Celebrating Cultures across the University of Birmingham
Black Country Day 14 July – this day was chosen as it is considered to be the date of the inception of the Newcomen engine, the first commercially successful engine. Invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, it was first installed at Coneygree Coal Works in Tipton and was used to pump water out of mines. … Continue reading “Black Country Day (14 July)”
Bastille Day celebrates the storming of the Bastille – a military fortress and prison – on 14 July 1789, in a violent uprising that was a turning point in the French Revolution. Holding gunpowder and other supplies valuable to revolutionaries, the Bastille also symbolized the callous tyranny of the French monarchy, especially King Louis XVI … Continue reading “Bastille Day – le quatorze juillet”
Considered by critics to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century, Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (1871–1922), French novelist, critic, and essayist, wrote the monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time, earlier rendered as Remembrance of Things Past). By the age of nine, Proust had had … Continue reading “150th anniversary of the birth of Marcel Proust”
On Sunday 4 July, the Together coalition will lead a national day of thanks and recognition to celebrate the incredible work of our NHS staff, as well as all key workers and others in our communities who have helped us through this challenging year. 5 July 1948 was the day that our pioneering National Health … Continue reading “4 July NHS Thank You Day”
75th anniversary of the death of John Logie Baird (1888-1946), a Scottish inventor, known as the Father of Television. In 1926 he demonstrated the first working television and went on to invent the first publicly demonstrated colour television system. In early 1923, and in poor health, Baird moved to Hastings. He built what was to … Continue reading “John Logie Baird 75th anniversary”
Festa della Repubblica is celebrated on 2 June each year and marks the referendum of 1946, which resulted in the creation of the Italian republic. Italy became a nation on 17 March 1861, when most of the states of the region were united under King Victor Emmanuel II, hitherto king of Sardinia. On 2 June … Continue reading “Festa della Repubblica 2 June”
The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was one of the most severe incidents of racial violence in U.S. history. The massacre began during the Memorial Day weekend after 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a Black shoeshiner, was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a 17-year-old White elevator operator of the nearby Drexel Building. The police were called, and … Continue reading “Tulsa Race Massacre 1921”
This most important Buddhist festival is known as either Wesak, Vesak or Buddha Day, and is celebrated annually on the full moon of the ancient lunar month of Vesakha, which usually falls in May, or in early June. It commemorates the birth, enlightenment and the death of Buddha. The day is observed as a public … Continue reading “Wesak (Buddha Day)”
Radio 4 marks the 80th birthday of Bob Dylan with a series of essays, an original audio drama and a documentary, each celebrating the musician widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/radio4-celebrates-bob-dylan Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941, Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist. … Continue reading “Bob Dylan @ 80”
Shavuot (16-18 May) Shavuot is one of the Jewish harvest festivals, also known as the festival or feast of ‘Weeks’, taking place seven weeks (fifty days) after the first day of the spring festival of Passover. It was originally an agricultural festival, marking the beginning of the wheat harvest. The first fruits of the harvest … Continue reading “Shavuot”
