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On this day in history.

June 12, 1827:
Johanna Louise Spyri, Swiss author, best known for her children's stories (most famous: "Heidi"), was born in Hirzel, Switzerland.
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Johanna Spyri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Much happen on this day - check HERE - just a few mentioned below:

1776 - Virginia adopts George Mason’s Declaration of Rights, later to become the basis for the Bill of Rights amended to the federal Constitution.

1942 - Anne Frank receives a diary on her 13th birthday - a month later she and her family are hiding in Amsterdam from the Nazis.

1987 - Ronald Reagan challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, which occurred two years later reuniting East and West Berlin.

2003 - Gregory Peck, a favorite actor of mine, dies at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 87 years - may need to watch To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) again, an Oscar winning performance.
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I'm a fan of Big Band music and probably have about 60 or so CDs from the era - 6 are Benny Goodman discs, both his band and his 'small' groups, kind of jazz chamber music. My two favorites are the original Trio & Quartet recordings w/ Benny on clarinet, Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Krupa on drums, and later Lionel Hampton on vibes - the CD covers are shown below (both still available on Amazon; I've owned each for decades now).

For those interested, I also own the 1956 film The Benny Goodman Story on DVD - stars Steve Allen & Donna Reed - Allen is not that good in the film, but the music is fabulous and all of the original musicians from the Trio/Quartet sessions above make prominent appearances; also, Benny recorded most of the clarinet performances - if a well produced blu-ray appeared, I would replace my DVD mostly for the restored sound. Dave :)

P.S. Donna Reed played Alice Hammond, who he married in 1942 (they had two daughters) - her brother was the famous John Hammond (talent scout, record producer, music critic, etc.) - they were from a wealthy and elite New York City society - so Benny brought up in a poor immigrant Jewish family in Chicago weds a New York socialite, quite different worlds - ;)
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For those interested in the development of American music from the 1930s into the 1970s, then the book below on Alice Goodman's (née Hammond) brother John Hammond may be of interest - just a few quotes from Amazon below - he was a seminal personality in discovering, promoting, and recording many jazz, blues, rock, & folk stars through many decades - Dave :)
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Starred Review. Built upon interviews with musicians, family and colleagues, this admiring biography delivers a solid portrait of the famed 20th-century critic, journalist and producer. Known for his square crew cut, protuberant eyes and toothy grin, the sometimes arrogant, blues-loving Vanderbilt heir "seemed to know what America wanted to hear before America knew it," writes first-time author Prial. Besides recording Bessie Smith's last studio sessions and Billie Holiday's first, Hammond is the nudge that gets Count Basie to leave Kansas City and the driving force behind Benny Goodman's decision to integrate his band by adding black vibraphonist Lionel Hampton—all this roughly two decades before he signs Bob Dylan to Columbia Records. Prial's sedulous work pays off in the consistency of his narrative. His even-toned, chronological book is light on anecdotes, but his smart use of music histories, jazz autobiographies and Hammond's own Downbeat and Melody Maker writings results in an impressive and authoritative text. Moreover, Prial's insights into Hammond's youth and two marriages transform his work from the tale of a jazz buff with money into an engaging study of a man with two obsessions—"making music and promoting social reform." (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A silver-spoon baby who felt the noblesse oblige and acted on it, John Hammond (1910-87) was, through his mother's family, a Vanderbilt. Fascinated in childhood by the family's black employees' music, he had by his midteens found Harlem, where he heard musicians who became international stars. Ditching Yale for jazz journalism and record production, he launched or boosted Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Charlie Christian and began lifelong agitation for racial justice, starting with schemes to integrate jazz that bore famous fruit in Goodman's small groups with Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton and the Carnegie Hall concert "From Spirituals to Swing." Long Columbia Records and NAACP tenures enabled him to remain a star maker--Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen were later finds--and a social shaker after swing's demise. Attracting readers is done for Prial by the famous names Hammond's story obliges him to drop, and he neither probes Hammond's class-based arrogance and self-absorption nor more than hints at Hammond's personal financial decline. Still, this is gratifying reading for American pop mavens. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes in 1777!

At first, the American flag was amended when new states entered the Union w/ both a star & stripe, e.g. Vermont was admitted in 1791 & Kentucky in 1792 - the '15 star & 15 stripes' flag is the first one below; by early 1818, there were 20 states and the second flag shown reflects the 'new' law of adding only stars to the flag and keeping the stripes at 13 for the original colonies. Dave :)

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend (Source).

With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states(Source).
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I've been to the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia. Popular legend has her as the person who sewed the first American flag.

I've probably explored that historic Philadelphia area at least three times, and been to the Ross House twice (pics below) - the story seems to still be a 'legend' and not documented at least according to this History Website discussion; also, love to visit Independence Hall when there. Dave :)
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June 17, 2008:
American actress and dancer Cyd Charisse died in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Cyd Charisse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hi Johanna - for us 'boys', Cyd's legs were always a treat to watch (image below w/ Fred Astaire) - Gene Kelly another great partner for her. Just checked my 'video collection' and have the films below, not that many - The Band Wagon & Silk Stockings are my favorites.

She was married to the singer & actor, Tony Martin for 60 years! He outlived her and died at 98 y/o (his dates, 1913-2012) - in fact, he also outlived his son - pic of the family below. Dave :)

1946 - Harvey Girls (DVD)
1952 - Singin’ in the Rain (BD)
1953 - Band Wagon, The (BD)
1954 - Deep in My Heart (DVD-R)
1957 - Silk Stockings (DVD)
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