A Brief History On May 23, 1829, Austrian maker of keyboard instruments, Cyrill Demian, a man of Armenian descent, was granted a patent for his new musical instrument, the Accordion. Digging Deeper As with so many other inventions, the actual inventor of the accordion is disputed, with some giving Christian Buschmann of Germany, credit as the real inventor. Some other instruments let their name lead you to their inventor, such as the Saxophone, invented by Adolphe Sax of Belgium in the 1840s, and the Sousaphone, of course invented by the March King himself, John Philip Sousa, in 1893, although the…
Browsing: Music
A Brief History On May 8, 1970, the Fab Four, the Mop Tops, or simply, The Beatles, released what would be their final album, Let it Be. Incredibly, the 35 minute and 10 second album was only the 5th album produced by the arguably greatest Rock and Roll band of all time. Digging Deeper Side 1 featured the songs: “Two of Us” “Dig a Pony” “Across the Universe” “I Me Mine” “Dig It” “Let It Be” “Maggie Mae” and Side 2 featured: “I’ve Got a Feeling” “One After 909” “The Long and Winding Road” “For You Blue” “Get Back” The…
A Brief History On February 16, 1904, African American movie actor and singer James Franklin Baskett was born in Indianapolis. You may not know his name, but the character he played in the Disney classic movie, Song of the South in 1946, Uncle Remus, is a beloved part of Americana as is his rendition of the song, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Digging Deeper In 1948, Baskett was awarded an honorary Oscar, becoming the first Black actor to receive an Academy Award. Other notable African American births on February 16th include pianist and organist Bill Doggett in 1916, actor LaVar Burton in 1957, both…
A Brief History On December 31, 192, Roman Emperor Commodus was assassinated, one of many Roman emperors that met an untimely end. Today, we take a look at just a select few of those people that died in 2022. Who else would you include on this list? Digging Deeper Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister Madeline Albright, Diplomat Kirstie Alley, actress Louie Anderson, Comedian Benedict, Pope Emeritus Peter Bogdanovich, Writer and director James Caan, Actor Irene Cara, Singer Coolio, Rapper Tony Dow, Actor Judith Durham, Singer Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet President Gilbert Gottfried, Comedian Franco…
A Brief History On December 27, 1771, French engineer, Henri Pitot, died at the age of 76. Although you may not be familiar with him, his invention, the Pitot Tube, has probably served you well in your life, as it is the primary instrument used for measuring the speed of aircraft and boats, as well as other liquids and gases. Today, we take time to remember some of the famous folks that died on December 27th. Digging Deeper 1834: Charles Lamb, English essayist and poet. 1836: Stephen Austin, known as “The Father of Texas” and the namesake of the state’s…
