of all time.. |
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