The writer and poet
Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840 in a thatched, stonemason's cottage in Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, Dorset in south west England.
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| A portrait of Thomas Hardy in 1923 |
He acquired an early interest in books, which his well-read mother encouraged. Thomas was reading Dryden and Johnson before the age of 10.
After several years working as an architect in London, Hardy settled at Weymouth in 1867 because of concerns about his health and decided to dedicate himself to writing.
He wrote his first novel Poor Man and the Lady the same year, but he failed to find a publisher partly because it was deemed too politically controversial.
He gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure(1895).
Hardy thought his poetry would outlive his prose, however, his novels won more laurels with the public than the critics and to this day none of his novels have ever gone out of print.
English composer
Edward Elgar was born on June 2, 1857 in Broadheath, Worcestershire to the owner of a music shop, William and Ann, the daughter of a farm worker.
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| Edward Elgar, c. 1900 |
In 1899 Elgar wrote an orchestral piece, the Enigma Variations. Its variations are based on the countermelody to an unheard theme, a supposedly well-known tune that Elgar never identified. Each variation describes one of his friends, but he did not say which friends they were: he only put their initials or nickname at the top of each variation.
Elgar’s most popular piece is the first of his five Pomp and Circumstance Marches. It has the tune which is sung to the words “Land of Hope and Glory” and the audience always join in singing it at the Last Night of the Proms. Also American high school, college, and university graduates often march down the aisles of auditoriums to the work.
Elgar was the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of acoustic recordings of his works.
For more June 2 anniversaries, including the only presidential wedding performed in the White House, the granting of citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, check out
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