THOMAS ALVA EDISON & THE INCANDESCENT LIGHTING

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of her closest friends Claire Fontaine, Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Tonyi Tamaki, Tina Picotes and Jordi Santanyí. They have followed the COVID19 rules for reunions and they have spent this New Year's Eve without celebrations to respect all people who are suffering this terrible pandemic but they have enjoyed the possibility of staying together and safe.

Christmas is time of celebration, music, good proposals and light. They have been talking about Thomas Alva Edison, who demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey on a day like today in 1879. Edison wasn't the only inventor to lay claim to the light bulb and the history of this invention has as inventors as guests had The Grandma on a day so special.

An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows.

The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb to protect the filament from oxidation. Current is supplied to the filament by terminals or wires embedded in the glass. A bulb socket provides mechanical support and electrical connections.

Incandescent bulbs are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, light output, and voltage ratings, from 1.5 volts to about 300 volts.

They require no external regulating equipment, have low manufacturing costs, and work equally well on either alternating current or direct current. As a result, the incandescent bulb became widely used in household and commercial lighting, for portable lighting such as table lamps, car headlamps, and flashlights, and for decorative and advertising lighting.

Incandescent bulbs are much less efficient than other types of electric lighting, converting less than 5% of the energy they use into visible light. The remaining energy is lost as heat. The luminous efficacy of a typical incandescent bulb for 120 V operation is 16 lumens per watt, compared with 60 lm/W for a compact fluorescent bulb or 150 lm/W for some white LED lamps.

More information: ThoughtCo

Some applications use the heat generated by the filament. Heat lamps are made for uses such as incubators, lava lamps, and the Easy-Bake Oven toy. Quartz tube lamps are used for industrial processes such as paint curing or for space heating.

Incandescent bulbs typically have short lifetimes compared with other types of lighting; around 1,000 hours for home light bulbs versus typically 10,000 hours for compact fluorescents and 20,000-30,000 hours for lighting LEDs.

Incandescent bulbs can be replaced by fluorescent lamps, high-intensity discharge lamps, and light-emitting diode lamps (LED). Some areas have implemented phasing out the use of incandescent light bulbs to reduce energy consumption.

Historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison. They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve by use of the Sprengel pump and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

Historian Thomas Hughes has attributed Edison's success to his development of an entire, integrated system of electric lighting.

Thomas Edison began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp in 1878.

Edison filed his first patent application for Improvement in Electric Lights on 14 October 1878.

After many experiments, first with carbon in the early 1880s and then with platinum and other metals, in the end Edison returned to a carbon filament. The first successful test was on 22 October 1879, and lasted 13.5 hours.

Edison continued to improve this design and by 4 November 1879, filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected... to platina contact wires.

More information: History

Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including using cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways, Edison and his team later discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last more than 1200 hours.

In 1880, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company steamer, Columbia, became the first application for Edison's incandescent electric lamps, it was also the first ship to use a dynamo.

More than 95% of the power consumed by a typical incandescent light bulb is converted into heat rather than visible light. Other electrical light sources are more effective.

For a given quantity of light, an incandescent light bulb consumes more power and gives off more heat than a fluorescent lamp. In buildings where air conditioning is used, incandescent lamps' heat output increases load on the air conditioning system. While heat from lights will reduce the need for running a building's heating system, in general a heating system can provide the same amount of heat at a lower cost than incandescent lights.

Halogen incandescent lamps will use less power to produce the same amount of light compared to a non-halogen incandescent light. Halogen lights produce a more constant light-output over time, without much dimming.

More information: The New York Times

We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.

Thomas Alva Edison

SUSAN KAY BOGGUSS, COUNTRY MUSIC FROM ILLINOIS

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has decided to listen to some music and she has chosen Suzzy Bogguss, one of her favourite country singers who was born on a day like today in 1956.

Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American countrymusic singer and songwriter.

She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album received a platinum certification. She won Top New Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music and the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association.

Susan Kay Bogguss was born on December 30, 1956, in Aledo, Illinois, the youngest of four born to Barbara and Charles Bogguss. Her grandmothers played piano at theaters. At age 5, she began singing in the Angel Choir of the College Avenue Presbyterian Church in her hometown. With her parents' encouragement, she took lessons in piano and drums, and as a teenager picked up the guitar as well.

In her youth, Bogguss would visit Roy Rogers and Dale Evans at their home in Apple Valley, California, as they attended the same church as her grandparents. She starred in several musicals at Aledo High School, where she was crowned homecoming queen. After graduating in 1975, she enrolled at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, but later transferred to Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal. She graduated from ISU in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in metalsmithing. She would later use these skills to design her own jewelry.

She produced her first independent album for Old Shack Recording: Suzy.

More information: Suzy Bogguss

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1985, Bogguss began working at the local Tony Roma's restaurant on her first day there. While there, she performed a three-day audition for entertainer Dolly Parton at Silver Dollar City, a theme park which would eventually become Dollywood. The following year, she became the first featured female performer at the park, playing four solo shows at the park's train station and appearing in the Jamboree show.

Suzy appeared on The Texas Connection/Austin City Limits in 1991 then hosted by Jerry Jeff Walker. She joined him to cover Michael Burton's Night Rider's Lament. Both Jerry Jeff and the audience were blown away by her voice and her yodelling.

In 1987, Bogguss released her first three singles for Capitol, a cover of The Ink Spots' 1941 song I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, Love Will Never Slip Away, and Come as You Were. Two of these singles succeeded in making the lower reaches of the Billboard country music charts.

Her debut studio album for Capitol, Somewhere Between was released in March 1989. Somewhere Between, with its blend of traditional and contemporary styles, drew positive reviews from critics. The album's second single, Cross My Broken Heart, became a top-20 hit on the country music charts. The same year, Bogguss won the award for Top New Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music.

For her second album, Moment of Truth, production tasks were taken over by new label-head and Nashville producer Jimmy Bowen, who moved Bogguss's sound in a more polished direction. However, the album's two singles failed to rise beyond the lower reaches of the Billboard charts. A duet she recorded with Lee Greenwood, Hopelessly Yours, went to No. 12 on the country singles chart and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.

In 1991 Bogguss released her third studio album, the platinum-selling Aces. The LP yielded four hit singles -Someday Soon, Outbound Plane, Aces, and Letting Go, the latter three reaching the country Top Ten.

At the 1992 Country Music Association Awards, Bogguss won the Horizon Award. In September of that year, Bogguss began designing women's leather apparel; the apparel was sold in stores on the West Coast. Her 1992 follow-up, Voices in the Wind, earned Bogguss her second straight gold record. The album's first single, a cover of the 1988 song Drive South by John Hiatt, missed the No. 1 spot but gave Bogguss the highest-charting hit of her career to date. Her streak continued the following year with another gold record, Something Up My Sleeve, giving her two additional Top Five hits in Just Like the Weather and Hey Cinderella. The latter, which she cowrote with Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison, has gone on to become one of Bogguss's signature songs.

In May 1993, Bogguss appeared on the CBS television special The Women of Country.

Eventually, Bogguss became the sole producer of her sixth studio album, Simpatico. The album consisted of duets with long-time friend and guitarist Chet Atkins. The album was released in 1994, and though it was generally well reviewed, its only single, One More for the Road, did not chart. That same year, Bogguss's Greatest Hits album was released and went gold. Later, Bogguss collaborated with Alison Krauss, Kathy Mattea, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to contribute Teach Your Children to the AIDS benefit compilation album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

More information: Facebook-Suzy Bogguss

Upon completing Simpatico, Bogguss temporarily set her music aside to start a family. Bogguss and Crider's first child, Benton Charles Crider, was born on March 17, 1995. She also scaled down her touring dates as a result for three years. In May of that year, Bogguss performed at the White House with Kathy Mattea and Alison Krauss. This event later aired on PBS stations in September as Women of Country Music.

In July 1996, she released her seventh studio album, entitled Give Me Some Wheels. During her break, the climate of country music had changed considerably, with more pop-oriented female singers such as Martina McBride, Faith Hill, and Shania Twain dominating the charts. Bogguss's traditional, straightforward style failed to connect with younger listeners, and the record yielded low sales.

In March 1997, Bogguss performed at the Every Woman's Challenge charity concert, which was held at the Palm Springs Convention Center in California.

Following her departure from Capitol, Bogguss signed with Nashville-based fledgling label Platinum Records, headed by former Capitol executive George Collier. Within three months, she had released her self-titled ninth studio album, Suzy Bogguss. Once again, the album was unsuccessful, with her only single Goodnight making an appearance on the country charts.

During the summer of 2016, Bogguss conducted a celebration via her Suzy Bogguss Music Facebook page, of the 25th anniversary of the release of her Platinum selling Aces Album in 1991. Aces also was her break out album which brought her serious attention on Country Radio and secured her future on Capitol Nashville for several more albums. 

More information: Twitter & Instagram

Country has been a wonderful outlet for me.

Suzy Bogguss

MARIANNE EVELYN GABRIEL FAITHFULL, 'AS TEARS GO BY'

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has decided to listen to some music and she has chosen Marianne Faithfull, one of her favourite singers who was born on a day like today in 1946.

Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress.

She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single As Tears Go By and became one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States.

Born in Hampstead, London, Marianne Faithfull began her career in 1964 after attending a Rolling Stones party, where she was discovered by Andrew Loog Oldham. After the release of her hit single As Tears Go By, she became an international star. Her debut album Marianne Faithfull (1965), released simultaneously with her album Come My Way, was a commercial success followed by a number of albums on Decca Records.

From 1966 to 1970, she had a highly publicised romantic relationship with Mick Jagger. Her popularity was further enhanced by her film roles, such as I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967), The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968), and Hamlet (1969). However, her popularity was overshadowed by personal problems in the 1970s. During that time she was anorexic, homeless, and a heroin addict.

Noted for her distinctive voice, Marianne Faithfull's previously melodic and higher registered vocals, which were prevalent throughout her career in the 1960s, were affected by severe laryngitis, coupled with persistent drug abuse during the 1970s, permanently altering her voice, leaving it raspy, cracked and lower in pitch. This new sound was praised as whisky soaked by some critics for helping capture the raw emotions expressed in her music.

More information: Marianne Faithfull

After a long commercial absence, Marianne Faithfull made a comeback with the 1979 release of her critically acclaimed album Broken English. The album was a commercial success and marked a resurgence of her musical career. Broken English earned Faithfull a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and is often regarded as her definitive recording.

She followed with a series of albums, including Dangerous Acquaintances (1981), A Child's Adventure (1983), and Strange Weather (1987). Faithfull also wrote three books about her life: Faithfull: An Autobiography (1994), Memories, Dreams & Reflections (2007), and Marianne Faithfull: A Life on Record (2014).

Marianne Faithfull is listed on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll list. She received the World Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Women's World Awards and was made a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France.

Faithfull was born in Hampstead, London. Her half-brother is artist Simon Faithfull. Her father, Major Robert Glynn Faithfull, was a British intelligence officer and professor of Italian Literature at Bedford College of London University. Robert Glynn Faithfull's family lived in Ormskirk, Lancashire, while he completed a doctorate at Liverpool University.

Faithfull's mother, Eva, was the daughter of an Austro-Hungarian nobleman, Artur Wolfgang, Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (1875–1953). Eva chose to style herself as Eva von Sacher-Masoch, Baroness Erisso.

Faithfull began her singing career in 1964, landing her first gigs as a folk music performer in coffeehouses. She soon began taking part in London's exploding social scene. In early 1964 she attended a Rolling Stones launch party with artist John Dunbar and met Andrew Loog Oldham, who discovered her. Her first major release, As Tears Go By, was written and composed by Jagger, Keith Richards, and Oldham, and became a chart success. The Rolling Stones recorded their own version one year later, which also became successful. She then released a series of successful singles, including This Little Bird, Summer Nights, and Come and Stay With Me.

Faithfull married John Dunbar on 6 May 1965 in Cambridge with Peter Asher as the best man. The couple lived in a flat at 29 Lennox Gardens in Belgravia just off Knightsbridge, London SW1. On 10 November 1965, she gave birth to their son, Nicholas. She left her husband shortly after to live with Mick Jagger.

Faithfull lived on London's Soho streets for two years, suffering from heroin addiction and anorexia nervosa. Friends intervened and enrolled her in an NHS drug programme, from which she could get her daily fix on prescription from a chemist. She failed at controlling or stabilising her addiction at that time.

In 1971, producer Mike Leander found her on the streets and made an attempt to revive her career, producing part of her album Rich Kid Blues. The album was shelved until 1985.

Severe laryngitis, coupled with persistent drug abuse during this period, permanently altered Faithfull's voice, leaving it cracked and lower in pitch. While the new sound was praised as whisky soaked by some critics, journalist John Jones, of the Sunday Times, wrote that she had permanently vulgarised her voice.

More information: Marianne Faithfull-Instagram, Twitter & Youtube

In 1975 she released the country-influenced record Dreamin' My Dreams (a.k.a. Faithless), which reached No.1 on the Irish Albums Chart.

Faithfull moved into a squat without hot water or electricity in Chelsea with then-boyfriend Ben Brierly, of the punk band the Vibrators. She later shared flats in Chelsea and Regent's Park with Henrietta Moraes.

In 1979, the same year she was arrested for marijuana possession in Norway, Faithfull's career returned full force with the album Broken English, one of her most critically hailed albums. Partially influenced by the punk explosion and her marriage to Brierly in the same year, it ranged from the punk-pop sounds of the title track, which addressed terrorism in Europe, being dedicated to Ulrike Meinhof, to the punk-reggae rhythms of Why D'Ya Do It?, a song with aggressive lyrics adapted from a poem by Heathcote Williams.

Faithfull began living in New York after the release of the follow-up to Broken English, Dangerous Acquaintances, in 1981.

When Roger Waters assembled an all-star cast of musicians to perform the rock opera The Wall live in Berlin in July 1990, Faithfull played the part of Pink's overprotective mother.

More information: Time Out

As her fascination with the music of Weimar-era Germany continued, Faithfull performed in The Threepenny Opera at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, playing Pirate Jenny. Her interpretation of the music led to a new album, Twentieth Century Blues (1996), which focused on the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht as well as Noël Coward, followed in 1998 by a recording of The Seven Deadly Sins, with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. A hugely successful concert and cabaret tour accompanied by Paul Trueblood at the piano, culminated in the filming, at the Montreal Jazz Festival, of the DVD Marianne Faithfull Sings Kurt Weill.

Faithfull released several albums in the 2000s that received positive critical response, beginning with Vagabond Ways (1999), which was produced and recorded by Mark Howard. It included collaborations with Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, and writer and friend Frank McGuinness. Later that year she sang Love Got Lost on Joe Jackson's Night and Day II.

During a webchat hosted by The Guardian on 1 February 2016, Faithfull revealed plans to release a live album from her 50th anniversary tour. She also had ideas for a follow-up for Give My Love to London, but had no intention of recording new material for at least a year and a half.

Faithfull's most recent album, Negative Capability, was released in November 2018. It featured Rob Ellis, Warren Ellis, Nick Cave, Ed Harcourt, and Mark Lanegan.

More information: The Guardian

 Rebellion is the only thing that keeps you alive!

Marianne Faithfull

1895, THE LUMIÈRE BROTHERS FIRST PAYING AUDIENCE

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of one of her closest friends, Tina Picotes.

 

Tina loves Art and Cinema and they have been talking about a great event of 1895 when a day like today, the Lumière brothers performed for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines.

The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière (19 October 1862-10 April 1954) and Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864-7 June 1948), were manufacturers of photography equipment, best known for their Cinématographe motion picture system and the short films they produced between 1895 and 1905.

Their screening on 22 March 1895 for around 200 members of the Society for the Development of the National Industry in Paris was probably the first presentation of films on a screen for a large audience.

Their first commercial public screening on 28 December 1895 for around 40 paying visitors and invited relations has traditionally been regarded as the birth of cinema.

Either the techniques or the business models of earlier filmmakers proved to be less viable than the breakthrough presentations of the Lumières.

More information: National Geographic

The Lumière brothers were born in Besançon, France, to Charles-Antoine Lumière (1840–1911)and Jeanne Joséphine Costille Lumière, who were married in 1861 and moved to Besançon, setting up a small photographic portrait studio where Auguste and Louis were born. They moved to Lyon in 1870, where son Edouard and three daughters were born.

Auguste and Louis both attended La Martiniere, the largest technical school in Lyon. Their father Charles-Antoine set up a small factory producing photographic plates, but even with Louis and a young sister working from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. it teetered on the verge of bankruptcy, and by 1882 it looked as if they would fail. When Auguste returned from military service, the boys designed the machines necessary to automate their father's plate production and devised a very successful new photo plate, etiquettes bleue, and by 1884 the factory employed a dozen workers.

They patented several significant processes leading up to their film camera, most notably film perforations, originally implemented by Emile Reynaud, as a means of advancing the film through the camera and projector. The original cinématographe had been patented by Léon Guillaume Bouly on 12 February 1892. The cinématographe -a three-in-one device that could record, develop, and project motion pictures- was further developed by the Lumières. The brothers patented their own version on 13 February 1895.

The date of the recording of their first film is in dispute. In an interview with Georges Sadoul given in 1948, Louis Lumière tells that he shot the film in August 1894.

This is questioned by historians (Sadoul, Pinel, Chardère) who consider that a functional Lumière camera didn't exist before the end of 1894, and that their first film La Sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon was recorded on 19 March 1895, and then publicly projected 22 March 1895 at the Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale in Paris.

The Lumière brothers saw film as a novelty and had withdrawn from the film business by 1905. They went on to develop the first practical photographic colour process, the Lumière Autochrome.

Louis died on 6 June 1948 and Auguste on 10 April 1954. They are buried in a family tomb in the New Guillotière Cemetery in Lyon.

The Lumières presented their invention with a screening on 22 March 1895 in Paris, at the Society for the Development of the National Industry, in front of an audience of 200 people, one of whom was Léon Gaumont, then director of the company the Comptoir géneral de la photographie. The main focus of the conference by Louis Lumière concerned the recent developments in the photograph industry, mainly the research on polychromy (colour photography). It was much to Lumière's surprise that the moving black-and-white images retained more attention than the coloured stills. The American Woodville Latham screened works of film 2 months later on 20 May 1895. The first public screening of films at which admission was charged was a program by the Skladanowsky brothers that was held on 1 November 1895 in Berlin.

More information: DW

The Lumières gave their first paid public screening on 28 December 1895, at Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris. This history-making presentation consisted of the following 10 short films.

-La Sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon, 46 seconds.

-Le Jardinier (l'Arroseur Arrosé), 49 seconds.

-Le Débarquement du congrès de photographie à Lyon, 48 seconds.

-La Voltige, 46 seconds.

-La Pêche aux poissons rouges, 42 seconds.

-Les Forgerons, 49 seconds.

-Repas de bébé, 41 seconds.

-Le Saut à la couverture, 41 seconds.

-La Places des Cordeliers à Lyon, 44 seconds.

-La Mer (Baignade en mer), 38 seconds.

Each film is 17 meters long, which, when hand cranked through a projector, runs approximately 50 seconds.

The Lumières went on tour with the cinématographe in 1896, visiting Brussels (the first place a film was played outside Paris on the Galleries Saint-Hubert on 1 March 1896), Bombay, London, Montreal, New York City, Palestine, and Buenos Aires.

In 1896, only a few months after the initial screenings in Europe, films by the Lumière Brothers were shown in Egypt, first in the Tousson stock exchange in Alexandria on 5 November 1896 and then in the Hamam Schneider in Cairo.

The moving images had an immediate and significant influence on popular culture with L'Arrivée d'un Train en Gare de la Ciotat and Carmaux, défournage du coke. Their actuality films, or actualités, are often cited as the first, primitive documentaries. They also made the first steps towards comedy film with the slapstick of L'Arroseur Arrosé.

More information: The Guardian

My invention can be exploited... as a scientific curiosity,
but apart from that it has no commercial value whatsoever.

Auguste Lumière

LOUIS PASTEUR, GREAT VACCINES & PASTEURIZATION

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon.

 

Joseph loves History, Anthropology, Astronomy and Science and they have been talking about Louis Pasteur, the French scientist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization who was born on a day like today in 1822.

Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822-September 28, 1895) was a French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization.

He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax.

His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization.

He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and has been called a father of bacteriology and the father of microbiology, though the latter appelation has also been applied to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.

Pasteur was responsible for disproving the doctrine of spontaneous generation. He performed experiments that showed that, without contamination, microorganisms could not develop. Under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, he demonstrated that in sterilized and sealed flasks, nothing ever developed; and, conversely, in sterilized but open flasks, microorganisms could grow. Although Pasteur was not the first to propose the germ theory, his experiments indicated its correctness and convinced most of Europe that it was true.

More information: Institut Pasteur

Today, he is often regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory. Pasteur made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. Early in his career, his investigation of tartaric acid resulted in the first resolution of what is now called optical isomers. His work led the way to the current understanding of a fundamental principle in the structure of organic compounds.

He was the director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, until his death, and his body was interred in a vault beneath the institute. Although Pasteur made groundbreaking experiments, his reputation became associated with various controversies. Historical reassessment of his notebook revealed that he practiced deception to overcome his rivals.

Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a Catholic family of a poor tanner. He was the third child of Jean-Joseph Pasteur and Jeanne-Etiennette Roqui. The family moved to Marnoz in 1826 and then to Arbois in 1827.

Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and became the chair of chemistry in 1852. In 1854, he was named dean of the new faculty of sciences at University of Lille, where he began his studies on fermentation. It was on this occasion that Pasteur uttered his oft-quoted remark: dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.

Scientists before Pasteur had studied fermentation. In the 1830s, Charles Cagniard-Latour, Friedrich Traugott Kützing and Theodor Schwann used microscopes to study yeasts and concluded that yeasts were living organisms.

 

In 1839, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler and Jöns Jacob Berzelius stated that yeast was not an organism and was produced when air acted on plant juice.

In 1855, Antoine Béchamp, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Montpellier, conducted experiments with sucrose solutions and concluded that water was the factor for fermentation. He changed his conclusion in 1858, stating that fermentation was directly related to the growth of moulds, which required air for growth. He regarded himself as the first to show the role of microorganisms in fermentation.

Pasteur started his experiments in 1857 and published his findings in 1858 (April issue of Comptes Rendus Chimie, Béchamp's paper appeared in January issue). Béchamp noted that Pasteur did not bring any novel idea or experiments. On the other hand, Béchamp was probably aware of Pasteur's 1857 preliminary works. With both scientists claiming priority on the discovery, a dispute, extending to several areas, lasted throughout their lives.

However, Béchamp was on the losing side, as the BMJ obituary remarked: His name was associated with bygone controversies as to priority which it would be unprofitable to recall. Béchamp proposed the incorrect theory of microzymes. According to K. L. Manchester, anti-vivisectionists and proponents of alternative medicine promoted Béchamp and microzymes, unjustifiably claiming that Pasteur plagiarized Béchamp.

More information: Louis Pasteur

Pasteur thought that succinic acid inverted sucrose. In 1860, Marcellin Berthelot isolated invertase and showed that succinic acid did not invert sucrose. Pasteur believed that fermentation was only due to living cells. Hans Buchner discovered that zymase catalyzed fermentation, showing that fermentation was catalyzed by enzymes within cells. Eduard Buchner also discovered that fermentation could take place outside living cells.

Pasteur publicly claimed his success in developing the anthrax vaccine in 1881. However, his admirer-turned-rival Toussaint was the one who developed the first vaccine. Toussaint isolated the bacteria that caused chicken cholera, later named Pasteurella in honour of Pasteur, in 1879 and gave samples to Pasteur who used them for his own works.

On July 12, 1880, Toussaint presented his successful result to the French Academy of Sciences, using an attenuated vaccine against anthrax in dogs and sheep.

Pasteur on grounds of jealousy contested the discovery by publicly displaying his vaccination method at Pouilly-le-Fort on May 5, 1881.

Pasteur gave a misleading account of the preparation of the anthrax vaccine used in the experiment at Pouilly-le-Fort. He used potassium dichromate to prepare the vaccine. The promotional experiment was a success and helped Pasteur sell his products, getting the benefits and glory.

In 1868, Pasteur suffered a severe brain stroke that paralysed the left side of his body, but he recovered.  A stroke or uremia in 1894 severely impaired his health. Failing to fully recover, he died on September 28, 1895, near Paris. He was given a state funeral and was buried in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but his remains were reinterred in the Pasteur Institute in Paris, in a vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics.

More information: OMG Facts

Science knows no country,
because knowledge belongs to humanity,
and is the torch which illuminates the world.

Louis Pasteur

SAINT STEPHEN'S DAY, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR

Today The Grandma is celebrating Saint Stephen's Day, a special day in the Catalan Countries, a public holiday with a Carolingian origin, as the ancient Catalan counties originated in the Carolingian kingdom.

Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Christianity.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches that adhere to the Julian calendar mark Saint Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Gregorian calendar used in secular contexts. In Latin Christian denominations, Saint Stephen's Day marks the second day of Christmastide.

It is an official public holiday in Alsace-Moselle, Austria, the Balearic Islands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland and Newfoundland. The date is also a public holiday in those countries that celebrate Boxing Day on the day in addition to or instead of Saint Stephen's Day, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

More information: Italian Traditions

Saint Stephen's Day is the second day of Christmastide and is celebrated in honour of one of the first Christian martyrs, Saint Stephen, who was stoned to death in 36 AD.

In the Republic of Ireland, the day is one of nine official public holidays. Its name is sometimes shortened to Stephen's Day, particularly in informal contexts.

In Irish, it is called Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín, meaning the Wren Day. When used in this context, wren is often pronounced ran. This name alludes to several legends, including those found in Irish mythology, linking episodes in the life of Jesus to the wren. People dress up in old clothes, wear straw hats and travel from door to door with fake wrens (previously real wrens were killed) and they dance, sing and play music. This tradition is less common than it was a couple of generations ago. Depending on which region of the country, they are called wrenboys and mummers. A Mummer's Festival is held at this time every year in the village of New Inn, County Galway, and Dingle in County Kerry. Mumming is also a big tradition in County Fermanagh in Ulster. Saint Stephen's Day is a popular day for visiting family members and going to the theatre to see a pantomime.

In most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, the day is usually known as Boxing Day, especially in Northern Ireland and County Donegal, chiefly East Donegal and Inishowen.

Saint Stephen's Day in Wales is known as Gŵyl San Steffan, celebrated every year on 26 December. One ancient Welsh custom, discontinued in the 19th century, included bleeding of livestock and holming by beating with holly branches of late risers and female servants. The ceremony reputedly brought good luck.

More information: Hidden Ireland Tours

Saint Stephen's Day or Sant Esteve on 26 December is a traditional holiday in Catalonia. It is celebrated right after Christmas, with a big meal including canelons. These are stuffed with the ground remaining meat from the escudella i carn d'olla, turkey, or capó of the previous day. Also in catalan speaking territories, in the Balearic Islands the same day is known as the Second Christmas Day or the Festa Mitjana. In the Valencian Country the tradition is to eat with the paternal family, since the day of Christmas is tradition to eat with the maternal family. The Catalan holiday of the day after Christmas responded to the functional need to have enough time to return on foot, usually from the manor house where the party had been held to the home of each of the various members of the family. The difficulty of traveling at night always compelled to postpone the return journey until the next day, and therefore remained as a day not useful for work purposes; and so on until deriving on a public holiday. It is believed to have Carolingian origin, as the ancient Catalan counties originated in the Carolingian kingdom.

Saint Stephen's Day or Saint Etienne is marked as part of its shared culture across the Rhine River with Germany.

Stephanitag is a public holiday in mainly Catholic Austria. In the Archdiocese of Vienna, the day of patron saint Saint Stephen is even celebrated on the feast of the Holy Family. Similar to the adjacent regions of Bavaria, numerous ancient customs still continued to this day, such as ceremonial horseback rides and blessing of horses, or the stoning drinking rite celebrated by young men after attending Mass.

The 26th of December is –as Second Day of Christmas in German Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag and in  Czech druhý svátek vánoční– a public holiday in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Saint Stephen is the patron saint of Serbia. Saint Stephen's Day falls on 9 January because the Serbian Orthodox Church adheres to the Julian calendar. Serbian medieval rulers' title was Stefan (Stephen). The day is not a public holiday in Serbia.

Saint Stephen is also the patron saint of Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. St. Stephen's Day, 9 January, is celebrated as the Day of the Republika Srpska or Dan Republike, though mainly as an anniversary of the 1992 events rather than as a religious feast.

The best-known tradition linked to the Stephen's Day is the ride of Stephen's Day which refers to a sleigh ride with horses. These merry rides along village streets were seen in contrast to the silent and pious mood of the preceding Christmas days.

Another old tradition was parades with singers and people dressed in Christmas suits. At some areas these parades were related to checking forthcoming brides. Stephen's Day used to be a popular day for weddings as well. These days a related tradition is dances of Stephen's Day which are held in several restaurants and dance halls.

In Bulgaria, the Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Stephen's Day, also called Stefanov Den, on the third day after Christmas -December 27. On this day, the ones who have a nameday are given gifts.

More information: Barcelona

You desire that which exceeds my humble powers,
but I trust in the compassion
and mercy of the All-powerful God.

Saint Stephen

FRANCESC MACIÀ i LLUSSÀ, FREEDOM & PROSPERITY

Today, The Grandma has visited Montjuïc Cemetery where there is the tomb of Francesc Macià, the 122nd President of the Generalitat of Catalonia. The Grandma wants to pay homage to one of the most interesting Catalan figures of the last century talking about his life and his career.

Francesc Macià i Llussà (21 September 1859-25 December 1933) was a Catalan politician who served as the 122nd President of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Politically, it evolved from an initial regenerationism of Spain to the defense of the Catalan Republic, becoming the first president of the restored Generalitat and achieving the first successful establishment of the self-government of Catalonia of Modern history.

Francesc Macià i Llussà was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia. Shortly after the death of his father, when he was 16, he entered the Military Academy of Guadalajara to join the Corps of Engineers of the Spanish Army, specializing himself in bridges, railways and telegraphs.

He requested to be transferred to Cuba but he was send several times to Barcelona, Madrid or Seville, ascending from telegrapher to captain. As an officer in the Spanish army, he positioned himself in favor of its modernization. He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

In 1887 he was transferred to Lleida, where he met his wife, Eugènia Lamarca, daughter of Agapito Lamarca, with whom he had three children, Joan, Eugènia and Maria.

On November 25, 1905, some Spanish army officers, in retaliation for a joke of the satirical Catalan journal Cu-Cut!, assaulted and destroyed the offices of the magazine, as well as the ones of the Catalanist journal La Veu de Catalunya.

More information: Catalan Government

The Spanish Government responded by creating a Law of jurisdictions for the repression of crimes against the homeland and against the army, which caused various political groups to unite to form Solidaritat Catalana. Macià publicly condemned the military's action. As a result, his officials transferred him to Santoña, Cantabria.

He ran as a member of Solidaritat Catalana in the election of April 21, 1907 for Barcelona and Les Borges Blanques districts, where his family came from. The resounding victory of this formation (41 of the 44 deputies of Catalonia) took him in Santoña. He was re-elected deputy in 1914, 1916, 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1923. 

From the Spanish Congress, he began to advocate for the regeneration of Spain, however, during his last years as a politician in Madrid, he moved from Catalan regionalist to left-wing independentist positions.

In 1919 he founded the Federació Democràtica Nacionalista, which proposed a federal or confederal solution for Spain, in which Catalonia would enjoy a high degree of self-government. In 1922, Macià founded the independentist party Estat Català.

In September 1923, right after the coup d'etat of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Maciàtook refuge in Perpinyà. In 1926 he attempted an insurrection against the Spanish dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. 

This uprising, the aim of which was to achieve the independence of Catalonia, was based in Prats de Molló (Rosselló, southern France). Between 50 and 100 Italian mercenaries, mostly from the Garibaldi Legion that fought in the French Foreign Legion during World War I and exiled to France, were hired by Macià to help on the action. This attempt was aborted by the French Gendarmerie, which was able to abort the complot with the help of Ricciotti Garibaldi jr., a spy of Fascist Italy and grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Macià was arrested and convicted to two months in jail and a fine of 100 Francs. Despite the failure, Macià and his cause became very popular in Catalonia. He left France for Brussels in March 1927.

In April 1930 he returned to Spain after being pardoned; he was briefly exiled again but returned once more in February 1931.

In March 1931 Estat Català joined the Catalan Republican Party of Lluís Companys and the L'Opinió Group of Joan Lluhí to found a new party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, maintaining Estat Català a degree of internal autonomy. Francesc Macià became the leader figure of the new party.

On April 14th, 1931, two days after the Spanish local elections that caused the exile of king Alfonso XIII of Spain and gave the local majority to the Republican Left of Catalonia, and a few hours before the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in Madrid, from the balcony of the Palau de la Generalitat, then the seat of the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona, Macià proclaimed the Catalan Republic, expecting that the other peoples of Spain constitute themselves as republics, in order to establish the Iberian Confederation.

More information: Help Catalonia

Macià was appointed as acting president of Catalonia. Three days later, the government of the new Spanish Republic sent three ministers (Fernando de los Ríos, Lluís Nicolau d'Olwer and Marcel·lí Domingo) to Barcelona to negotiate with Macià and the Catalan provisional government.

Macià reached an agreement with the ministers, in which the Catalan Republic was renamed Generalitat of Catalonia, becoming an autonomous government within the Spanish Republic.

Macià remained as acting President of the Generalitat. The main task of the provisional Generalitat was to redact the Statute of Autonomy, approved by the Spanish Congress after many modifications on 9 September, 1932.

After the first Catalan parliamentary election on 20 November 1932 when, after a landslide victory of ERC, he was officially appointed President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, mantaining the position until his death in December 1933.

Macià died on 25 December 1933 in Barcelona. His funeral caused a massive demonstration of grief. His remains rest in the Plaça de la Fe, the Montjuïc Cemetery, in Barcelona's Montjuïc hill.

More information: El Nacional

Només us dic que nosaltres volem formar una nacionalitat
lliure i independent per a què aquesta nacionalitat catalana
pugui assistir a la Lliga de les Nacions,
portant allí la seva civilització i la seva cultura.

I’m just telling you that we want to form a free and independent
nationality so that this Catalan nationality
can attend the League of Nations,
bringing there their civilization and culture.

Francesc Macià

PIERRE 'PEYO' CULLIFORD, THE FATHER OF 'THE SMURFS'

Today, The Grandma continues relaxing at home. She has been reading The Smurfs one of her favourite cartoons that were created by Pierre Peyo Culliford, the Belgian cartoonist, who died on a day like today in 1992.

Pierre Peyo Culliford (25 June 1928-24 December 1992) was a Belgian cartoonist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic strips The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit, in which The Smurfs first appeared.

After working briefly at a Belgian animation studio, Peyo began making comic strips for daily newspapers such as Le Soir shortly after World War II. At the beginning of the 1950s, he brought his character Johan to the magazine Spirou, whom he soon gave a companion, the diminutive Peewit; the strip soon became a staple of the weeklies.

Peyo introduced The Smurfs in the Johan and Peewit storyline The Magic Flute in 1958; the characters quickly supplanted Johan and Peewit in popularity and left them behind for their own series.

In 1960, Peyo founded a studio to accommodate his assistants such as François Walthéry, Gos, and Marc Wasterlain and created the series Steven Strong and Jacky and Célestin.

Peyo's output diminished in the 1970s, at first due to the time he invested in the film The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (1976); in the 1980s, he put in more time, despite recurring health problems, into an American adaptation of The Smurfs as an animated television series.

After the series concluded, he left his publisher Dupuis to found his own publishing house, Cartoon Creation, and a cartoon magazine, Schtroumpf!, which soon folded due to management problems. He joined Le Lombard in 1992 but died a few months later. Since his death, Peyo's children have continued to promote his work under the brand Peyo.

More information: The Smurfs

Peyo was born in 1928 in the Belgian municipality Schaerbeek, as the son of an English father and a Belgian mother. On Christmas Eve 1992, Peyo died of a heart attack in Brussels at age 64.

He took on the name Peyo early in his professional career, based on an English cousin's mispronunciation of Pierrot, a diminutive form of Pierre.

Peyo began work, fresh from his coursework at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, at the Compagnie belge d'actualités (CBA), a small Belgian animation studio, where he met a few of his future colleagues and co-celebrities, like André Franquin, Morris, and Eddy Paape.

When the studio folded after the war, the other artists went to work for Dupuis, but Peyo, a few years younger than the others, was not accepted. He made his first comics for the newspaper La Dernière Heure, The Latest Hour, but also accepted many promotional drawing jobs for income. From 1949 to 1952, he drew Poussy, a gag-a-day comic about a cat, for Le Soir. For the same newspaper, he also created Johan. 

In 1952, Franquin introduced Peyo to Spirou, a children's Franco-Belgian comics magazine published by Dupuis.

Peyo wrote and drew a number of characters and storylines, including Pierrot, and Benoît Brisefer, translated into English as Steven Strong.

But his favourite was Johan et Pirlouit, translated into English as Johan and Peewit, which was a continuation of the series Johan he had created earlier. He also continued Poussy in Spirou. Set in the Middle Ages in Europe, Johan et Pirlouit stars a brave young page to the king, and his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. Johan rides off to defend the meek on his trusty horse, while Peewit gallops sporadically behind on his goat, named Biquette. The pair was driven by duty to their king and the courage to defend the underpowered. Peewit only appeared in the third adventure in 1954 but would stay for all later adventures.

The first Smurf appeared in Johan and Peewit on 23 October 1958 in the album La Flûte à Six Schtroumpfs, The Six Smurfed Flute.

As The Smurfs became increasingly popular, Peyo started a studio in the early 1960s, where a number of talented comics artists started to work. Peyo himself supervised the work and worked primarily on Johan and Peewit, leaving The Smurfs to the studio. The most notable artists to come out of this studio were Walthéry, Marc Wasterlain, Roland Goossens, Derib, Lucien De Gieter, and Daniel Desorgher.

In 1959, The Smurfs got their own series, and in 1960, two more began: Steven Strong and Jacky and Célestin. Many authors of the Marcinelle school collaborated on the writing, or on the artwork, including Willy Maltaite aka Will, Yvan Delporte, and Roger Leloup.

More information: The Culture Trip

Peyo became more of a businessman and supervisor and was less involved in the actual creation of the comics. He let his son, Thierry Culliford, lead the studio, while his daughter Véronique was responsible for the merchandising, I.M.P.S. was established in 1985 by her.

The merchandising of The Smurfs began in 1959, with the PVC figurines as the most important aspect until the late 1970s.

Then, with the success of The Smurfs records by Pierre Kartner, The Smurfs achieved more international success, with a new boom in toys and gadgets. Some of these reached the United States, where Hanna-Barbera created a Saturday morning animated series in 1981 for which Peyo served as story supervisor. Peyo's health began to fail. In 1989, after his partnership with Dupuis ended, he established Cartoon Creation to publish new Smurf stories.

In late 1991, the company was forced to shut down due to mismanagement. The publishing rights were soon sold to Le Lombard.

Peyo died at age 64, on Christmas Eve 1992, of a heart attack in Brussels. His studio still exists, and new stories for various series are regularly produced under his name.

In the 2011 film The Smurfs, Peyo was included in the plot as a researcher who studied the myths concerning The Smurfs, who were made to be real-life legendary creatures in the film's storyline.

More information: The Comics Journal

 Have a very Smurfy day!

Smurf

HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, MÄRCHENOPER & FOLK MUSIC

Today, The Grandma continues relaxing at home. She has been listening to one of her favourite operas, Hänsel und Gretel, the masterpiece composed but Engelbert Humperdinck that was first performed on a day like today in 1893.

Hansel and Gretel, in German Hänsel und Gretel, is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a Märchenoper, a fairy-tale opera.

The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the Abendsegen or Evening Benediction from act 2.

The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on Hansel and Gretel. After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera.

Humperdinck composed Hansel and Gretel in Frankfurt in 1891 and 1892.

The opera was first performed in the Hoftheater in Weimar on 23 December 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances, and today it is still most often performed at Christmastime.

Hansel and Gretel was first conducted in Weimar by Richard Strauss in 1893, followed by its Hamburg premiere on 25 September 1894, conducted by Gustav Mahler.

Its first performance outside Germany was in Basel, Switzerland, on 16 November 1894.

The first performance in England was in London on 26 December 1894, at Daly's Theatre and its first United States performance was on 8 October 1895 in New York.

The first performance in Australia was on 6 April 1907, at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne.

In English-speaking countries, Hansel and Gretel is most often performed in English. The long-time standard English translation was by Constance Bache. In the United States, the opera was often performed in a translation by Norman Kelley written for the Metropolitan Opera's 1967 production by Nathaniel Merrill and Robert O'Hearn.

In 1987 a darkly comic new production with English translation by David Pountney was created for the English National Opera in London. Since 2007, the Met has performed the work in a production originally created for the Welsh National Opera using Pountney's translation.

More information: All That Is Interesting

Opera is the ultimate art form.
It has singing and music and drama
and dance and emotion and story.

Diane Paulus

HÉCTOR ELIZONDO, UNFORGETTABLE TV & CINEMA ROLES

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has been watching some movies interpreted by one of her favourite actors, Héctor Elizondo, who was born on a day like today in 1936.

Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series Chicago Hope (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series Last Man Standing (2011–present). His film roles include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), American Gigolo (1980), Leviathan (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), and Valentine's Day (2010).

Elizondo is the recipient of an Obie Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two ALMA Awards. He has also received nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Satellite Award, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Elizondo was born in New York, the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría Elizondo, a notary public and accountant. His parents were Puerto Ricans of Spanish descent who moved from Puerto Rico to New York City with the hope of finding a better life. He grew up on the Upper West Side.

At a young age, he demonstrated a talent for sports and music. He sang for the Frank Murray Boys' Choir when he was 10 years old. Upon graduating from junior high school in 1950, he enrolled in the High School of the Performing Arts. He also attended another public high school, where he excelled in basketball and baseball. His baseball skills were good enough for him to be scouted by both the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

More information: US Magazine

In 1954, Elizondo enrolled in City College of New York, intending to become a history teacher. However, during his freshman year, he became a father and dropped out of college, going to work full-time to support his family. Later, he divorced and gained full custody of his son, Rodd.

From 1962 to 1963, Elizondo studied dance at the Ballet Arts Company at Carnegie Hall. During 1962–63, he also studied acting under Mario Stiletti at Stella Adler Theatre Studio when it was located in the Dryden East Hotel on East 39th St. In 1965, he landed a part in the off-Broadway show Kill the One-Eyed Man.

In 1968, he got a part in the play The Great White Hope. His first major success came when he played God in the guise of a Puerto Rican steam room attendant in Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award for his performance. Many of his roles involve playing a friend of or sympathizer to the lead character.

In 1974, Elizondo played an ex-mafioso-turned-subway hijacker Mr. Grey in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

He starred as a Puerto Rican widower on the CBS television series, Popi (1975–76). The short-lived series, which ran for 11 episodes, was one of the first American network television series to feature a Latino theme and cast.

In 1975, he portrayed the murderer in an episode of Columbo, A Case of Immunity. He was a member of the cast of the 1985–86 CBS situation comedy Foley Square, starring Margaret Colin.

In the 1980s, Elizondo befriended Garry Marshall, who was impressed with his talent. Their first movie together was Young Doctors in Love, in which Elizondo displays his guitar-playing talent. His role in Pretty Woman lasted only 10 minutes, but led to a Golden Globe nomination.

In 1999, he co-starred in Runaway Bride as Fisher, the husband of the male protagonist's ex. Elizondo has participated in more than 80 movies, 17 of which have been Marshall's. He appeared in every movie that Marshall directed, including a brief but funny appearance as a Portuguese fisherman in Overboard, which starred Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.

In 2001, he was featured in the short-lived television drama Kate Brasher and portrayed security head Joe in the movie The Princess Diaries, a role he reprised in the 2004 sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

As a voice-actor, he played Bane, one of the more aggressively themed characters in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. He may be best known to television audiences as Dr. Phillip Watters on the CBS television series Chicago Hope created by well-known television creator David E. Kelley. He has won both an Emmy and ALMA award and was nominated for a Satellite Award and several SAG Awards for playing this role. He is one of only two people to remain on the show for its entire run, the other being Adam Arkin.

On April 30, 2008, USA Network announced that Elizondo would be cast on Monk as Dr. Neven Bell, Adrian Monk's new psychiatrist, following the sudden death of Stanley Kamel, the actor who played Monk's original psychiatrist, earlier that month.

Since 2011, Elizondo has played Ed Alzate on the Fox (formerly ABC) comedy Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen and Nancy Travis.

More information: The Skanner

I started in 1946 in radio. I was ten years old.
I was discovered singing in a school play.
Someone was in the audience and it's six degrees of separation.

Hector Elizondo