HARUN AL-RASHID (763-809! This legendary Caliph of Bagdad is not only well-known for his real-life romantic exploits like sending an elephant to Charlemagne, but is perhaps even better known for his important role as one of the fantastic characters in the "1,001 Nights."

March 17 is the birthday of French harpsichordist and composer ÉLISABETH CLAUDE JACQUET DE LA GUERRE (1665-1729)

Jacquet de La Guerre "was one of the few well-known female composers of her time, and unlike many of her contemporaries she composed in a wide variety of forms. Her talent and achievements were acknowledged by Titon du Tillet, who accorded her a place on his Mount Parnassus when she was only 26 years old, next to Lalande and Marais and immediately below Lully. A quote from Titon du Tillet describes her as having:

'marvellous facility for playing preludes and fantasies off the cuff. Sometimes she improvises one or another for a whole half hour with tunes and harmonies of great variety and in quite the best possible taste, quite charming her listeners.' (Le Parnasse françois, 1732)" (Wikipedia)

March 17 is the birthday of Russian painter, sculptor and draughtsman MIKHAIL VRUBEL (1856-1910).

Vrubel was "a prolific and innovative master in various media such as painting, drawing, decorative sculpture, and theatrical art, Vrubel is generally characterized as one of the most important artists in Russian Symbolist tradition and a pioneering figure of Modernist art." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Vrubel’s art, CLICK HERE.

March 17 is the birthday of American film composer ALFRED NEWMAN (1900-1970).

"Everybody here in Hollywood knows his business, plus music."

Newman "composed the scores for over 200 motion pictures. Some of his most famous scores include Wuthering Heights, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Mark of Zorro, How Green Was My Valley, The Song of Bernadette, Captain from Castile, All About Eve, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Anastasia, The Diary of Anne Frank, How The West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and his final score, Airport, all of which were nominated for or won Academy Awards. He is perhaps best known for composing the fanfare which accompanies the studio logo at the beginning of 20th Century Fox's productions." (Wikipedia)

March 17 is the birthday of American singer and jazz pianist NAT KING COLE (1919-1965).

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return."

"Some of Cole's most notable singles include 'Unforgettable,' 'Smile,' 'L-O-V-E,' 'Nature Boy,' 'When I Fall in Love,' 'Let There Be Love,' 'Mona Lisa,' 'Autumn Leaves,' 'Stardust,' 'Straighten Up and Fly Right,' 'The Very Thought of You,' 'For Sentimental Reasons,' 'Embraceable You' and 'Almost Like Being in Love.' His 1960 Christmas album The Magic of Christmas (also known as The Christmas Song), is the best-selling Christmas album released in the 1960s; and was ranked as one of the 40 essential Christmas albums (2019) by Rolling Stone. In 2022, Cole's recording of 'The Christmas Song' broke the record for the longest journey to the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, when it peaked at number nine, 62 years after it debuted on the chart; and was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry." (Wikipedia)

March 17 is the birthday of Soviet-born dancer and choreographer RUDOLF NUREYEV (1938-1993).

"You live as long as you dance."

Nureyev "was born on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk, Siberia, Soviet Union, to a Tatar family. He began his early career with the company that in the Soviet era was called the Kirov Ballet (now called by its original name, the Mariinsky Ballet) in Leningrad. He defected from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, despite KGB efforts to stop him. This was the first defection of a Soviet artist during the Cold War, and it created an international sensation. He went on to dance with The Royal Ballet in London and from 1983 to 1989 served as director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Nureyev was also a choreographer serving as the chief choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet. He produced his own interpretations of numerous classical works, including Swan Lake, Giselle and La Bayadère." (Wikipedia)

March 17 is the birthday of American sculptor JIM GARY (1939-2006).

Gary "was an American sculptor popularly known for his large, colorful creations of dinosaurs made from discarded automobile parts. These sculptures were typically finished with automobile paint although some were left to develop a natural patina during display outdoors.

He was also recognized internationally for his fine, architectural, landscape, and whimsical monumental art as well as abstracts. Sculpture and life figures by Gary often included intricate use of stained glass and his works were frequently composed of, or included, hardware, machine parts, and tools. He employed painted steel in many works, it being his metal of choice." (Wikipedia)

To see some of Gary’s dinosaurs, CLICK HERE.

March 17 is the birthday of the father of cyberpunk WILLIAM GIBSON (b. 1948)

"The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it."

Gibson "is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his early works were noir, near-future stories that explored the effects of technology, cybernetics, and computer networks on humans, a 'combination of lowlife and high tech'—and helped to create an iconography for the Information Age before the ubiquity of the Internet in the 1990s. Gibson coined the term 'cyberspace' for 'widespread, interconnected digital technology' in his short story 'Burning Chrome' (1982), and later popularized the concept in his acclaimed debut novel Neuromancer (1984). These early works of Gibson's have been credited with "'enovating" science fiction literature in the 1980s.'" (Wikipedia)