Antonio Stradivari

Note: The picture has nothing to do with the article.
Today in History:

Amazing things have happened on this day. Most importantly, today is the first day of Christmas vacation for my two sisters and I. That's right. I will use bad grammar in celebration. Along with being the first day of Christmas break, today, or December 18th, was the day that Antonio Stradivari died 273 years ago. Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) was an Italian violin maker during the Baroque Period. Although Stradivari is virtually unknown among non-violin players, he is widely considered as the best violin maker of all times. Stradivari was born in Cremona, Italy and is believed to have been mentored by Nicolo Amati, who came from a famous family of violin makers. As a violin maker, Stradivari would experiment on how to make the perfect instrument by experimenting with factors including wood type, varnish, shape, size, and wood thickness. Most instruments made by Stradivari are signed, "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonesis Faciebat Anno [insert year here]", or , in English, "Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, made in the year [insert year here]". This inscription is a Latin phrase, and it is because if this inscription that his violins are referred to as 'Stradivarius violins'. Stradivari's best instruments are said to have been made between 1700 and 1725, and these violins are preferred by world-class musicians over any other type of violin and tend to have a better tone than other violins. In 1737, on this day, Stradivari died at age 93. Over his lifetime, he made over 1100 instruments, including harps, guitars, violas, cellos, lutes, and mandolins in addition to his violins. Of these many instruments, only about 650 survive to this day.

Information from...

http://www.answers.com/topic/antonio-stradivari

and

http://www.stradivariusviolins.org/antoniostradivari.html

Donuts for Your Viewing Pleasure

France's Louvre Museum

The Palais du Louvre is a complex of buildings added on to the first structure, which was started in 1546 by architect Pierre Lescot under King Francois I. Other parts of the Louvre were built by rulers such as Henri IV, who built the Grand Galerie, and Catherine de Medici, who built the Tuileries. The Louvre was the royal headquarters in Paris until Louis XIV built Versailles in 1682. Although he disliked the Louvre, Louis XIV's chief minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert, advised the King to build public buildings, so Louis created the Place du Carrousel. Louis also asked Le Vau, the architect who would later create Versailles, to design new buildings for the Cour Carree part of the Louvre. For the eastern facade, Le Vau, the Italian architect, Bernini, and the King's architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart all submitted designs, but were rejected. In the end, an unknown designer, Claude Perrault, was chosen. Although Perrault was only an amateur architect, his design impressed Colbert, and the eastern facade was completed in 1670. After the French Revolution, the Louvre was turned into the national gallery of France, and was added onto by both Napoleon I and Napoleon III.During the Paris Commune of 1871, the part of the Louvre built by Catherine de Medici, the Tuileries, was destroyd. In the 1980's, the French President Francois Mitterand asked Ieoh Ming Pei to reinvent the Louvre to accommodate the many visitors of the great building, so Pei added some pyramids in the middle of the complex, the main pyramid used as an entrance, the centerpiece of an underground entrance complex, and giving natural light to the underground levels. The Louvre now is one of the most famous and visited museums in the world. The Louvre now contains the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, the Mona Lisa, a coffee shop, and 4+ gift shops.

Information from...
The World's Greatest Buildings
Consultant Editor: Trevor Howells and...
The Greatest Buildings of the World
Editor: Kelly Knauer

#03- Christopher Colombus

03 Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was an Italian navigator working for Spain, but Columbus, unlike other explorers of the time, wanted to find a way to reach Asia by going West, through the Atlantic. Because Queen Isabella of Spain had finally disposed of the last Muslims in Spain, she decided to pay for Columbus' voyage. With the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa Maria, Columbus sailed from Spain in the August of 1492. Although Columbus had greatly misjudged the distance from Europe to Asia, luck was on his side. Instead of finding Asia, Columbus landed in America. When Columbus landed on one of the Bahaman Islands, he believed that he had made his way to Asia and named the natives 'Indians'. After leaving the Bahamas, Columbus sighted Cuba and crashed one of his ships onto Hispaniola before heading home. When he returned to Spain, he was celebrated for finding a new sea route to Asia. Columbus made two more trips to America in later years, never knowing that he wasn't actually going to Asia. Although some may say that Columbus should be the greatest explorer ever for discovering the New World, Columbus was pushed back because he discovered the New World on accident and he wasn't even the first European to land in the New World (Leif Erikson landed in Canada around 1000 A.D.), but because he brought back the first news of land in the West, Columbus is the third greatest explorer of all time.

Random Picture A

Random Picture from Turkey