May 11
New Roman capital established in Constantinople
The Virgin Mary (left), Justinian I (centre), holding a model of Hagia Sophia, and Constantine I …
330: After defeating the Eastern emperor, Licinius, and becoming emperor of both the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire, Constantine I chose as his new capital the city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), located on a triangular peninsula between Europe and Asia. The “New Rome” was dedicated on this day. The decision had profound effects upon the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, moving the centre of power to the east. Culturally, the city fostered a fusion of Oriental and Occidental custom, art, and architecture. The religion was Christian, the organization Roman, and the language and outlook Greek.
1943: U.S. troops invaded Attu, one of the Aleutian Islands captured by the Japanese in 1942.
1918: American theoretical physicist Richard P. Feynman was born in New York City.
1910: Glacier National Park was established in the Rocky Mountain wilderness of northwestern Montana.
1885: American jazz cornetist King Oliver was born in Abend, Louisiana.
1846: U.S. President James K. Polk asked Congress to declare war on Mexico.
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin.
American composer Irving Berlin, born this day in Russia in 1888, played a leading role in the evolution of the popular song from the early ragtime and jazz eras through the golden age of musicals. His easy mastery of a wide range of song styles, for both stage and motion pictures, made him perhaps the greatest and most enduring of American songwriters.
"A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody."
Irving Berlin |
