1984 – Three authors of the Modigliani hoax © NC
it happened today
1908 – Dorando Petri’s Marathon (115 years ago). Italian Dorando Petri was the first man to cross the finish line of the marathon at the London Olympics, but tired and staggering, he was helped by the judges and therefore denied the gold medal in favor of American Johnny Hayes.
1911 – Machu Picchu site discovered (112 years ago): It was an American archaeologist and explorer who unearthed one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, a sarcophagus of the ancient Inca civilization, which built a great empire between 1200 and 1500 in the Andean region between Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Hiram Bingham fell in love with the ancient pre-Columbian civilizations (Aztecs, Toltecs, Mayas, Chibchas and Incas) after receiving the chair of South American history at Yale University. An expedition organized by the university was successful on July 24, 1911: in the Urubamba Valley of Peru, at an altitude of 2,430 meters above sea level, the archaeological site of Machu Picchu was discovered. The sensational find, augmented by a photo-report in the famous National Geographic magazine, captivated the whole world and launched the tourist fortunes of the area, which was included in UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1983.
1976 – Seveso is evacuated for the first time (47 years ago). The first one hundred and sixty-nine people left their homes in Seveso because of the environmental damage caused by the toxic cloud released by Icmesa.
1984 – Three sculptures possibly by Modigliani found in the royal moat in Livorno (39 years ago). Three sculpted heads have been found in the royal moat in Livorno and are attributed to Amedeo Modigliani, who allegedly threw them into the moat 75 years earlier after being mocked by friends whom he had shown them. After a great media coverage it would be shown that they were fake.
Congratulations!
1802 – Alexandre Dumas (221 years ago): Along with such classics as D’Artagnan and Edmond Dantes, he left a remarkable mark on world literature, after which he is celebrated as the “master of the historical novel”.
1959 – Giuseppe Abagnale (64 years ago): Born in Pompeii (in the province of Naples), he is a former Italian sailor. He dominated the two specialties, climbing to the top step of the podium at the Olympics with his brother Carmine and helmsman Giuseppe di Capua.
1969 – Jennifer Lopez (54 years ago): With Shakira she competes for the scepter of the Queen of Latin Pop, but for J.Lo nearly 80 million records have been sold and the records speak for themselves in terms of charm, beauty and media success.
saints of today
Saint Christina of Bolsena (martyr)
Saint Ursicinus (bishop)
Holy Wizards of the East (fans of the Child Jesus)