The Grandma continuesrememberingher last staying in Trondheim.
She was veryimpressedby Nidarosdomen,the ChurchofNorwaycathedral located in the city of Trondheim, that is a jewel of Romanesque and Gothic.
Nidaros Cathedral, in Norwegian Nidarosdomen or Nidaros domkirke, is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county.
It is built over the burial site of King Olav II (c. 995-1030, reigned 1015-1028), who became the patron saint of the nation, and is the traditional location for the consecration of new Norwegian monarchs.
It was built over a 230-year period, from 1070 to 1300 when it was substantially completed. However additional work, additions and renovations have continued intermittently since then, including a major reconstruction starting in 1869 and completed in 2001.
In 1152, the church was designated as the cathedral for the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros. In 1537, during the Protestant Reformation, it became part of the newly established state Church of Norway.
It is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world.
The cathedral is the main church for the Nidaros og Vår Frue parish, the seat of the Nidaros domprosti (arch-deanery), and the seat of the Bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros.
The Preses of the Church of Norway is also based at this cathedral. The church seats about 1,850 people.
Nidaros Cathedral was built beginning in 1070 to memorialize the burial place of Olav II of Norway, the king who was killed in 1030 in the Battle of Stiklestad. He was canonized as Saint Olav a year later by Grimketel, the Bishop of Nidaros, the canonization was later confirmed by the pope.
Since the Reformation, it has served as the cathedral of the Lutheran bishops of Trondheim or Nidaros in the Diocese of Nidaros.
The architectural style of the cathedral is Romanesque and Gothic.Historically it has been an important destination for pilgrims coming from all of Northern Europe.
Along with Vår Frue Church, the cathedral is part of the Nidaros og Vår Frue parish in the Nidaros deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Work on the cathedral as a memorial to St. Olav started in 1070. It was finished some time around 1300, nearly 150 years after being established as the cathedral of the diocese. The cathedral was badly damaged by fires in 1327 and again in 1531. The nave was destroyed and was not rebuilt until the restoration in early 1900s.
Today, the cathedral is a popular tourist attraction. Nidaros Cathedral is the site of the observation of Olav's Wake, in Norwegian Olavsvaka. This religious and cultural festival is centered upon the anniversary of the death of Saint Olav at the Battle of Stiklestad.
Today, The Grandma has been remembering when she was living and working in Trondheim, one of the most beautiful places in Trøndelag county, Norway.
Trondheim, historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway.
Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is the fourth largest urban area.
Trondheim lies on the south shore of TrondheimFjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. Among the significant technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), and St. Olavs University Hospital.
The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post and served as the capital of Norway from the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros; it then became, and has remained, the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the site of the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality was formed in 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset Municipality, Leinstrand Municipality, Strinda Municipality, and Tiller Municipality, and further expanded on 1 January 2020, when Trondheim merged with Klæbu Municipality.
Trondheim is home to football club Rosenborg, Norway's most successful football club, and Granåsen Ski Centre, which has hosted the World Championship in Nordic Skiing.
The city was established in 997 by Olav Tryggvason and it was originally named Nidaros, in Old Norse Niðaróss. The first element of the name was the local river Nid. The last element of the name was óss which meant the mouth of a river. Thus the name meant the outlet of the river Nid. Although the formal name was Nidaros, the city was commonly known as kaupangr, which means city or marketplace, or more specifically kaupangr í Þróndheimi which means the city in Trondhei".
Trondheim, in Old Norse Þróndheimr, was the historic name for the whole district which is now known as Trøndelag. This is the area where the people were known as Trønder (þróndr). This district name Trondheim meant the home of the Trønder people (literally Trønder-home) and Trøndelag, in Old Norse Þrǿndalǫg, originally meant the law area of the Trønder people (literally Trønder-law). The name of the Trønder people derives from the Old Norse word þróndr which is an old present participle of the verb þróask which means to grow or to thrive.
During the late Middle Ages, the city name was commonly shortened to Þróndheimr, dropping the kaupanger part, and over time the name became Trondhjem, using the Dano-Norwegian spelling rather than the Old Norse spelling since the city was part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway for centuries.
On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Around the time, many municipalities and cities had their names changed to Norwegianize the spelling and make them look less Danish.
On 1 January 1919, the name of the local Church of Norway diocese was changed from Trondhjem stift to Nidaros bispedømme. In 1924, the name of the Norwegian capital city was changed from Kristiania to Oslo, removing the name referencing a Danish King in favor of the very old name Oslo.
In 1928, a referendum in Trondhjem was held on whether to keep the current name or to bring back the original name of Nidaros. On 6 March 1931, the name was formally changed to Trondheim, using the medieval Norwegian spelling instead of the Danish version Trondhjem. The name of the diocese and cathedral, however, continued using the name Nidaros.
Trondheim was briefly named Drontheim during the Second World War as a German exonym.
Trondheim was named Kaupangen by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in997CE. Shortly after that, it came to be called Nidaros. Initially, it was frequently used as a military retainer of King Olav I. It was also frequently used as the king's seat and was Norway's capital until 1217.
People have lived in the area for thousands of years, as evidenced by the rock carvings in central Norway, the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures, and the Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the kings of Norway were hailed in Trondheim at Øretinget, the place for the assembly of all free men by the mouth of the River Nidelva.
During the Second World War, Trondheim was occupied by Nazi Germanyfrom 9 April 1940, the first day of the invasion of Norway, until the end of the war in Europe, 8 May 1945.
The city and its citizens were subjected to harsh treatment by the occupying power, including the imposition of martial law in October 1942. During this time, the Germans turned the city and its environs into a major base for submarines, and contemplated a scheme to build a new city for 300,000 inhabitants, Nordstern, near the wetlands of Øysand on the outskirts of Melhus municipality. This new metropolis was to be accompanied by a massively expanded version of the already existing naval base, which was intended to become the future primary stronghold of the German Kriegsmarine. A start was made on this enormous construction project, but it was far from completed when the war ended, and today, there are few physical remains of it.
Trondheim is situated where the River Nidelva meets Trondheim Fjord with an excellent harbour and sheltered condition. In the Middle Ages the river was deep enough to be navigable by most boats. However, in the mid-17th century, an avalanche of mud and stones made it less navigable, and partly ruined the harbour.
Trondheim has a broad music scene, and is known for its strong communities committed to rock, jazz and classical music. The city's interest in Jazz and classical music are spearheaded by the music conservatory at NTNU which has been called one of the most innovative in the world, and the municipal music school, Trondheim Kommunale Musikk- og Kulturskole. The TrondheimSymphony Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists are well-known. The city hosts a yearly Jazz festival, and is home to Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. The Fjordgata Records label is also hosted in Trondheim.
Classical artists hailing from Trondheim include violinist Arve Tellefsen, Elise Båtnes and Marianne Thorsen. Also the Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir.
I just enjoy walking around the city [Trondheim]. I would go to Bakklandet. It's the oldest part of the city. It's very beautiful and cozy there. It's a great place to walk around on a sunny day.
Vou pedir-te um coração: O meu, caiu-me no chão E quebrou-se em mil pedaços. Diz bem alto o que lá viu: Que, quando ele se partiu, Tinha a forma dos teus braços. Vou pedir-te um sentimento, Os meus lanceios ao vento Por me sentir tão cansada. Mas, ao vê-lo de voar Tive ganas de chorar, Porque não sentia nada! Vou pedir-te mais um dia, Para gastar a alegria Que me deste no passado. E se depois tenho a certeza, Há de chegar a tristeza
Só não te peço a verdade: Aprendi que a liberdade Também é uma traição. Quero amar seja quem for E por isso, meu amor, Vou pedir-te um coração. Quero amar seja quem for E por isso, meu amor, Vou pedir-te um coração...
Vou pedir-te mais um dia, Para gastar a alegria Que me deste no passado. E se depois tenho a certeza, Há de chegar a tristeza
És um raio de luz na minha vida Um pequeno e bom raio de luz na minha vida E essa luz clara e branca que tens é que ilumina Todos os passos que me levam até ti
És mais quente que o sol quando amanhece Brilhas mais do que as estrelas do céu quando anoitece E esse raio de luz que tu és, nunca se esquece De iluminar cada momento para mim
Deixa-me ser como tu Um raio de luz ardente Eu queria ser como tu és Luz e amor somente
Eu queria ser como tu E abraçar-te contente Numa só esfera de luz Eternamente presente
Abraçar-te por fim por muitos anos Devolvendo à realidade o que sonhámos Desejava dedicar-me assim por muitos anos E nunca mais renunciar a este amor
Deixa-me ser como tu Um raio de luz ardente Eu queria ser como tu és Luz e amor somente
Eu queria ser como tu E abraçar-te contente Numa só esfera de luz Eternamente presente
Deixa-me ser como tu Um raio de luz ardente Eu queria ser como tu és Luz e amor somente
Eu queria ser como tu E abraçar-te contente Numa só esfera de luz Eternamente presente
Deixa-me ser como tu Um raio de luz ardente Eu queria ser como tu és Luz e amor somente
Quem disse que o amar que custa Decerto que nunca amou Eu amei e fui amada Nunca o amar me custou
Fiando junto à lareira Dizia a avó à netinha No tempo esta mãe tinha O crepitar da fogueira
Meu amor, não há maneira De fugir à fé robusta Da paixão que não assusta Quem ficou por ter amado Porque saqueia em pecado Quem diz que o amar te custa
Sua neta ao ver-se liada No seu íntimo segredo Apenas sorri, a medo E que, fosse envergonhada
Fingindo não dar por nada A avó continuou Quis um dia ao teu avô Como ele me quis a mim E quem nunca amou assim Decerto que nunca amou!
Quem disse que o amar que custa Decerto que nunca amou Eu amei e fui amada Nunca o amar me custou
Vejo do cais mil janelas Da minha velha Lisboa Vejo Alfama das vielas O Castelo, a Madragoa
E os meus olhos rasos d'água Deixam por toda a cidade A minha prece de mágoa Nesta canção de saudade
Quando eu partir Reza por mim Lisboa Que eu vou sentir Lisboa Penas sem fim Lisboa Saudade atroz Que o coração magoa E a minha voz entoa Feita canção Lisboa
Mas se ao voltar Me vires chorar Perdoa Que eu abra a porta à tristeza Para depois rir à toa
Tenho a certeza Que ao ver as ruas Tal qual hoje as vejo Esse teu ar de rainha do Tejo Hei-de beijar-te Lisboa
Hei-de beijar com ternura As tuas sete colinas E vou andar à procura De mim nas tuas esquinas
E tu Lisboa hás-de vir Aqui ao cais, como agora Para eu te dizer a rir O que hoje a minha alma chora
Quando eu partir Reza por mim Lisboa Que eu vou sentir Lisboa Penas sem fim Lisboa Saudade atroz Que o coração magoa E a minha voz entoa Feita canção Lisboa
Mas se ao voltar Me vires chorar Perdoa Que eu abra a porta à tristeza Para depois rir à toa
Tenho a certeza Que ao ver as ruas Tal qual hoje as vejo Esse teu ar de rainha do Tejo Hei-de beijar-te Lisboa
Quando eu partir Reza por mim Lisboa Que eu vou sentir Lisboa Penas sem fim Lisboa Saudade atroz Que o coração magoa E a minha voz entoa Feita canção Lisboa
Uma guitarra baixinho Numa viela sombria Entoa um fado velhinho É noite na Mouraria
Apita um barco no Tejo Na rua passa um rufia Em cada boca há um beijo É noite na Mouraria
Tudo é fado, tudo é vida Tudo é amor sem guarida Dor, sentimento, alegria
Tudo é fado, tudo é sorte Retalhos de vida e morte É noite na Mouraria Tudo é fado, tudo é sorte Retalhos de vida e morte É noite na Mouraria
Cai o luar na viela Perdida saudade ao vento No céu queima-se uma estrela Na ruela há um lamento Lamento de amor que é fado Dando ao pensar nostalgia O tempo passa apressado É noite na Mouraria
Tudo é fado, tudo é vida Tudo é amor sem guarida Dor, sentimento, alegria
Venho a ti de mãos abertas Como se fossem de espanto Trago a chama dos poetas Sob uma vela de pranto
Venho a ti de mãos fechadas Como se fossem de bruma Trago a flor das madrugadas Nos meus cabelos de espuma
Venho de longe, Lisboa Desaguar no teu regaço O meu corpo de canoa O meu corpo de canoa Amortalhado de espaço
Venho de longe, Lisboa Agasalhar no teu cais O meu corpo de falua O meu corpo de falua Despido nos temporais
Venho a ti de mãos vazias Perdi sonhos no caminho Quero pousar os meus dias No teu vestido de linho
Venho a ti de pés descalços Como se fossem de vento Sou a sombra de dois braços Na loja do esquecimento Só tu sabes o meu nome Por isso a ti me confio Com fados mata-me a fome Com penas tira-me o frio Quero voar no teu sono Como a gaivota no rio Que viveu por não ter dono Que morreu por desafio
Venho a ti de mãos abertas Como se fossem de espanto Trago a chama dos poetas Sob uma vela de pranto Venho a ti de mãos fechadas Como se fossem de bruma Trago a flor das madrugadas Nos meus cabelos de espuma
Today, The Grandma has been reading about AbrahamOrtelius, the Flemishcartographer, whosemasterpiece, Theatrum OrbisTerrarum is considered the first true modern atlas and was originallyprinted in Antwerpon a day like today in 1570. TheGrandma loves old maps and she haswanted to know better this incredible Flemishcartographer,geographer, and cosmographer.
Abraham Ortelius (also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 1527-28 June 1598) wasacartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands.
He is recognized as the creator of the firstmodern atlas, the TheatrumOrbisTerrarum(Theatre of the World). Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator, Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography.
He was a notable figure of this school in its golden age (approximately 1570s-1670s) and an important geographer during the age of discovery. Thepublication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. He was the first person proposing that the continents were joined before drifting to their present positions.
Abraham Ortelius was born on either 4 April or 14 April 1527 in the city of Antwerp, which was then in the Spanish Netherlands. The Ortels or Wortels (latinized as Orthellius and Ortelius) family was originally from Augsburg, a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.
Leonard Ortelius was well educated. He spoke Greek and Latin, and worked with his brother-in-law Jacob van Meteren on the translation of Miles Coverdale's English Bible.
In 1535, they were both prosecuted for possessing suspicious books. Searches turned up nothing and the case was subsequently dismissed.
He traveled extensively in Europe and is specifically known to have traveled throughout the Habsburg Netherlands; in southern, western, northern, and eastern Germany (e.g., 1560, 1575-1576); France (1559-1560); England and Ireland (1576); and Italy (1578, and perhaps two or three times between 1550 and 1558).
Beginning as a map-engraver, in 1547 he entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an illuminator of maps. He supplemented his income trading in books, prints, and maps, and his journeys included annual visits to the Frankfurt book and print fair, where he met Gerardus Mercator in 1554.
In 1560, however, when travelling with Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator's influence, towards the career of a scientific geographer. He died in Antwerp.
In 1564, he published his first map, Typus Orbis Terrarum, an eight-leaved wall map of the world, on which he identified the Regio Patalis with Locach as a northward extension of the Terra Australis, reaching as far as New Guinea. This map subsequently appeared in reduced form in the Terrarum (the only extant copy is now at Basel University Library). He also published a two-sheet map of Egypt in 1565, a plan of the Brittenburg castle on the coast of the Netherlands in 1568, an eight-sheet map of Asia in 1567, and a six-sheet map of Spain before the appearance of his atlas.
In England Ortelius's contacts included William Camden, Richard Hakluyt, Thomas Penny, Puritan controversialist William Charke, and Humphrey Llwyd, who would contribute the map of England and Wales to Ortelius's 1573 edition of the Theatrum.
In 1578, he laid the basis of a critical treatment of ancient geography by his Synonymia geographica (issued by the Plantin Press at Antwerp and republished in expanded form as Thesaurus geographicus in 1587 and again expanded in 1596; in the last edition, Ortelius considers the possibility of continental drift, a hypothesis that would be proved correct only centuries later).
In 1596, he received a presentation from Antwerp, similar to that afterwards bestowed on Peter Paul Rubens. His death on 28 June 1598 and his burial in the church of St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp, were marked by public mourning. The inscription on his tombstone reads: Quietis cultor sine lite, uxore, prole (served quietly, without accusation, wife, and offspring).
In 1579, Ortelius brought out his Nomenclator Ptolemaicus and started his Parergon (a series of maps illustrating ancient history, sacred and secular). He also published Itinerarium per nonnullas Galliae Belgicae partes (at the Plantin press in 1584, and reprinted in 1630, 1661 in Hegenitius, Itin. Frisio-Hoil., in 1667 by Verbiest, and finally in 1757 in Leuven), a record of a journey in Belgium and the Rhineland made in 1575.
In 1589 he published Maris Pacifici, the first dedicated map of the Pacific to be printed. Among his last works were an edition of Caesar (C. I. Caesaris omnia quae extant, Leiden, Raphelingen, 1593), and the Aurei saeculi imago, sive Germanorum veterum vita, mores, ritus et religio. (Philippe Galle, Antwerp, 1596). He also aided Welser in his edition of the Peutinger Table in 1598.
Contrary to popular belief, Abraham Ortelius, who had no children, never lived at the Mercator-Orteliushuis, but lived at his sister's house.
Today is Malcolm X Day, an American holiday in honor of Malcolm X, and The Grandma wants to talk about this African American Muslimministerand human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement.
Malcolm X Day is an American holiday in honor of Malcolm X that is celebrated on either May 19 (his birthday) or the third Friday of May.
The commemoration of the civil rights leader has been proposed as an official state holiday in the U.S. state of Illinois in 2015 and Missouri as recently as 2019. As of present, only the cities of Berkeley and Oakland in California observe the holiday, with city offices and schools closed.
The Malcolm X Dayholiday has been an official holiday in the municipality of Berkeley, California, since 1979. Since then, there have been multiple proposals for the holiday to be official elsewhere. Most recently in 2014, a proposal put forth by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Chicago to make the holiday in the U.S. state of Illinois.
The Illinois proposal differs from the Berkeley, California resolution in that the holiday would be observed May 19 instead of the third Friday in May. Before that, unsuccessful attempts were made in Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington, D.C., with numerous calls for it to be celebrated alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.
In 1993, this holiday was proposed at the federal level to Congress as H.J.R. #323 by Congressman Charles Rangel.
In 2015, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed the resolution for the official holiday designation where the law ... officially designated 'May 19, 2015, and every May 19 thereafter as Malcolm X Day. Though the resolution passed making the holiday official, the Illinois official list of holidays still has yet to reflect the holiday.
Today, The Grandma has been enjoying football. In the afternoon, she has stayed at Johan Cruyff Stadium in Sant Joan Despí, and in the evening, at LluísCompanys Olympic StadiuminMontjuïc, Barcelona. It has been a fantastic day.
Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium formerly known as the Estadi deMontjuïc and Estadi Olímpic deMontjuïc and also known in English as the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, is a stadiumin Barcelona, Catalonia.
Originally built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition in the city and Barcelona's failed bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Berlin, it was renovated in 1989 to be the main stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Paralympics.
It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Barcelona since the 2023-24 season, due to the renovation of their regular ground, the Camp Nou.
The stadium is named after Lluís Companys, a president of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) executed by Francoist Spain.
With its current capacity of 55,926 seats (67,007 during the 1992 Olympics), it is the second largest stadium in Catalonia.
The stadium is located in kir the Anella Olímpica, on Montjuïc, a hill to the southwest of the city that overlooks the harbour.
Designed by architect Pere Domènech i Roura for the 1929 Expo, thestadium was officially opened on 20 May 1929. The opening ceremonies included Spain's first official rugby international game against Italy, and a friendly football match between the Catalan national team and Bolton Wanderers, which the Catalan team won by a shocking score of 4–0 with goals from Josep Samitier, Martí Ventolrà and Manuel Parera.
It was meant to host the People's Olympiad in 1936, a protest event against the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but the event had to be canceled due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
In the fifties, the stadium was the centerpiece of the 1955 Mediterranean Games, and in 1957 it hosted the only national football cup final between Barcelona and Espanyol, the two local clubs.
In the seventies, the stadium was disused and the stands deteriorated. When the Spanish Grand Prix and other races were held at the Montjuïc racing circuit, the stadium was used as a paddock for the teams. Due to safety concerns, the 1975 F1 race was nearly boycotted by drivers.
During Barcelona's bid for the 1992 Summer Olympics, the stadium was totally renovated with the involvement of Italian architect Vittorio Gregotti. The stadium was gutted, preserving parts of the original facades, and new grandstands were built. In 1989, the venue was re-inaugurated for the World Cup in Athletics, and three years later it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and all the athletics competitions of the Olympic Games and also the same functions during the Paralympics.
The stadium served as the home of Espanyol from 1997 until 2009. It also served as the home of the Barcelona Dragons American football team from 1991 until 2002. Because the size of the playing surface was slightly shorter than the regulation American football length, the stadium only had seven-yard end zones, three yards shorter than regulation NFL size in 1991 and 1992. They were later lengthened to the standard ten yards. The stadium also played host to the National Football League's American Bowl in 1993 and in 1994. The San Francisco 49ers played the Pittsburgh Steelers on 1 August 1993. The second game was played on 31 July 1994 between the Los Angeles Raiders and the Denver Broncos.
In 2001, the stadium was renamed after the former president of the Generalitat de Catalunya Lluís Companys, who was executed at the nearby Montjuïc Castle in 1940 by the Franco regime.
In 2010, the stadium hosted the 20th European Athletics Championships.
Since the 2023-24 season, the stadium has served as the home ground for Barcelona during the redevelopment of the Camp Nou. The club plans to continue playing at the Estadi Olímpic until the redevelopment of the Camp Nou is completed by the 2025-26 season.
Today, The Grandma has been reading some works of one of her favourite poets, Jacint Verdaguer, the Catalan writer, who is considered one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature.
Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló (17 May 1845-10 June 1902) was a Catalanwriter, regarded as one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature and a prominent literary figure of the Renaixença, a cultural revival movement of the late Romantic era. The bishop Josep Torras i Bages, one of the main figures of Catalan nationalism, called him the Prince of Catalan poets. He was also known as mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, because of his career as a priest, and informally also simply mossèn Cinto, with Cinto being a short form of Jacint.
He was born in Folgueroles, a town on the Plain of Vic, in the comarca of Osona (Barcelona) to a modest family who valued learning. His father, Josep Verdaguer i Ordeix was a brickmason and farmer. His mother, Josepa Santaló i Planes, a housewife and farmer, was to exercise great influence over young Jacint, as she conveyed to him a love of literature, especially poetry, and was a deeply religious woman. He was the third of eight children, only three of whom survived.
In 1855, at the age of 10, he entered the Seminary of Vic, as was expected for a child who was not the first-born under the system of primogeniture and had to make his livelihood without relying on an inheritance. Until then, he had lived like the other children in his town. The anecdotes told about him show that he stood out from his peers for his intelligence, astuteness and courage, as well as his athletic constitution. He displayed a balanced attitude without any apparent religious inclinations.
In 1863, when he was 18, he started to work as a tutor for a family at the Can Tona masia (where he also helped out on the farm), while he continued to study. Can Tona is in the municipal district of Sant Martí de Riudeperes, today Calldetenes (Osona).
In 1864, while a seminary student at the Seminari de Vic, Verdaguer wrote his first published poem Als estudiants. Recepta, written in the style of a satirical décima. He was influenced in this endeavour by the popularity of a similar satirical décima, Entusiasme d'un estudiant per la cresta written by fellow seminary student Andreu Garriga in 1863. That same year, he participated in Barcelona's Jocs Florals ("Floral Games") poetry contest, though without distinction. However, he was more successful in the next two Jocs Florals, winning four prizes in 1865 and two in 1866. In the late 1860s, Verdaguer would become the central figure of the Esbart de Vic, a group of young poets in Vic inspired by the ideals of the Catalan Renaixença.
On 24 September 1870 he was ordained a priest by the bishop Lluís Jordà in Vic, and in October that same year, he said his first Mass, in the Sant Jordi hermitage. The next day he said his second Mass in the Sant Francesc hermitage near Vic.
In 1871, his mother died at the age of 52. On September 1 he was appointed bishop coadjutor of the small town of Vinyoles d'Orís and three days later he took up his charge.
In 1873, he published the cant (ode or song) Passió de Nostre Senyor Jesucrist (Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ). He left Vinyoles d'Orís for health reasons and moved to Vic. He went on a trip to Roussillon and saw the mountain, El Canigó,possibly for the first time. In December, he joined the Companyia Transatlàntica trans-Atlantic steamship company as a chaplain because he was prescribed sea air for his health; he embarked in Cádiz bound for Havana.
On 8 September 1876 his father died at the age of 65. On board the Ciudad Condal, on the return voyage from Cuba, Jacint Verdaguer finished his epic poem L'Atlàntida. In November he entered the palace of Antonio López, 1st Marquess of Comillas as an alms chaplain.
In 1877, when he was 32, and having returned from his journey, the jury of the Jocs Florals awarded him the special prize of the Diputation of Barcelona for L'Atlàntida. Now he had earned his reputation as a poet.
In 1878, he traveled to Rome, where he was granted an audience with Pope Leo XIII. They discussed Verdaguer's poem L'Atlàntida. In 1880, as the winner of three prizes in the Jocs Florals, he was proclaimed Master of the Gay Sciences (Mestre en Gai Saber). That same year he published his book of poetry, Montserrat, which included Llegenda de Montserrat, a legend (or two) in the form of a poem with 13 cantos.
In 1883, the Barcelona City Council published a print-run of a hundred thousand copies of his Oda a Barcelona (Ode to Barcelona), a 46-stanza poem. Such a print-run was quite a remarkable given that the population of Barcelona at the time was 350,000, which would have amounted to about a copy per household. At the age of 39, Verdaguer traveled to Paris, Switzerland, Germany and Russia. His collection of poems Caritat (Charity, 1885) was published to raise funds for reconstruction after the Andalusian earthquake of 25 December 1884.
On 21 March 1886, when he was 41 years old, Bishop Morgades crowned him Poet of Catalonia in the monastery of Ripoll. He published the epic poem Canigó and made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
In 1893, following controversy about aspects of his work as a priest, he left the post of alms chaplain at Claudio López, 2nd Marquess of Comillas' palace. The publication of the trilogy Jesús Infant was completed, and he was assigned to the sanctuary of La Gleva. For a period, he was stripped of his office as priest, although this was eventually restored. In 1894, the books Roser de tot l'any and Veus del bon pastor were published. On 31 March he left the sanctuary of La Gleva.
On 17 May 1902, his 57th birthday, he moved from his home at Carrer Aragó 235 in Barcelona to the country house known as Vil·la Joana, in Vallvidrera (Barcelona), where he hoped to convalesce.
On 10 June he died in Vil·la Joana, which is now one of the Barcelona City History Museum (MUHBA) heritage sites.
Verdaguer was buried in Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona.
L'univers és infinit, pertot acaba i comença, i ençà, enllà, amunt i avall, la immensitat és oberta, i a on tu veus lo desert eixams de mons formiguegen.
The universe is infinite, everywhere ends and begins, and here, there, up and down, the immensity is open, and where you see yhe desert I see multitudes of small worlds.
Today, The Grandma has been reading about Il-Funtana tat-Tritoni, the fountain located in Floriana, Malta, one of the most wonderful countries of the world. The Tritons'Fountain was turned on on a day like today in 1959.
The Tritons' Fountain, in Maltese Il-Funtana tat-Tritoni, is a fountainlocated in Floriana, Malta.It consists of three bronze Tritons holding up a large basin, balanced on a concentric base built out of concrete and clad in 730 tons of travertine slabs. The fountain is one of Malta's most important Modernist landmarks.
Designed and constructed between 1952 and 1959 under no less than three governing bodies, and conceived jointly by eminent sculptor Chevalier Vincent Apap and his collaborator draughtsman Victor Anastasi, the fountain became unofficially operational on Saturday 16 May 1959.
The fountain was used as a stage for National Celebrations named Mill-Maltin għall-Maltin and is believed to have jeopardized the relatively compromised structural setup of the sculptural group and consequently contributed to the dramatic collapse of the sculptural group which occurred on Wednesday 1 March 1978 at approximately 14:00.
The sculptural group was repaired by Malta Drydocks engineers between January 1986 and April 1987. During this intervention a central sculptural addition consisting of three seagulls and seaweed (also the work of Chev. Apap) was introduced within the sculptural group, however this arrangement subsequently diminished the telamonic role of the mythological Triton figures.
The fountain deteriorated in subsequent decades, and was earmarked for relocation in 2010 when the Heritage Planning Unit of the Planning Authority through its Conservation Officer Kenneth Cauchi advised that the monumental fountain would be best left in situ and any efforts were to be aimed and restoring the whole structure to its original form and reinstate the sculptural group in its dramatic carrying role of the ponderous basin.
The fountain consists of three bronze figures of mythological Tritons holding up a huge circular basin measuring 5m in diameter and weighingapproximately 3 tons.
Two of the Tritons are sitting, while the third one is kneeling, and they are balanced on a seaweed base. The face of each Triton is visible when viewed from City Gate. Their posture gives a sense of strength as well as spiral movement, which contribute to the monumentality of the fountain. The water jets were also designed in order to convey the sense of movement. The figures of the Tritons represent Malta's links with the sea, and their design was inspired by the Fontana delle Tartarughe in Rome. After the fountain's platter was damaged in the 1980s, a bronze pillar depicting a flight of seagulls was added to the fountain to support its weight. This was not included once the restoration was completed in 2018.
The base of the fountain was originally designed with a quadripartite plan inspired by Rome's Fontana delle Naiadi, but this was later changed to a tripartite concentric plan. The base is constructed out of reinforced concrete, and it consists of four concentric water basins. The exterior is clad with a total of 730 tons of travertine slabs from Rome. The outer slabs of the vasca intermedia are decorated with a relief representing foliage.
Beneath the structure of the fountain, there are a series of passages and chambers which allow for maintenance and inspection and connect the fountain to the water and electrical services. These underground passages and a pump room cover an area of over 140, and are accessible through a manhole in the pavement near the fountain.
The fountain was designed so as to avoid contrast with the nearby bastions, as well as to blend with the Victorian-era Kingsgate. The gate was demolished five years after the fountain was completed.
The site of the fountain was formerly occupied by St. Madeleine's Lunette, a 17th-century lunette that protected the entrance to Valletta. The lunette was dismantled and its ditch was filled in with rubble in the 19th century, although some parts might have survived beneath the present street level.
The winning proposal was entitled Triton, and it was submitted by the sculptor Vincent Apap. It was designed in collaboration with the draughtsman and designer Victor Anastasi, who was not mentioned on the proposal since he was employed by the PWD. Apap worked on the sculpture of three Tritons in stucco at a former dovecote in Palazzo Parisio, which had been made available by his friend, the marquis Joe Scicluna. Meanwhile, Anastasi worked on the technical and architectural elements of the fountain, including the hydraulic systems, and costs and supplies of materials.
Work on the fountain's foundations began in June 1955 by the contractor Carmelo Grech, and construction of the base was complete by mid-1958. The figures of the Tritons were cast in bronze at the Lagana foundry in Naples, and were put in place in 1959. The total cost of construction was around £80,000. The fountain was switched on for the first time on 16 May 1959, but it was never officially inaugurated due to the uneasy political situation at the time, as Malta's government had just resigned and the islands were under direct colonial rule.
Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, one of her closest friends. Joseph loves Astronomy and they have been talking about the final mission of ProjectMercury, that was launched on a day like today in 1963.
Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final crewed space missionof the U.S. Mercury program, launched on May 15, 1963,from Launch Complex 14 at CapeCanaveral, Florida.
The spacecraft, named Faith7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut GordonCooper, then a United States Air Force major. The Atlas rocket was No. 130-D, and the Mercury spacecraft was No. 20. As of May 2025, this mission marks the last time an American was launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission.
The Mercury-Atlas 8 flight of Walter Schirra on October 3, 1962, had been so nearly perfect that some at NASA thought that the United States should quit while it was ahead and make MA-8 the last Mercury mission rather than risk a future disaster. The argument that MA-8 should be the last Mercury mission held that NASA had pushed the first-generation Mercury hardware far enough, and taking more chances on another longer mission was not warranted; instead, NASA should move on to the Gemini program. Manned Spacecraft Center officials, however, believed that the Mercury team should be given the chance to test a human in space for a full day. In addition, all of the Soviet single-seat Vostok spacecraft launched after Vostok 1 lasted for more than a day; thus the Mercury 9 flight would bring the Mercury spacecraft up to the same level as that of the Soviets.
In September 1962, NASA concluded negotiations with McDonnell to modify four Mercury spacecraft (#12, #15, #17 and #20) to a configuration that supported a one-day mission. Such changes to the spacecraft included the removal of the periscope and a redundant set of thrusters, and the addition of extra batteries and oxygen tanks.
In November 1962, Gordon Cooper was chosen to pilot the MA-9 mission and Alan Shepard was picked as backup.
On April 22, 1963, Atlas booster 130-D and Mercury spacecraft #20 were stacked on the launch pad at Launch Complex 14.
Because MA-9 would orbit over nearly every part of the world from 32.5 degrees north to 32.5 degrees south, a total of 28 ships, 171 aircraft, and 18,000 servicemen were assigned to support the mission.
The Atlas booster used for MA-9 sported several technical improvements, most notably an enhanced propulsion system with a hypergolic igniter that would eliminate the need for hold-down time at launch to prevent rough combustion. With seven successful Mercury launches in a row, the failures of the early days seemed like a distant memory by early 1963 and NASA officials had a high degree of confidence in the Atlas that overshadowed its still spotty launch record. At the first meeting of senior MSFC officials for the year (January 11), Walter Williams noted that the Air Force had yet to provide an explanation for two Atlas F failures during the second half of 1962.
Until the investigation committees released their findings and cleared the Atlas D of guilt by association, Cooper's flight could be delayed. During the seven months between Schirra's and Cooper's flights, there were five failures of Atlas D vehicles (one of them an Atlas-Agena, the rest operational ICBM tests). NASA did not let its guard down on the Atlas, despite the recent high degree of success enjoyed by Project Mercury.
When Atlas 130D received its factory rollout on January 30, it was found to have damaged wiring and had to be sent back for repairs. At his first press conference on February 8, Gordon Cooper admitted to not knowing much about the booster problems and focused instead on the enhancements made to his Mercurycapsule. The numerous added equipment and consumables for the day-long mission boosted the weight of Faith 7 considerably; it now weighed over 1,400 kg.
On March 15, the Atlas was rolled out of the factory a second time and passed tests with flying colors; Convair engineers expressed confidence that this was their best bird yet. The booster actuators were offset slightly to prevent a recurrence of the liftoff roll transient that occurred on Mercury-Atlas 8. Several minor modifications were made to 130D as a result of postflight findings from failed Atlas launches over the previous year. These included adding a plastic liner to the inside of the turbopumps to prevent the turbine blades from rubbing against the casing and triggering an explosion from a friction spark, improvements to the wiring of the programmer, and additional steps taken to prevent the possibility of a fire breaking out in or around the thrust section.
The upgraded MA-2 engines featured baffled injector heads and a hypergolic igniter, eliminating any concerns of rough combustion or the need for hold-down time prior to liftoff. As such, the RCC (Rough Combustion Cutoff) sensors on 130D were operated open loop and for qualitative purposes only. The propellant conserved by not performing the three second hold-down time would allow a longer booster burn. On Mercury-Atlas 8, 112 gallons of fuel were removed prior to launch and so an extended burn was not possible even with eliminating the hold-down, but on this flight there would be enough propellant to extend burn time.
Cooper's decision to name his capsule Faith 7 was based on the faith he had in the Atlas booster and Mercury capsule to carry out the mission successfully, although it was reported in The Washington Post that some NASA officials were skeptical of the idea.
When Cooper boarded Faith 7 at 6:36 AM on the morning of May 14, he found a little gift that had been left for him. Alan Shepard, knowing that Cooper would have a new version of the urine containment device that Shepard did not have on his Mercury-Redstone 3 flight (forcing him to relieve himself during a long countdown hold), had left behind a toilet plunger as a joke. Instructions on the handle said, Remove Before Launch. The gift did not make the trip. Neither did Cooper that day. Various problems with radar in Bermuda and the diesel engine that rolled back the gantry caused the launch to be cancelled until May 15.
At 8:04:13 a.m. EST, May 15, 1963, Faith 7 was launched from Launch Complex 14. At T+60 seconds, the Atlas started its pitch program. Shortly afterward, MA-9 passed through max Q. At T+2 minutes 14 seconds Cooper felt BECO (Booster Engine Cutoff) and staging. The two Atlas booster engines had been left behind. The Launch Escape Tower was then jettisoned. At T+3 minutes the cabin pressure sealed at 38 kPa. Cooper reported, Faith 7 is all go.
Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Exposition Universelle of1900 and the 1900Summer Olympics,thatstarted on a day like today in 1900.
The Exposition Universelle of 1900was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. It was the sixth of ten major expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937.
It was held at the esplanade of Les Invalides, the Champ de Mars, the Trocadéro and at the banks of the Seine between them, with an additional section in the Bois de Vincennes, and it was visited by more than fifty million people. Many international congresses and other events were held within the framework of the exposition, including the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Many technological innovations were displayed at the Fair, including the Grande Roue de Paris ferris wheel, the Rue de l'Avenir moving sidewalk, the first ever regular passenger trolleybus line, escalators, diesel engines, electric cars, dry cell batteries, electric fire engines, talking films, the telegraphone (the first magnetic audio recorder), the galalith and the matryoshka dolls. It also brought international attention to the Art Nouveau style. Additionally, it showcased France as a major colonial power through numerous pavilions built on the hill of the Trocadéro Palace.
Major structures built for the exposition include the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, the Pont Alexandre III, the Gare d'Orsay railroad station, and the Paris Métro Line 1 (including its entrances designed by Hector Guimard), all of which survive today (including two original canopied Métro entrances).
The 1900 Summer Olympics, in French Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad (Jeux de la IIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closing ceremonies were held.
At the Olympic Congress of 1894, which convened in the Sorbonne building, Pierrede Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should take place in Paris in 1900. However, the delegates to the conference were unwilling to wait six years and lobbied to hold the first games in 1896. A decision was made to hold the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and have Paris host the second Games.
The Games were held as part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair). In total, 1,226 competitors took part in 19 different sports. This number relies on certain assumptions about which events were and were not Olympic. Many athletes, some of whom had won events, were unaware they had competed in the Olympic Games.
Women took part in the games for the first time, with sailor Hélène de Pourtalès, born Helen Barbey in New York City, becoming the first female Olympic champion. The decision to hold competitions on a Sunday brought protests from many American athletes, who traveled as representatives of their colleges and were expected to withdraw rather than compete on their religious day of rest.
Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals but were given cups or trophies. Professionals competed in fencing, as was tradition, and Albert Robert Ayat (France), who won the épée for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3,000 F. Some events were contested for the only time in the history of the Games, including angling, motor racing, ballooning, cricket, croquet, Basque pelota, 200m swimming obstacle race and underwater swimming. This was also the only Olympic Games in history to use live animals (pigeons) as targets during the shooting event. The host nation of France fielded 72% of all athletes (720 of the 997) and won the most gold, silver and bronze medal placings. U.S. athletes won the second-most in each while fielding the fifth-most participants, 75. British athletes won the third-most in each while fielding the second most participants, 102.
The 1900 Games were held as part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The Baron de Coubertin believed this would help public awareness of the Olympics and submitted elaborate plans to rebuild the ancient site of Olympia, complete with statues, temples, stadia, and gymnasia. The director of the ExpositionUniverselle, Alfred Picard, thought holding an ancient sport event at the Exposition Universelle was an absurd anachronism. After thanking de Coubertin for his plans, Picard filed them away and nothing more came of it.
A committee was formed for the organization of the Games, consisting of some of the more able sports administrators of the day, and a provisional program was drawn up. Sports to be included at the games were track and field athletics, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, fencing, French and British boxing, river and ocean yacht racing, cycling, golf, lifesaving, archery, weightlifting, rowing, diving, and water polo.
Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Girod'Italia, whose first edition began on a day like today in Milan in 1909.
The 1909 Giro d'Italia was the 1st edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the Italian major sport newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. Theevent began in Milan on 13 May with a 397 km first stage to Bologna, finishing back in Milan on 30 May after a final stage of 206 km and a total distance covered of 2,447.9 km. The race was won by the Italian rider Luigi Ganna of the Atala team, with fellow Italians Carlo Galetti and Giovanni Rossignoli coming in second and third respectively.
Conceived by La Gazzetta to boost its circulation at the expense of its rival Corriere della Sera, the 1909 Giro was the first stage road race. Its eight stages, although relatively few compared to modern Grand Tours, were each much longer than those raced today. The event began with a long primarily flat stage that was won by Dario Beni. He lost the lead after the next stage to the eventual winner Luigi Ganna, who in turn lost it to Carlo Galetti after the mountainous third stage. Ganna regained the lead after the fourth stage and successfully defended it all the way to the finish in Milan, winning three stages en route. Atala won the team classification.
The idea of holding a bicycle race around Italy was first suggested in a telegram sent by Tullo Margagni, editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport, to the paper's owner Emilio Costamagna and cycling editor Armando Cougnet. La Gazzetta's rival, Corriere della Sera was planning to hold a bicycle race of its own, flushed with the success of its automobile race. Morgagni decided to try and hold the race before Corriere della Sera could hold theirs, and following La Gazzetta's success in creating the Giro di Lombardia and Milan–San Remo, Costamagna decided to back the idea.
The inaugural Giro d'Italia bicycle race was announced on 7 August 1908 in the first page of that day's edition of La Gazzetta, to be held in May 1909. The idea of the race was influenced by the success of the French magazine L'Auto's organization of the Tour de France.
Since the newspaper lacked the necessary 25,000 lire to sponsor the race, the organizers consulted Primo Bongrani, a sympathetic accountant at the bank Cassa di Risparmio. He proceeded to solicit donations from all over Italy, and succeeded in raising sufficient money to cover the operating costs. The prize money came from a casino in San Remo after Francesco Sghirla, a former Gazzetta employee, encouraged them to contribute to the race. Even Corriere, La Gazzetta's rival, donated 3,000 lire.
Both teams and individual riders were allowed to enter the race, which was run in eight stages with two to three rest days between each stage. Compared to modern races the stages were extraordinarily long, with an average distance of more than 300 km, compared to the 165 km average stage length in the 2012 Giro d'Italia.
A total of 166 riders signed up to participate in the event. Twenty of the riders who entered were non-Italians: fifteen were French, two were German, one was Argentinian, one was Belgian, and one was from Trieste, which at the time was not a part of Italy. Only 127 riders started the first stage of the race, all but five of Italian descent, of whom only 49 reached the finish in Milan on 30 May. Riders were allowed to enter the race as independents or as a member of a team.
The inaugural Giro d'Italia's first stage, 397 km from Milan to Bologna, began on 13 May 1909 at 2:53 am in front of a large crowd.
The first Giro d'Italia was a great success, prompting organizers to arrange a second one for 1910. The race substantially increased La Gazzetta'scirculation,and the starts and finishes were attended by large audiences. Ganna's prize money helped him start his own bike factory in 1912. The newspaper ran the event through 1988, when the RCS Organizzazzioni Sportivi company was created to run it.
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