Ballet Comique de la Reine

Today in History 10/15 (Mata Hari)

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, circa 1914 (© ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1917) An alluring spy faces a French firing squad
Courtesan, exotic dancer, and WWI spy, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle stands in front of a firing squad after her conviction on espionage charges. Dutch-born but inspired to adopt a new name and persona after living in Java, ‘Mata Hari’ is executed for her role as a German spy.
Margaretha Geertruida “Margreet” MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and executed by firing squad in France.
Lived: Aug 07, 1876 – Oct 15, 1917 (age 41)
Height: 5′ 10″
Nationality: Dutch
Spouse: Rudolf John MacLeod (m. 1895 – 1907)
Children: Louise Jeanne MacLeod (Daughter) · Norman-John MacLeod (Son)
Siblings: Ari Anne Zelle (Sister) · Cornelis Coenrad Zelle (Brother) · Johannes Henderikus Zelle (Brother)
Highlights
  • 1895: Mata Hari married Rudolf John MacLeod on July 11, 1895; their marriage lasted 12 years till 1907.

  • 1905: By 1905, Mata Hari began to win fame as an exotic dancer.

  • 1916: In late 1916, Zelle travelled to Madrid, where she met with the German military attaché, Major Arnold Kalle, and asked if he could arrange a meeting with the Crown Prince.

  • 1916: In December 1916, the French Second Bureau of the French War Ministry let Mata Hari obtain the names of six Belgian agents.

  • 1917: In January 1917, Major Kalle transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy code-named H-21, whose biography so closely matched Zelle’s that it was patently obvious that Agent H-21 could only be Mata Hari.

  • 1917: On 13 February 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Elysée Palace on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

Mata Hari
Mata Hari
wiki/Mata_Hari
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(1917) An alluring spy faces a French firing squad.
Also on this day,

1581 | First ballet staged as a new art form debuts in De’ Medici’s court
Great art patron, former queen of France, mother of kings, and continual power-broker, Catherine de’ Medici enjoys a new spectacle put on for her court in Paris. The mixture of story, song, and dance, titled the ‘Ballet Comique de la Reine,’ is history’s first true work of ballet.
1764 | A moment in Rome inspires a colossal work of history in the ‘Capitoline vision’
Not yet 30, English writer Edward Gibbon arrives in Rome and experiences a life-changing epiphany. As he watches friars singing their vespers within the Temple of Jupiter’s ruins, the idea of writing a history of Rome first strikes him, and he’ll later date the ‘vision’ to this day.
1969 | Millions take to the streets, protesting for peace
With some 40,000 American troops killed in the Vietnam War, millions of people across the US and the world gather in a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a mass demonstration calling for peace and a withdrawal of forces from Southeast Asia. It will be called history’s largest peace rally.

Today in History 10/15/17

Demonstrators in Bryant Park in New York City gather for Moratorium Day, October 15, 1969 (© AP)(1969) Millions take to the streets, protesting for peace
With some 40,000 American troops killed in the Vietnam War, millions of people across the US and the world gather in a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a mass demonstration calling for peace and a withdrawal of forces from Southeast Asia. It will be called history's largest peace rally.
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a massive demonstration and teach-in across the United States against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It took place on October 15, 1969, followed a month later by a large Moratorium March on Washington.
Date: Oct 15, 1969

Vietnam Moratorium protesters 1970
Vietnam Moratorium protesters in the City Square, Melbourne, 18 September 1970
wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam
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