Curated playlist
1881 births
- Pablo PicassoA German officer in occupied Paris asked Picasso if he painted Guernica. "No," Picasso replied. "You did."
- Ludwig BinswangerLudwig Binswanger, a Swiss psychiatrist, was born on the 13th of April 1881 and died on the 5th of February 1966. He is described as the most prominent phenomenological psychologist. He is also the figure who did the most to make…
- Béla BartókOnly ten people attended composer Béla Bartók's funeral in New York in 1945. He had fled fascism five years earlier.
- Maja EinsteinMaja Einstein meant to stay in Princeton only until World War II ended. A stroke in 1946 left her unable to go home.
- Vera WeizmannVera Weizmann met her future husband at a Zionist club in Geneva. She later led WIZO for forty years.
- Alexander FlemingAlexander Fleming, a Scottish physician and microbiologist, walked back into his London laboratory on the 3rd of September 1928 after a family holiday in Suffolk. Before leaving, he had spread staphylococci across culture plates and left…
- Ludwig von MisesNazi troops raided Ludwig von Mises's Vienna apartment and took his papers. He was already in Geneva.
- Kliment VoroshilovKliment Voroshilov once smashed a platter of food on Stalin's table. He blamed Stalin's purges for Winter War losses.
- Jimmy WalkerNew York's mayor Jimmy Walker resigned in 1932 after taking money from businessmen seeking city contracts.
- Pope John XXIIIPope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, left Venice for the conclave of 1958 carrying a return train ticket. He never used it. On the 28th of October 1958, at the age of 76, he was elected pope. The cardinals who chose him seemed…
- Natalia GoncharovaNatalia Goncharova walked Moscow's streets with painted cheeks, handing out a manifesto.
- Padraic ColumPadraic Colum was born Patrick Columb in a County Longford workhouse, where his father held a job. That was the 8th of December 1881. He died on the 11th of January 1972, aged 90. By then he had published 61 books, not counting his plays.…
- Alcide De GasperiAlcide De Gasperi cataloged books in the Vatican Library for fourteen years.