may 19

DAME NELLIE MELBA (May 19, 1861)

May 19 is the birthday of Australian soprano DAME NELLIE MELBA (1861-1931).

"If I'd been a housemaid I'd have been the best in Australia - I couldn't help it. It's got to be perfection for me."

Melba " became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town ... Melba's name is associated with four foods, all of which were created in her honour by the French chef Auguste Escoffier:

Peach Melba, a dessert made of peaches, raspberry sauce, and vanilla ice cream[85]

Melba sauce, a sweet purée of raspberries and red currant

Melba toast, a crisp dry toast

Melba Garniture, chicken, truffles and mushrooms stuffed into tomatoes with velouté sauce." (Wikipedia)

WALTER RUSSELL (May 19, 1871)

May 19 is the birthday of painter, sculptor, author and mystic WALTER RUSSELL (1871-1963).

"In May 1921 Russell claimed to have experienced a transformational, revelatory event that he later described in a chapter called 'The Story of My Illumining' in the 1950 edition of his Home Study Course. 'During that period...I could perceive all motion,' and was newly 'aware of all things.' Russell used the terminology of Richard Maurice Bucke in his book Cosmic Consciousness to explain 'cosmic illumination.'

Later he wrote, 'It will be remembered that no one who has ever had [the experience of illumination] has been able to explain it. I deem it my duty to the world to tell of it.' Russell's supposed knowledge gained 'in the Light' is the subject matter of his book The Divine Iliad, published in two volumes in 1949." (Wikipedia)

JOHN VACHON (May 19, 1914)

May 19 is the birthday of American photographer JOHN VACHON (1914-1975).

Vachon "photographed agricultural programs on behalf of the Farm Security Administration. His photographs helped publicize the conditions of the rural poor in America. The hallmark of this style of photography is the portrayal of people and places encountered on the street, unembellished by the beautifying contrivances used by calendar and public relations photographers.

He was a photographer for the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C. from 1942 to 1943, and then staff photographer for Standard Oil Company of New Jersey between 1943 and 1944. After serving in the army in 1944–45, in 1947 Vachon joined the Photo League, where he wrote book reviews for Photo Notes and participated in many exhibitions. Between 1945 and 1947 he photographed New Jersey and Venezuela for Standard, and Poland for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Vachon became a staff photographer for Life magazine, where he worked between 1947 and 1949, and for over twenty five years beginning in 1947 at Look magazine. In 1953 Vachon took the first pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio." (Wikipedia)