Thomas Huxley, early evolutionist

Thomas Huxley

It is the birthday of English biologist Thomas Huxley (1825), one of the most vociferous advocates of the theory of evolution and the premier advocate of science in 19th century Britain. He was largely self-educated but rose to become a prominent leader in British zoology. His Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature (1863) was the first book devoted to human evolution. It makes the case that man and apes came from a common ancestor. It was published four years after Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species but Darwin was careful to avoid dealing with human evolution in that book. (Darwin dealt with the subject in The Descent of Man, published in 1871.) Much of the material in Huxley's book had been published in his scientific papers and distributed to a very selected audience. His book marked the first time such theories had received the attention of a wider educated public. Huxley compares adult human anatomy with that of apes. He makes the case that humans should be considered primates. Author Aldous Huxley was Thomas' grandson.

William Inge's play Picnic won a Pulitzer

William Inge

It is the birthday of playwright and novelist William Inge (1913), whose play Picnic (1953) won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Inge also wrote Come Back, Little Sheba, which ran on Broadway in 1950, starring Shirley Booth, who also starred in the movie adaptation and won an Oscar and a Golden Globe award for her performance. His play Glory in the Flower (1953) became a television production on Omnibus, starring Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, and James Dean. His plays Bus Stop (1955) and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957) also had successful runs on Broadway, and were later adapted for film. His play A Loss of Roses (1959) starred Carol Haney, Warren Beatty, and Betty Field. It was later adapted for film as The Stripper. He wrote Splendor in the Grass (1961) as a screenplay, and it won an Oscar. He adapted James Leo Herlihy's novel All Fall Down for a 1962 film. He wrote the screenplay for Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965) but was unhappy with changes that were made in the final film so demanded that the screenplay credit go to "Walter Gage." In November 1964, his play Out on the Outskirts of Town was broadcast on NBC. It starred Anne Bancroft and Jack Warden. Inge wrote two novels, Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1970) and My Son is a Splendid Driver (1971). The first deals with a public humiliation in the 1950s with a high school Latin teacher who has an affair with the school's black janitor. The second is an autobiographical novel that deals with the author's loneliness growing up. Inge committed suicide in 1973.

Happy birthday, Alessandro Scarlatti

It is the birthday of Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660), who wrote operas, chamber music and religious music. His sons, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, were also composers. Here is part of his well known St. Cecilia Mass. Enjoy!

Addison's play inspired American Revolution

Joseph Addison

It is the birthday of English essayist and playwright Joseph Addison (1672), whose play, Cato (1712), is believed to be a literary inspiration for the American Revolution. The play, which concerns the Roman statesman's final days, was popular in Britain, Ireland, and the American colonies. George Washington is said to have performed it for the Continental Army at Valley Forge. Scholars note that Patrick Henry's famous proclamation, "Give me liberty or give me death" is certainly a reference to a line in the play as is Nathan Hale's vow "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Indeed, George Washington wrote in a letter praising Benedict Arnold (an act he no doubt later regretted) that "It is not in the power of any man to command success; but you have done more—you have deserved it," which scholars believe is a reference to "Tis not in mortals to command success; but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it." The play is set at Utica as Cato the Younger awaits the arrival of Julius Caesar after Caesar's victory at Thapsus. Cato struggles with his personal beliefs in individual liberty and republicanism in the face of Caesar's tyrannical rule. In the end, Cato kills himself rather than live under Caesar's despotism. Addison also was known as an essayist. He helped his childhood friend Richard Steele start The Spectator, a daily sheet intended to make the discussion of philosophical issues accessible to the educated public in coffeehouses, clubs and at tea. The publication had a press run of about 3,000 copies but Addison estimated that the readership was far greater—about 60,000—because readers devoured them in subscribing coffeehouses. Maybe they also found Addison's work accessible because of his relaxed conversational writing style. Indeed, he earned the censure of renowned writers of the day for consistently ending a sentence with a preposition.