𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ✨✨

Giovanni Cassini discovered Dione, a moon of Saturn, in 1684.

Debussy plays Debussy - 1913

Claude Debussy plays La soirée dan Grenade, 1913

(Welte Mignon recording)

THINGS MORE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LAFAYETTE

-wrote in all caps in his letters when he was excited

-slept under a tree with Washington after the battle of Monmouth, both enveloped in Washington’s cape

-basically saved the life of the Queen by kissing her hand

-re-gifted a fucking aligator to President John Quincy Adams cause he didn’t know what the fuck to do with it

-wanted to go kill the Beast of Gévaudan (some big scary people-eating wolf that scared the shit out of the french at the time) by himself at like 6 years old

-called both Jefferson and Washington on their bullshit, telling them to free all their slaves… neither listened

-actually bought an entire island full of slaves with his wife Adrienne and freed them all, gave them money for the work they did, gave them education

-last letter he wrote before his death was about freeing slaves and how sad he was that France was taking so long to give people of colour the same rights than white people

-died holding a picture of his dead-wife to his heart

-cried with Jefferson when they met for the first time in years after both American and French revolutions

-continued to fight and got back on his horse when he was shot in the leg during his first battle

-called his only son “George Washington de Lafayette”

-was socially awkward af, especially when he was young

-a ginger

-left France to go fight for America when the King, his step family, and basically the whole court told him “no”

-had to sneak out of France

-sources differ, but probably left disguised as a woman so no one would recognised him

-gave the biggest symbol of French Revolution  (the key of the just-destroyed Bastille, a prison where the enemies of the King and Kingdom were imprisoned) to Washington

-orphan

-told Washington he was his lost father

-tripped when dancing with the Queen of France and never heard the end of it

-had “sleepovers” on the grass with John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton where they talked about politic

-threw himself in front of a loaded cannon ready to shoot to try to stop an event of the french Revolution to become too bloody

-at some point, pretty much everyone in France wanted him dead

-slept through two of the biggest events of the french Revolution lol

-gave money and helped a lot of poor farmers in need

-fought for other religions than his and the King’s own to be respected and have the same rights (specifically fought for Protestant and Jewish people)

-fought against death penalties

-brought back some dirt from America and told his son to put it on top of his grave when he dies

-redecorated his whole house in France just like American’s homes

-actually told people he was American

-altogether had a slight obsessing problem with America

-had his own room at Washington’s home

-had a ring with Washington’s hair in it

-was one of the richest man in France at the age of 12 because his whole family had basically died at that point

-changed back his family motto to “Why not?”

-was only 19 when he left for America

-was detained in horrible conditions in prison for 5 years (2 of which with his wife and daughters)

-refused the hell out of several powerful positions in politic and in the army because he didn’t found these to be close enough to his ideals of freedom and shit

HISTORY SIDE OF TUMBLR

Please prove your existence and teach me about history, I would thank you with my life.

The smallest constellation by area is Crux.

Hey if you’re not tired of all the eclipse posts in every other corner of your life, here’s one more!

Eclipses aren’t just cool to view - they also give scientists a small window of time to study things. Many animals shift to nighttime behaviors, only to reemerge a few minutes later when the sun returns. Temperatures can drop up to 20 degrees. Most importantly, the Sun’s corona becomes visible - normally it is difficult to study because its light is weak compared to the rest of the Sun. With the Moon blocking the Sun, scientists can make observations about the corona and try to understand the coronal mass ejections that can knock out satellites and power grids.

Click here for a larger version

Two of my favorite pieces of art

(My first favorite is The Last Supper)

Debussy - La Mer

Behold, the Sea! Wait, wrong piece…so maybe this work doesn’t have an immediate grandeur to it that a turn-of-the-century audience member would expect from an orchestral work called “The Sea”; it’s quiet, subtle, several build ups like waves until a few moments of collapse then back to the murkiness…not the superficial awe and violence the audience expected, I think. Why else would critics say things like “Debussy promised us the ocean, what we got was a puddle”. But maybe because Debussy wasn’t working from a Western sense of drama? Instead of using the term “symphony”, and the conventions of that form which [at the time] allude to some grand finale, he calls them “three symphonic sketches”, and the power comes and goes and flows. Cyclical. Eastern. Perhaps that’s why they chose to use Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” for the sheet music cover art. And the negative reception at the time could also be because this wasn’t exactly absolute music [after all, it’s about the sea] but it isn’t exactly programatic either [no human connection, no story], it simply…is. Nature that is indifferent to humans. The life and energy that goes on every day beyond our sight.

Movements:

1. "De l'aube à midi sur la mer" – très lent – animez peu à peu [“From dawn to noon on the sea” or “From dawn to midday on the sea” – very slow – animate little by little]

2. “Jeux de vagues” – allegro (dans un rythme très souple) – animé [“Play of the Waves” – allegro (with a very versatile rhythm) – animated]

3. “Dialogue du vent et de la mer” – animé et tumultueux – cédez très légérement [“Dialogue of the wind and the sea” or “Dialogue between wind and waves” – animated and tumultuous – give up very slightly]

The Pantheon, Paris, France