December 14: The day when the great scientist Simion Mehedinți, the father of modern geography, died
On December 14, 1962, the geographer Simion Mehedinți died, who served several fields of knowledge, such as geography, ethnography, literature, education, criticism and journalism. Also on December 14, actor and director Radu Beligan and economist Virgil Madgeanu were born.
Geographer Simion Mehedinți PHOTO: Simion Mehedinți personal archive
1799: George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, died
George Washington (b. February 22, 1732, Westmoreland, Virginia Virginia — d. December 14, 1799, Mount Vernon, Virginia) American general and statesman, militant and active factor in obtaining independence from the United Kingdom of the North American colonies, the first president of the United States of America.
George Washington PHOTO: Archives
1887: Virgil Traian Madgearu, economist, sociologist and politician, was born
Virgil Madgearu, economist, member of PNŢ and Minister of Finance in 1929 and 1933, was shot by legionnaires, on November 27, 1940, in the Snagov forest, with seven bullets, the same day as Nicolae Iorga.
Beyond the positions in the National Peasant Party, he also worked as Minister of Industry and Commerce, in the period 1928-1930; Minister of Communications, in 1929, and Minister of Finance, in the same year.
Virgil Traian Madgearu PHOTO: Archives
Determined to closely analyze Romania's situation at that time, he founded the Institute for the study of the economic situation, active until 1940, and among its members were the economists Gheorghe Zane, Mircea Vulcănescu, Roman Moldovan and Nicolae Georgescu-Roegen.
1910: The world's first experimental flight of a jet plane, invented and piloted by Henri Coandă, took place
The world's first experimental flight of a jet plane, invented and piloted by Henri Coandă, took place at Ussy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris.
Henri Marie Coandă (b. June 7, 1886, Bucharest, Romania – d. November 25, 1972, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian academic and aeronautical engineer, aviation pioneer, physicist, specialist in aerodynamics and fluid mechanics, innovator, inventor and discoverer of the effect that bears his name.
The plane piloted by Henri Coandă PHOTO: Archives
He was the son of General Constantin Coandă, career general and Prime Minister of Romania in 1918, and grandson of Admiral Ion Coandă.
1918: Actor and director Radu Beligan was born
Radu Beligan, honorary member of the “IL Caragiale” National Theater in Bucharest, honorary member of the Romanian Academy (since 2004), was born in the village of Galbeni in the commune of Filipeşti, Bacău. In 2013 he entered the Book of Records as the longest active actor.
Radu Beligan played at the “Regina Maria” Theater (1937-1938), at “Uranus” (1938-1939), at the Sărindar Theater, at the “CA Rosetti” Garden, at the “Tudor Muşatescu” Theater (Roxy), at the Majestic Theater, at the Savoy Theater, at the “Comedia” Theater, at the Municipal.
Radu Beligan, Romanian actor PHOTO: The truth
At the end of the 40s, there was even the “Radu Beligan” Company. He came to the National Theater in Bucharest for the first time in 1945. Later, in 1961, he founded the Comedy Theatre, being its director for eight years.
From 1969 to 1990, Radu Beligan was the director of the Bucharest National Theatre. In his artistic activity, Beligan performed over 80 roles in the theater and 30 in films. He had a rich activity on radio and television.
1962: The scientist Simion Mehedinți died
The scholar Simion Mehedinţi (1868-1962) was certainly a great spirit of this people. Known as the founder of modern Romanian geography, but also a philosopher trained at the school of Titu Maiorescu, the native of Vranca, born in Soveja, was a fascinating character. He is known more as a geographer, but few people know that Simion Mehedinți was a versatile intellectual who served several fields of knowledge, such as geography, ethnography, literature, education, criticism and journalism.
He campaigned all his life for nationalist ideas, especially in the area of culture.
Simion Mehedinți PHOTO: Association “Simion Mehedinți” Vrancea
He launched the theory that Romania needs a school of work, a school where the art and science of education give meaning to the child's life, to elevate the human being to the level of generally accepted value. The grave of Simion Mehedinţi is located in his hometown of Soveja, in Vrancea county, in the courtyard of the “Matei Basarab” Monastery
We present to you a series of quotes from Simion Mehedinţi's vast work, which deal with topics such as work, education or family:
“The way you work, the way you think and the way you speak”
“Only love for others can teach us how to love ourselves”
“Envy, confessed or not, is always a sign of inferiority”
“Work, whatever it is, leaves its traces not only in the palm, but also in the brain”
“Women are the foundation of education in every generation”
“Take heed, mothers and wives! As great as your purpose is, so great must be the care of your children, right from the first moment of preparation for life… Good and bad start from you.” (More quotes here)
1972: The US Apollo 17 space program ended
Apollo 17 is the eleventh manned spacecraft launched by the United States to the Moon, the last to be part of the Apollo program.
On August 13, 1971, shortly after the launch of the Apollo 15 spacecraft, NASA announced to the press the crew of the Apollo 17 mission. This crew consisted of the commander of the spacecraft Eugene Cernan, the pilot of the space capsule Ron Evans, and instead of Joe Engle, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt was named as the pilot of the lunar vehicle, Challenger.
Apollo 17 crew PHOTO: NASA
David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin were part of the reserve crew and as scientists were chosen: Robert Parker, Gordon Fullerton and Robert Overmyer.
The spacecraft was scheduled to launch on December 7, 1972, at 5:33 UTC. The countdown had to be interrupted after 2 hours and 30 minutes due to a computer glitch. This was the only interruption in the Apollo space program.
The return of Apollo-17 took place without special problems, the spacecraft capsule arrived in the Pacific on December 19, 1972 at 19:24 UT, being found by the American aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14).
2013: Irish-English actor Peter O'Toole died
For a long time Peter O'Toole's (b. 1932) greatest achievement was his work for the film “Lawrence of Arabia”but the inimitable actor is known as one of the greatest people in the film industry.
Peter O'Toole PHOTO: Cinemagia
O'Toole received eight Academy Award nominations for his film roles spanning five decades, setting the record for receiving the most nominations but no Oscars.
The Academy awarded the Irish actor only once, in 2003, with an honorary Oscar for his entire career. “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” joked the actor when he received the prestigious statuette.
2019: Athe actress Anna Karina died at the age of 79 from cancer
Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Bayer; 22 September 1940 – 14 December 2019) was a Danish actress, director and screenwriter with French citizenship who spent most of her life living and working in France. Karina was often recognized as the “muse” of the French director Jean-Luc Godard, one of the pioneers of the current La Nouvelle Vague in France.
Anna Karina PHOTO: Archives
His collaborations with Godard include films like Le Petit Soldat (1960), A woman is a woman (1961), To live his life (1962) and Alphaville (1965).
For the role of A woman is a womanthe actress was awarded with The golden bear for the best actress in the 11th edition of Berlin International Film Festival.
