Born in 1889 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter.

Above: Renee Falconetti in Dreyer’s 1928 film, The Passion of Joan of Arc.

On this date in 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.

Born in 1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic.

“Imagine a group of people who are all blind, deaf and slightly demented and suddenly someone in the crowd asks, ‘What are we to do?’… The only possible answer is ‘Look for a cure.’ Until you are cured, there is nothing you can do. And since you don’t believe you are sick, there can be no cure.“

Born in 1842 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian-Russian painter.

Above: Evening in Ukraine (1878–1901)

Born in 1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic.

Above: Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110, 1971

Born in 1929 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster.

Long time voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cope played a large role in the invention of the Terrible Towel. Needing a way to excite the fans during a 1975 playoff game against the Baltimore Colts, Cope urged fans to take yellow dish towels to the game and wave them throughout.

In 1996, Cope gave the rights to The Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The school provides care for more than 900 people with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, including Cope’s son who has severe autism. Proceeds from the Terrible Towel have helped raise $3 million for the school.

Born in 1935 – Alexander Men, Russian priest and scholar.

“From the very outset, the coming of Christ represents the fulfillment of hope. From the very beginning the Gospel story means victory arising out of catastrophe. Disappointment, defeat, despair, confusion – and all of a sudden, an unexpected display of the miraculous power of God.” 

Born in 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player.

Born in 1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author.

“Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth.”  ― Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

Born in 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer.

Above:  Stieglitz’s Georgia O’Keeffe in pencil on the reverse, 1918.