Today is...

[IceWizard]

Saturday 27 Aug 2016

The Duchess Who Wasn't Day



“The Duchess” Who Wasn’t Day celebrates the life of Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, an irish novelist who was always published under the pen name “The Duchess” in the United States – also the name of her most popular novel, published in 1887.

Margaret is responsible for the popular phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, in her book Molly Bawn, so try and slip it into conversation!

In total, The Duchess had at least 57 works attributed to her name but could have written many, many more as a lot of her early work was published as Anonymous, and later as Mrs Hungerford, before “The Duchess” became popular in the States. She also wrote many newspaper articles and had a large family – four daughters and two sons.

Born on the 27th April 1855 in County Cork, she won prizes in school for writing stories. After the death of her first husband in 1876 The Duchess took to writing more seriously to support her three daughters, and it was shortly after this that her first book “Phyllis” was written, and a little later on “Molly Bawn”. She remarried in 1882, had two sons and a daughter with her second husband and eventually died of typhoid fever in 1897.

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Today's Birthdays


Paul Reubens - 64



Cesar Millan - 47



Lyndon B. Johnson - (1908-1973)

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August 27

1995: Neil Young headlined the final night of the three-day Reading Festival in Reading, U.K. with Pearl Jam as his backing band. Other acts on the bill included Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and the Foo Fighters.

1992: John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for “A Day in the Life” sold for $87,000 at a Sotheby’s auction.

1991: Pearl Jam released their debut album Ten which contained the rock radio staples “Alive”, “Even Flow”, “Jeremy” and “Black”. Ten would later peak at number two on the Billboard 200 Album Chart in 1992.

1990: Stevie Ray Vaughan died in helicopter crash in East Troy, WI en route to Chicago when the helicopter collided with a ski slope. He was 35 years old.

1983: Asia’s sophomore album Alpha entered the Billboard 200 Album Chart. It would go on to peak at number six