Today happens to be May 22nd, the birthday of 5 irreplaceable legends - 1. Wishing a very happy 242th birthday to Raja Ram Mohan Roy. :-) One of Indias first renaissance men and one of the most influential socio-religious reformers. He was one of the first prominent Indians to vehemently decry & campaign against social evils like sati, caste rigidity, polygamy, child marriages and superstitious rituals. He also encouraged inter-faith dialogues with Christians & Buddhists. And he was one of the first leaders who endorsed the learning of the English language as well as western sciences for Indians. And he was the founder of Indias first English medium school founded by an Indian - the Anglo-Hindu school of Kolkata. And best of all, his relentless efforts led to the East India company criminalizing the deplorable custom of Sati (as Roy had lost his own sister-in-law to Sati). 2. Wishing a very happy 107th birthday to Sir Laurence Olivier :-) One of the greatest & finest actors ever (both on stage & in cinema) Some of his most memorable performances were the three Shakespearean films where he was both the protagonist and the director - Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955). And then of course, there was Alfred Hitchcocks Rebecca. 3. Wishing a very happy 84th birthday to Harvey Milk :-) Yes, the same guy on whom the Sean Penn masterpiece was based on. Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the US, when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 (being openly Gay was a major Taboo back then even in the West of all places). Milk went on to serve for almost 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city of San Francisco. He paid the price for such a progressive move and lost his life, getting assassinated by Dan White, another former city supervisor :( 4. Wishing a very happy 68th birthday to George Best :-) For the uninitiated (and that includes most cricket lovers), George Best lived up to his name. Apart from Pele, Diego Maradona & Zinedine Zidane, George Best is considered as one the greatest, finest & of course the best footballers (soccer players) of all times. Long before Beckham was born, George Best became the celebrity playboy sports icon. And long before Wayne Rooney & Cristiano Ronaldo were born, George Best was the start attraction of Manchester United football club. & Finally 5. Wishing a very happy 55th birthday to the living legend - Morrissey :-) One of the most underrated icons of Indie & Alternative Rock Music in the world. An iconic singer-songwriter who has been successful both as a vocalist of the Indie band The Smiths (from 1982 to 87) and then his solo career that took off in 1988 and has been getting better & better ever since 8-) Oh! And what makes him all the more likable is the fact that hes a monarchical abolitionist, yes he wants the British Monarchy to be annihilated. Hes also been consistently a fierce critic of all Right-wing politicians world over. #RamMohanRoy #RajaRamMohanRoy #LaurenceOlivier #HarveyMilk #GeorgeBest #Morrissey #TheSmiths #May22
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 05:48:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015