Today's birthday

[Алексей Конобеев]

Very often you need to start or finish your lesson with interesting information to maintain the role of English as a source of information for your students.Telling students about whose birthday it is today and why this person is famous may be a good time-filler or an idea for a project, or just a nice "It is interesting to know" moment. I will try to tell about famous people according to their birthdates and provide links to encyclopaedia entries and other useful websites where you can get more information about these people.

 

So, today, March 19th, is the birthday of David Livingstone, the famous exlorer. This is what wikipedia awrites about him:

"Perhaps one of the most popular national heroes of the late 19th century in Victorian Britain, Livingstone had a mythic status, which operated on a number of interconnected levels: that of Protestant missionary martyr, that of working-class "rags to riches" inspirational story, that of scientific investigator and explorer, that of imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial empire.

 

His fame as an explorer helped drive forward the obsession with discovering the sources of the River Nile that formed the culmination of the classic period of European geographical discovery and colonial penetration of the African continent. At the same time his missionary travels, "disappearance" and death in Africa, and subsequent glorification as posthumous national hero in 1874 led to the founding of several major central African Christian missionary initiatives carried forward in the era of the European "Scramble for Africa."" Read more.

 

In their geography class the students may have heard the famous words "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" These words were said by Henry Stanley, who found David Livingstone in Africa after a long search in 1871. By that time David Livingstone had not been seen for 7 years.

"Henry Stanley was a remarkable man. Orphaned at an early age he spent his formative years in a workhouse in Wales, crossed the Atlantic at age 15 as a crewman of a merchant ship and jumped ship in New Orleans. Befriended by a local merchant, he took the man's name - Henry Stanley - as his own and went on to fight in the Civil War before working his way into a career in journalism." The article "Stanley Finds Livingstone, 1871", EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004) quotes Stanley's story about how he found David Livingstone afte 8 month's search, and what the meeting was like. Read more.

 

I hope that the example of two remarkable men will show your students how much effort the discovery of Africa took, what fight for the abolition of slavery went on and how fascinating it is to discover the world.

[tam]

Очень интересная идея.Может стоит создать что-то типа календаря на каждый месяц или сделать подборку таких дат по месяцам.Можно распечатать или сделать для себя копилку для удобства пользования. Возможно также распечатать на отдельных листах и использовать в течение учебного года.

Идея - блеск! У меня был в советские времена такой календарь для Клуба Интернациональной Дружбы. Мы не забывали ни одной даты -или газета, или заседание Клуба, или какой-то конкурс. Сейчас возможностей намного больше, интернет великое изобретение! Надо собраться группой, распределить по месяцам, выбрать важнейшие события, а к ним ссылки, где взять материал. Работа большая, делать нужно сообща.

Добровольцы! Записывайтесь в группу:

январь -

февраль-

март-

и т. д.

[Melamory]

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/calendars/february.php

 

Я не помню, кто на форуме дал эту ссылку, но спасибо огромное за нее! Вот уже 2,5 месяца каждое воскресенье, я ее открываю, выбираю нужный месяц и неделю и распечатываю информацию о знаменитых людях, праздниках, каких-то вещах( о джинсах Леви Страуса, кукле Барби, и т.д.),затем помещаю информацию на стенд "Английского клуба" в рекреации.

Столкнулась с приятной проблемой на прошлой неделе: нашла веселые задания к Дню Св. Патрика и... через день стали подходить дети с выполненными заданиями, да еще и просьбу высказали, чтобы каждую неделю подобные задания появлялись на стенде по тем событиям, которые освещаются.

Так что, поддерживаю идею Татьяны Геннадьевны о создании серии ссылок.

[shelestova]

Коллеги.Сделала небольшую подборку о знаменитостях,которые родились в мае, и предлагаю Вашему вниманию.

 

Людмила Николаевна! Спасибо! Какой нужный материал! Информативно, лаконично, интересно, познавательно!

[tam]

Коллеги.Сделала небольшую подборку о знаменитостях,которые родились в мае, и предлагаю Вашему вниманию.

Вы не перестаете удивлять! Людмила Николаевна, кто-то сделал бы ссылки и успокоился, но только не Вы!

Вы дали нам всем готовый материал: печатай и вешай на стенд, или проводи беседу в начале урока.

[Алексей Конобеев]

On this day 325 years ago a boy was born in Germany, whose influence on music is hard to overestimate. The boy's name was Johann Sebastian Bach. This is what Wikipedia says about him:

"was a German composer, organist, violist, and violinist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.[1] Although he did not introduce new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.

 

Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, Bach's works include the Brandenburg concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Magnificat, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, the English and French Suites, the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the Cello Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a similar number of organ works, including the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.

 

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now regarded as the supreme composer of the Baroque, and as one of the greatest of all time."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

Here are several of the websites where you can listen to JS Bach's music online:

http://www.rhapsody.com/johann-sebastian-bach

http://www.last.fm/music/johann+sebastian+bach

http://www.elrelojdesol.com/classical-musi...-bach/index.htm

http://www.jango.com/music/Johann+Sebastian+Bach?l=0

 

It is interesting to compare JS Bach with his great contemporary, G.F. Handel, who was at the time considered the greatest composer in the world, or with His son, CPE Bach, who, again, was though to be much greater than his father. The story of how JS Bach received the recognition he deserved is another very interesting story that happened in the 19th century and is connected with another great European composer.

[1fluffy]

Коллеги.Сделала небольшую подборку о знаменитостях,которые родились в мае, и предлагаю Вашему вниманию.

Большое спасибо, Людмила Николаевна!

 

Замечательная подборка. Ещё раз убеждаюсь, что не зря захожу на этот сайт. Всё самое лучшее я могу найти на зтом сайте

[tam]

Вот и еще одна подборка готова.Знаменитости,которые родились в апреле.Есть с чего начать уроки в 3 четверти.

Еще одно БОЛЬШОЕ СПАСИБО!

[day]

Благодарю всех, кто принимает участие в этом проекте! Идея отличная, но пока нет времени на самостоятельное её воплощение, а вы, дорогие коллеги, предлагаете готовый материал - распечатал и на стенд! Просто замечательно!

[Алексей Конобеев]

Today is the birthday of another prominent composer, but this time a modern one. Today the author of such famous musicals as "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Evita", "Cats", "Joseph and his Amazing technicolour Dreamcoat", "The Phantom of the Opera" and many others, less well-known in Russia, is turning 62.

This is what Wikipedia tells about him:

"Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lord Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer of musical theatre. He started composing at the age of six, and published his first piece at the age of nine.

Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success, with several musicals that have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He has also gained a number of honours, including a knighthood in 1992, followed by a peerage from the British Government for services to Music, six Tony Awards (and 40 nominations), three Grammy Awards (with an additional 60 nominations), an Academy Award (two other nominations), seven Olivier Awards (with 100 nominations), a Golden Globe, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. Several of his songs, notably "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita, "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and "Memory" from Cats have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent musicals. His company, the Really Useful Group, is one of the largest theatre operators in London." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lloyd_Webber

The list of awards that Sir Andrew holds is also very impressive:

Academy Awards

 

* 1996 - Best Original Song for "You Must Love Me" from Evita (award shared with Sir Tim Rice)

 

Plus one nomination for Best Original Song: "Learn to Be Lonely" from the 2004 motion picture The Phantom of the Opera.

Golden Globes

 

* 1997 - Best Original Song for "You Must Love Me" from Evita (award shared with Sir Tim Rice)

 

Plus one nomination for Best Original Song: "Learn to Be Lonely" from the 2004 motion picture The Phantom of the Opera.

Grammy Awards

 

* 1980 - Best Cast Show Album for Evita

* 1983 - Best Cast Show Album for Cats

* 1986 - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition for Requiem

 

Tony Awards

 

* 1980 - Best Original Score for Evita (award shared with Tim Rice)

* 1983 - Best Musical for Cats

* 1983 - Best Original Score for Cats

* 1988 - Best Musical for The Phantom of the Opera

* 1995 - Best Musical for Sunset Boulevard

* 1995 - Best Original Score for Sunset Boulevard

 

Plus 9 additional nominations

 

* 1988 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for The Phantom of the Opera

* 7 Laurence Olivier Awards (including Special Award presented for his 60th birthday in 2008)

* Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for live theatre (1993)

* Kennedy Center Honors (2006)

* Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service (2008)

* 14 Ivor Novello Awards

* American Songwriter's Hall of Fame

 

You can listen to short extracts from Andrew Lloyd webber's works online at http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/

 

His new musical, a sequel to "The Phatnom of the Opera", "Love never Dies" is due to be released soon. The album for this show has already been released. Find out more, including previews of the new songs, at http://www.reallyuseful.com/front-page

[Алексей Конобеев]

March 23 is the birthday of Ludwig (Leon Fedorovich) Minkus, a great ballet composer of the 19th century. A peep at Wikipedia tells that "Minkus is most noted for the music he composed while serving as Ballet Composer of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres in Russia, where he wrote for the original works and revivals of the renowned Ballet Masters Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius Petipa. Among the composer's most celebrated compositions for these Ballet Masters were La Source (1866; composed jointly with Léo Delibes), Don Quixote (1869); and La Bayadère (1877). During his career Minkus wrote a substantial amount of supplemental material for insertion into already existing ballets. Among these pieces, Minkus is most noted for the Grand Pas classique, Pas de trois and Mazurka des enfants written for Marius Petipa's 1881 revival of the ballet Paquita.

 

Today, Minkus's ballet music is some of the most popular and performed in all of ballet, and is a most integral part of the traditional classical ballet repertory." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Minkus

You can watch an extract from L. Minkus's famous ballet "Don Quixote" with the celebrated Maya Plisetskaya here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtcQ7cHH9wI

[Алексей Конобеев]

March 24th is Harri Houdini's birthday. This is what Wikipedia tells about this very interesting person:

Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926, born Erik Weisz later spelled Ehrich Weiss)[1] was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer. He was also a skeptic who set out to expose frauds purporting to be supernatural phenomena.

...

Unlike the image of the classic magician, Houdini was short and stocky and typically appeared on stage in a long frock coat and tie. Most biographers peg his height as 5'5", but descriptions vary. Houdini was also said to be slightly bow-legged, which aided in his ability to gain slack during his rope escapes. In the 1996 biography Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss, author Kenneth Silverman summarizes how reporters described Houdini's appearance during his early career:

“ They stressed his smallness – "somewhat undersized" – and angular, vivid features: "He is smooth-shaven with a keen, sharp-chinned, sharp-cheekboned face, bright blue eyes and thick, curly, black hair." Some sensed how much his complexly expressive smile was the outlet of his charismatic stage presence. It communicated to audiences at once warm amiability, pleasure in performing, and, more subtly, imperious self-assurance. Several reporters tried to capture the charming effect, describing him as "happy-looking", "pleasant-faced", "good natured at all times", "the young Hungarian magician with the pleasant smile and easy confidence."[34] ”

 

The only known recording of Houdini's voice reveals it to be heavily accented.

 

Read more about Houdini's life and career at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini

[shelestova]

Вдруг неожиданно вспомнила,что четверть начинается 31 марта. Решила дополнить список знаменитостей,которые родились в этот день.

 

Людмила Николаевна! спасибо! как интересно все это

[Uchilka]

Опять всем большое спасибо: столько интересного и такая экономия личного времени

[Владислав]

Вдруг неожиданно вспомнила,что четверть начинается 31 марта. Решила дополнить список знаменитостей,которые родились в этот день.

 

Спасибо большое за готовый материал!!! Уже повесил на стенде, перед тем, как уехать в Обннск на семинар. Думаю, моим учащимся будет интересно узнать о некоторых знаменитых людях, даже о тех, о которых не знают ничего.

[Алексей Конобеев]

Today is Vincent van Gogh's birthday.

"Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age of 37, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 

Little appreciated during his lifetime, his fame grew in the years after his death. Today, he is widely regarded as one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art. Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties, and most of his best-known works were produced during his final two years. He produced more than 2,000 artworks, consisting of around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches. Although he was little known during his lifetime, his work was a strong influence on the Modernist art that followed. Today many of his pieces—including his numerous self portraits, landscapes, portraits and sunflowers—are among the world's most recognizable and expensive works of art." You can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh

have a look at van Gogh's works here: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/

[Алексей Конобеев]

On this day 205 years ago was born Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish auhor of fairy tales. Among his world-famous stories are "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina", "The Little Match Girl", and "The Ugly Duckling".

Read more about this author at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen

Download his stories as mp3 files and listen to them at http://librivox.org/andersens-fairy-tales-by-hc-andersen/

Download his books at: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=cr...diatype%3Atexts

Collections of stories by Hans Christian Andersen are here: http://www.tonightsbedtimestory.com/catego...stian-andersen/ and here: http://www.slapastory.com/user/profile/use...istian+Anderson

 

Today is a good day to revive your childhood! :-)

[Алексей Конобеев]

April 12th is the birthday of Alexander Ostrovsky, the famous Russian playwright. You can find his biography and analysis of his plays here: http://www.theatredatabase.com/19th_centur...rovsky_001.html

And you can read some of his excellent monologues in their English translations here: http://www.monologuearchive.com/o/ostrovsky_alexander.html These texts can become good materials for a translation and culture course.

[Алексей Конобеев]

Among other prominent people born on April 13th you will find Catherine de Medicis, the famous French queen, wife of Henri II, mother of Charles IX and Henri III, and of the famous Queen Margot (do you remember the famous books of Alexandre Dumas? the Queen margot, the 45 and so on?), the American president Thomas Jefferson (if you have a two-dollar bill, look at his portrait there), the Soviet composer Alexander Alexandrov and the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, the Nobel prize winner.

Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish avant-garde writer, dramatist and poet, writing in English and French. Beckett's work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalist in his later career.

 

As a student, assistant, and friend of James Joyce, Beckett is considered one of the last modernists; as an inspiration to many later writers, he is sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is also considered one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called "Theatre of the Absurd." As such, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.[2]

 

Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969 for his "writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation".[3] Beckett was elected Saoi of Aosdána in 1984. He died in Paris of respiratory problems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett

Learn more about Samuel beckett's works here: http://www.themodernword.com/beckett/beckett_works.html

[Алексей Конобеев]

On April 14 (April 3 o.s.) 1862 in Dresden, Saxony, was born the man who later became known as one of the most famous Russian Prime Ministers. His name was Pyotr Stolypin.

"Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin (April 14 [O.S. April 2] 1862– September 18 [O.S. September 5] 1911) served as Nicholas II's Chairman of the Council of Ministers—the Prime Minister of Russia—from 1906 to 1911. His tenure was marked by efforts to repress revolutionary groups, as well as for the institution of noteworthy agrarian reforms. Stolypin hoped, through his reforms, to stem peasant unrest by creating a class of market-oriented smallholding landowners. He is often cited as one of the last major statesmen of Imperial Russia with a clearly defined political programme and determination to undertake major reforms.

Opinions about Stolypin's work were divided. In the unruly atmosphere after the Russian Revolution of 1905 he had to suppress violent revolt and anarchy. His agrarian reform held out much promise, however. Stolypin's phrase that it was a "wager on the strong" has often been maliciously misrepresented. Stolypin and his collaborators (most prominently his Minister of Agriculture Alexander Krivoshein and the Danish-born agronomist Andrei Andreievich Kofod) tried to give as many peasants as possible a chance to raise themselves out of poverty by promoting consolidation of scattered plots, introducing banking facilities for peasants and stimulating emigration from the overcrowded western areas to virgin lands in Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Stolypin

 

"General Polivanov, diary entry on the death of Peter Stolypin (19th September, 1911)

 

What a distressing feeling! Not to speak of the loss for Russia, I feel a personal bereavement. I was under the charm of this man. I delighted in him, I was proud to think that he was satisfied with my work. When I said goodbye to him on 6th September after the Cabinet meeting, as usual I tried to catch his eye. He stood by his chair, tall and upright, and his fine face looked healthy and tanned. It was on the 9th September that for the last time I heard his manly voice on the telephone." http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSstolypin.htm

[Алексей Конобеев]

The person who was born today, changed the course of history in his lifetime. Although it was due to him that Paris was greatly renovated and the famous Parisian boulevards became a trademark sign of French architecture, this man is mostly remembered because of the many wars he started and his defeat in the end. In Russia he is also remembered because of a lot of harm he did to our country when he was the leader of his. The man I am talking about lived in different countries, made several attempts at military coups, served a prison term, then he was elected president and finally he became an emperor. He is known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, or Napoleon III. His biography is a fascinating read in itself.

 

He was born to the king and queen of Holland as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. His father was Napoleon I's brother, Louis Bonaparte, and his mother was Napoleon's wife's daughter by her first marriage, Hortense de Beauharnais.

 

"After Napoleon I's military defeats and deposition in 1815 and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France, all members of the Bonaparte dynasty were forced into exile. The little Louis-Napoléon was brought up in Switzerland, living with his mother in Arenenberg Castle in the canton of Thurgau, and in Germany, receiving his education at the gymnasium school at Augsburg, Bavaria. As a young man he settled in Italy, where he and his elder brother Napoléon Louis espoused liberal politics and became involved with the Carbonari, an organization fighting Austria's domination of northern Italy. On March 17, 1831, while fleeing Italy due to a crackdown on revolutionary activity by Papal and Austrian troops, Louis-Napoléon's brother, suffering from measles, died in his arms. His experiences in Italy later had a profound effect on his foreign policy. Louis-Napoléon travelled on to France where he was quickly arrested and quietly sent to England."

 

" Louis-Napoléon returned to France in October 1836, trying to emulate the start of the Hundred Days by initiating a Bonapartist coup at Strasbourg, calling on the local garrison to join him in restoring the Empire. The local troops instead arrested him and Louis-Napoléon returned to exile, initially in Switzerland. When Louis-Philippe demanded his extradition, the Swiss refused to hand over a man who was a citizen and a member of their armed forces. In order to avoid a war, Louis-Napoléon left Switzerland of his own accord.

He travelled quietly to the United States of America, and spent four years in New York. He also sailed to Central America."

"He secretly returned to France and attempted yet another coup in August 1840, sailing with some fifty hired soldiers into Boulogne, taking the train to Lille and repeating the failure of the Strasbourg coup. This time, he was not exiled but sentenced to emprisonnement perpétuel, albeit in relative comfort, in the fortress of the town of Ham in the Department of the Somme.

While in the Ham fortress, his eyesight reportedly became poor. During his years of imprisonment, he wrote essays and pamphlets that combined his claim to be emperor with progressive, mildly socialist economic proposals. In 1844, his uncle Joseph died, making him the heir apparent to the Bonaparte claim. He finally escaped in May 1846 by exchanging clothes with a mason working at the fortress. "

"Louis-Napoléon lived within the borders of the United Kingdom until the revolution of February 1848 in France deposed Louis-Philippe and established a Republic. He was now free to return to France, which he immediately did. However, he found himself being asked to leave by the provisional government, which felt that he was an unnecessary distraction.[5] Back in England, he volunteered to be a special constable in the event of Chartist rioting. In the same month, April, he ran for, and won, a seat in the French Constituent Assembly elected to draft a new constitution. He did not make a great contribution and, as a mediocre public orator, failed to impress his fellow members. Some even thought that, having lived outside of France almost all his life, he spoke French with a slight German accent."

"When the constitution of the Second Republic was finally promulgated and direct elections for the presidency were held on 10 December 1848, Louis-Napoléon won a surprising landslide victory. During his term as President, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte styled himself the Prince-President (Le Prince-Président)."

"In the third year of his four-year mandate, President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte asked the National Assembly for a revision of the constitution to enable the president to run for re-election, arguing that four years were not enough to implement his political and economic program fully. The Constitution of the Second Republic stated that the Presidency of the Republic was to be held for a single term of four years, with no possibility of re-election, a restriction written in the Constitution for fear that a President would abuse his power to transform the Republic into a dictatorship with a president for life. The National Assembly, dominated by monarchists who wished to restore the Bourbon dynasty, refused to amend the Constitution."

"After months of stalemate, and using the money of his mistress, Harriet Howard, he staged a coup d'état and seized dictatorial powers on 2 December 1851, the 47th anniversary of Napoleon I's crowning as Emperor, and also the 46th anniversary of the famous Battle of Austerlitz"

"Napoleon III is primarily remembered for renovating Paris, and several military ventures, including French participation in the Crimean War, the conquest of Senegal, the Second Opium War, the Cochinchina Campaign, the Second Italian War of Independence, the Franco-Mexican War, the Taiping Rebellion, the 1866 campaign against Korea, the Boshin War, and the Franco-Prussian War. The Second French Empire was overthrown three days after Napoleon's disastrous surrender at the Battle of Sedan in 1870, which resulted in both the proclamation of the French Third Republic and the cession of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine to the newly-formed German Empire."

"Napoleon spent the last few years of his life in exile in England, with Eugenie and their only son. The family lived at Camden Place Chislehurst, (then in Kent), where he died on 9 January 1873. He was haunted to the end by bitter regrets and by painful memories of the battle at which he lost everything; Napoleon's last words, addressed to Dr. Henri Conneau standing by his deathbed, reportedly were, "Were you at Sedan?" " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_III

 

You can read more about the Crimean War and the bad consequences it had for Russia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War

[Алексей Конобеев]

On this day in 1926, 84 years ago, was born Queen Elizabeth II. As the royal website tells, "The Queen was born at 2.40am on 21 April 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London.

She was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

At the time she stood third in line of succession to the throne after Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and her father, The Duke of York. But it was not expected that her father would become King, or that she would become Queen. " There are many interesting facts about the Queen and her life at www.royal.gov.uk

This is what Queen Elizabeth II tells about her life and work:

 

Recently the Queen has been highly praised for her new style, see a short video here:

 

A video of the Queen's coronation:

 

See how the Queen spends her time when she is off duty:

 

Also check out the video gallery of the Queen here: http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/TheQueenvideogallery.aspx

[Алексей Конобеев]

It is believed that today is William Shakespeare's birthday. The actual date is not known, but he was baptised on April 26, and his birthday is observed on St George's Day, April 23rd.

If there is a single symbol of English literature, then it's William Shakespeare.

You can read about his life at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare

His complete works can be read here: http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/ (Open Source Shakespeare attempts to be the best free Web site containing Shakespeare's complete works. It is intended for scholars, thespians, and Shakespeare lovers of every kind. OSS includes the 1864 Globe Edition of the complete works, which was the definitive single-volume Shakespeare edition for over a half-century)

 

Here is his Sonnet 90:

 

Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever, now,

Now while the world is bent my deeds to cross,

join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,

And do not drop in for an after-loss:

Ah do not, when my heart hath 'scaped this sorrow,

Come in the rearward of a conquered woe,

Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,

To linger out a purposed overthrow.

If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,

When other petty griefs have done their spite,

But in the onset come, so shall I taste

At first the very worst of fortune's might.

And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,

Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.

 

Have a look at the wonderful translation of this sonnet done by Samuel Marshak: Уж если ты разлюбишь, так теперь... http://www.stihi-rus.ru/World/Shekspir/90.htm

 

In class it's interesting to compare different translations of the same sonnets. You can find 7 versions of each sonnet's translation here: http://www.willmshakespeare.com/full.htm

[Алексей Конобеев]

Do you remember the films "My Fair Lady", "Roman Holiday", "Sabrina", "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "War and peace"? If you do, then certainly the first image that springs to mind is the face of the actress who starred in all those films. The actress is Audrey Hepburn and today is her birthday.

While Audrey Hepburn is well-known in Russia as one of the most beautiful and brilliant actresses of the 20th century, less is known of her indefatiguable work for UNICEF, so a look at her biography may be interesting.

Audrey Kathleen Ruston was born in 1929, on May 4, in Ixelles, Belgium. During WWII she stayed in the Netherlands, including the German-occupied zone. An article in the New York Times tells that Audrey tried to help the Resistance movement by delivering messages for them.

She studied ballet and when she moved to London in 1948, she continued her ballet training and also worked as a model for photographers.

It was in London that Audrey made her stage debut as a chorus girl in a musical. For the next few years she played minor roles on stage and in a few films (one of her roles was even uncredited), but when she was 22, Audrey went to New York to star in a Broadway comedy about a French girl. Audrey was a success and two years later, in 1953, she starred in "Roman Holiday". She won an Oscar as the best actress for this performance.

This was the true start of her ascend to world-wide fame. Musicals on stage, roles in big Hollywood films made her more and more popular each day. Audrey performed with such great actors as Gregory Peck, Rex Harrison, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Peter O'Toole, and Albert Finney. As a beautiful lady, she set fashion standards at the time.

Audrey was not always happy in her private life. Although she was in love and her wedding dress had already been made, she refused to get married to James Hanson because she knew that her film career would not let them spend enough time together. She did get married later on, though - twice, first to American actor Mel Ferrer, and then to an Italian doctor, Andrea Dotti. She had a son with each – Sean in 1960 by Ferrer, and Luca in 1970 by Dotti. Her elder son's godfather was the novelist A. J. Cronin, who resided near Hepburn in Lucerne. From 1980 until her death, she lived with the actor Robert Wolders.

 

In late 1980-s she was appointed a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). In 5 years Audrey Hepburn travelled to more than 50 countries, trying to help the starving, suffering, ill and underpriviledged children as well as to raise awareness of their problems within the welthier nations.

Unfortunately, her work did not last very long. Audrey hepburn died of cancer on 20 January 1993 in Switzerland and is buried there.

 

However, not only her fils survive, but another important legacy lives as well and it gives life to other people. In 1994 Audrey's sons, Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti, along with her companion Robert Wolders, established the Audrey Hepburn Memorial Fund to continue Hepburn's humanitarian work. It is now known as the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund. Today, the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund supports many organizations around the world dedicated to helping improve the lives of children through various programs and initiatives. You can learn more about the work of the Fund here: http://www.audreyhepburn.com/menu/index.php

See one of the most famous scenes from "My Fair Lady" here:

[tam]

You can learn more about the work of the Fund here: http://www.audreyhepburn.com/menu/index.php

See one of the most famous scenes from "My Fair Lady" here:

 

Audrey_Hepburn.zip ( 693,4 килобайт ) Кол-во скачиваний: 46

 

http://www.englishteachers.ru/forum/index....=613&st=140