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Giuseppe Verdi was born Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi on October 10, 1813, in Le Roncole di Busseto, Parma, Italy. His parents were landowners and innkeepers. Young Verdi received his first organ lessons at the age of 7. He studied composition privately with Ferdinando Provesi in Busseto. At age 20 he moved to Milan to continue his studies, but the Conservatory of Music rejected him. Verdi took private lessons and associated with Milan's cultural milieu in his pursuit of a musical career. He was patronized by Antonio Barezzi, a merchant, whose daughter, Margherita, was Verdi's student and later became his wife.

His first opera, Oberto (1839), was a successful production by Milan's Theatro La Scala. While Verdi continued working on his second opera, his wife and two children died. The second opera failed, and he suffered a depression and vowed to quit musical career. La Scala impresario, Merelli, persuaded him to write a third opera. Nabucco (1842) made Verdi famous. He followed the Bel Canto style of Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. Verdi's best operas were based on plays by Victor Hugo, such as 'Ernani' (1844) and 'Rigoletto' (1851). In 1853 Verdi 's masterpiece 'La Traviata' was produced in Venice. It was based on 'The Lady of the Camelias', a play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. At that time Verdi became familiar with the music of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka who was popularized in Europe by Franz Liszt. The music of Mikhail Glinka had certain influence on Verdi's later operas.

In 1861 Verdi wrote 'La forza del destino' commissioned by the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, upon the recommendations by Aleksandr Borodin. It was performed with great success in 1862, and became part of a standard operatic repertoire ever since. His grand-opera 'Aida' (1871) was premiered in Cairo as part of the celebrations of the opening of the Suez Canal, and became an instant success. In his later operas Verdi turned from the style of Bel Canto to more expressive music and orchestration, like in 'Otello' (1887), based on the eponymous play by Shakespeare. Verdi's last and musically most brilliant, rich and expressive opera, 'Falstaff' (1893), was based on the Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in the adaptation of Victor Hugo.

Verdi's musical success coincided with the political events of Italian unification during the Austrian occupation. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves' from his opera 'Nabucco' (1842), became a popular song among supporters of Italian unification. Many of his opera performances were used by the supporters of Victor Emmanuel to shout "Viva Verdi" as a code name for a secret unification message. The name Verdi was used as acronym for "Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia" - Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy. Such a code enabled clandestine partisans of Victor Emmanuel, then the King of Sardinia, to gain more supporters in Milan which eventually led to the unification of Italy. Verdi was aware that his popular operas and his name was used as a political tool. Austrian censorship was powerless.

In 1861 Victor Emmanuel became the King of Italy in Turin. From 1861-1865 Giuseppe Verdi was elected representative of Busseto in the newly formed Italian parliament. After Garibaldi's military campaign the capital was moved to Florence, then to Rome, and Verdi returned from politics to music. He lived in Milan during the last years of his life. He was revered and honoured all over the world, and was much visited by his admirers. He died on January 27, 1901, in Milan, and was laid to rest at the Casa di Riposo, a retirement home for elderly musicians that was established by Verdi himself.

Verdi's music was used in hundreds of film scores. His operas has been the staples of operatic repertoire. His canzonas "La donna è mobile" from opera 'Rigoletto' (1851) and "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" (Drinking song) from 'La Traviata' (1853) has been popular concert numbers in performances by the three tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras.

Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born on May 24, 1819 to the Duke and Duchess of Kent. Victoria as she was called was the granddaughter of King George III. When she was less than a year old her father died leaving her mother broke and at the mercy of her brother Leopold, the King of Belgium. Victoria lead a sheltered life in Kensington Palace while growing up. She was not allowed to see anybody besides her mother, half-sister and brother, and the comptroller of the household and reputed lover of the Duchess of Kent, Sir John Conroy. When she was 17 she met for the first time her cousins Albert and Ernest (sons of her mother's brother Ernest) The meeting went well but nothing happened. Several months later Victoria's Uncle King William IV died and she became Queen at the age of 18. Three years later she and Albert met again and this time they fell in love. They got married on Feburary 10, 1840 and In November of that year they welcomed their first child named Victoria. In 1841 they had Albert Edward, who would be Prince of Wales and then Edward VII. Followed by Alice (b. 1843),Alfred (b. 1844), Helena (b. 1846), Louise (b. 1848) Arthur (b. 1850) and Leopold (b. 1853) and Beatrice (b. 1857.) In 1860, though something happened that brought Victoria's world to a stand-still. Her beloved husband died on December 14 after a short illness with Thyphoid. This did not hinder any plans though. Their oldest daughter had been married to the Prussian Prince Fritz for several years by then, but their daughter Alice and son Bertie were almost to be married at the time of their father's death. A few months later Alice married Prince Louis of Hess and several months after that Bertie married Prince Alexandra of Denmark. For the rest of her life Victoria missed Albert and insisted in a funereal like atmosphere in her household. The only thing that could lift her spirits where her 40 grandchildren. On that fateful December 14 of 1878 Victoria lost her daughter, Alice, and mourned her. After several months though she recovered enough to concoct an idea. She would have her son in law Louis marry her daughter Beatrice so that her several grandchildren could be near her. This did not happen though. On January 22, 1901 Victoria died in Osbourn House in the arms of her grandson Kaiser William II. Her children and grandchildren stretched all over the globe, reigning as sovereigns or consorts. From the UK, Germany, Romania, Russia, Greece, and Spain her children and grandchildren would change the face of the world.

Johanna Spyri was born on 12 June 1827 in Hirzel, Switzerland. She was a writer, known for Heidi (1937), Heidi and S'Waisechind vo Engelberg (1956). She was married to Johann Bernhard Spyri. She died on 7 July 1901 in Zurich, Switzerland.

William McKinley (January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. He was president during the Spanish-American War of 1898, raised protective tariffs to boost American industry, and rejected the expansionary monetary policy of free silver, keeping the nation on the gold standard.

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was born on 24 November 1864 in Albi, Tarn, France. He is known for Coded (2021). He died on 9 September 1901 in Saint-André-du-Bois, Gironde, France.

Leon Czolgosz was an American anarchist of Polish extraction who shot President William McKinley while the president was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York in September 1901.

Born in Michigan in May 1873, the 28-year-old Czolgosz was the son of ethnic Polish immigrants from Prussia. He arrived in Buffalo on August 31, 1901 and stalked the president once he arrived at the exposition. He bought a pistol on September 2nd and on September 6th, joined a receiving line at the Temple of Music whose members moved forward to shake hands with the president. The meet-and-greet was only expected to last was 10 minutes, but that was enough to change history.

The assassin had secreted his pistol wrapped in a handkerchief inside his pocket. When he made it to the head of the line and McKinley extended his hand, Czolgosz swatted it away and twice pulled the trigger of his weapon, shooting McKinley in the stomach. The two bullets fired at point-blank range staggered the president, but did not immediately kill him. (He lived on for a week and a day, expiring on the 14th.)

The crowd in the Temple of Music seized Czolgosz and beat him to the point of death before soldiers and police intervened. The near-dead Czolgosz was jailed and stood trial on September 23rd, nine days after McKinley died of his wounds. Czolgosz had been deeply influenced by the anarchists Alexander Berkman (himself the would-be assassin of Henry Clay Frick) and Emma Goldman, whom he had seen give a public speech and subsequently met.

Czolgosz's meeting with Goldman occurred the very same year he killed McKinley, and she was arrested as part of a possible conspiracy but was released for lack of evidence. It was apparent Czolgosz acted alone. Goldman tried to rally support for the assassin, comparing him in print to Brutus who had slain Julius Caesar, but many anarchists shunned Czolgosz, as he had brought opprobrium onto the movement. Theodore Roosevelt, the new president, had declared, "When compared with the suppression of anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance.

At his arraignment, Czolgosz pleaded guilty, which is not allowed in a capital trial, and the judge changed his plea to "not guilty". His lawyers wanted to go with an insanity defense such as used for Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President James Garfield, but a defiant Czolgosz refused to cooperate with them as, to him, they were symbols of the authority he hated and had struck out against in the Temple of Music. He clearly wanted to be martyred, and he was, convicted after a two day trial when the jury came back with a guilty verdict after one hour. He was executed in the electric chair at Auburn State Prison (Auburn, New York) on October 29, 1901, 53 days after he shot and fatally wounded President McKinley.

Arnold Böcklin was born on 16 October 1827 in Basel, Switzerland. He was a writer, known for The Isle of the Dead (1913). He was married to Angela Pascucci. He died on 16 January 1901 in Fiesole, Tuscany, Italy.

Princess Royal Victoria was born on 21 November 1840 in Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, England, UK. She was married to King Frederick III of Prussia. She died on 5 August 1901 in Kronberg im Taunus, Kingdom of Prussia [now Kronberg im Taunus, Hesse, Germany].

Jules Barbier was born on 8 March 1825 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Life Is Beautiful (1997), Jojo Rabbit (2019) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011). He died on 16 January 1901 in Paris, France.

Ethelbert Nevin was born on 25 November 1862 in Edgeworth, Pennsylvania, USA. He died on 17 February 1901 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the US. He was born in North Bend, Ohio, on August 20, 1833. He came from a family which had a long history in politics--his grandfather William Henry Harrison was a former US President, his father was a Congressman and he had cousins who were congressmen, governors and mayors.

He was educated at Farmers College and Miami University in Ohio, graduating from the university in 1862. He was admitted to the bar in 1864 and began a law practice in Indianapolis, Indiana, but soon became involved in Republican politics. He held some minor party and appointed offices, During the Civil War he organized an army unit, the 70th Indiana Infantry, which he commanded as a colonel. The unit was posted to mostly garrison duty in Kentucky and Tennessee, and in 1864 it was attached to the forces of Gen. William T. Sherman in Georgia.

After the war he returned to Indiana and got even more involved in state politics, becoming a driving force in what became known as the Radical Republican movement. He ran in the Republican primary for the gubernatorial nomination in 1872, but was unsuccessful. In 1876 he finally got the nomination, but lost the election. In 1880 he headed the Indiana delegation to the Republican convention and was a major factor in securing the presidential nomination for James A. Garfield, who won the election. He was offered a cabinet post but turned it down in favor of being the party's nominee for Senator, and won the election. As a senator he was a strong advocate for civil-service reform and helped in the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. He lost his bid for re-election that year, but in 1888 secured the Republican nomination for President. He ran against Democrat Grover Cleveland, and although Cleveland won the popular vote, Harrison received more votes in the electoral college, therefore winning the presidency.

As President, Harrison's most notable accomplishments occurred in foreign affairs, and he sponsored the first Pan-American Conference in 1889 between the US and Latin America. On the domestic front, his administration secured passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which was popular with the public, but it also passed the highly unpopular McKinley Tariff Act and the even more unpopular Sherman Silver Purchase Act. A major scandal occurred in the Veterans Bureau--later to become the Veterans Administration--during Harrison's presidency; it had been very strictly run during Cleveland's term, but Harrison loosened oversight of it and soon the extravagant expenditures lavished by the bureau's top management on themselves and their cronies shocked the public and forced the resignation of the bureau's pension commissioner. In the 1890 elections the Democratic party took control of Congress. Public dissatisfaction with Harrison's administration led to his defeat by former president Cleveland in the 1892 elections, after which Harrison returned to Indianapolis and resumed his law practice. He wrote several articles for local newspapers and eventually published two books, "This Country of Ours" (1897), a collection of his writings; and a memoir, "Views of an ex-President" (1901).

He died in Indianapolis on March 13, 1901.

Daniel Butterfield was born on 31 October 1831 in Utica, New York, USA. He died on 17 July 1901.

Philippe Gille was born on 10 December 1831 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for True Romance (1993), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003) and Before the Storm (2000). He died on 19 March 1901.

Robert Buchanan was born on 18 August 1841 in Caverswall, Staffordshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Matt (1918), The Trumpet Call (1915) and God and the Man (1918). He died on 10 June 1901 in Streatham, London, England, UK.

Emilio De Marchi was born on 31 July 1851 in Milan, Lombardy-Venetia, Austrian Empire [now Lombardy, Italy]. He was a writer, known for Giacomo l'idealista (1943), Il cappello da prete (1944) and Racconti dell'Italia di ieri (1961). He was married to Lina Martelli. He died on 6 February 1901 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

James A. Herne was born on 1 February 1839 in Cohoes, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Hearts of Oak (1924), Hearts of Oak (1914) and Shore Acres (1914). He was married to Katharine Corcoran and Helen Western. He died on 2 June 1901 in New York City, New York, USA.

Kate Greenaway was born on 17 March 1846 in Hoxton, London, England, UK. She is known for The Sweet Hereafter (1997). She died on 6 November 1901 in London, England, UK.

Walter Besant was born on 14 August 1836 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Beyond the Dreams of Avarice (1920), The Children of Gibeon (1920) and All Sorts and Conditions of Men (1921). He was married to Mary Garrett. He died on 9 June 1901 in Hampstead, London, England, UK.

Lev Ivanov was born on 18 February 1834 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a writer, known for Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre (2013), The Nutcracker - ROH, London 2022 (Ballet) (2022) and The Turning Point (1977). He was married to Vera Lyadova and Varvara Ivanova. He died on 11 December 1901 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia].

Eduardo Prado was born on 27 February 1860 in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. He was a writer and actor, known for Edu, Coração de Ouro (1968), Balada Dos Infiéis (1970) and Todas as Mulheres do Mundo (1966). He died on 30 August 1901 in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Edmond Audran was born on 12 April 1840 in Lyon, France. He is known for La poupée (1920), Miss Helyett (1928) and Miss Helyett (1933). He died on 17 August 1901 in Tierceville, Seine-et-Oise, France.

Hiram Revels was born on 27 September 1827 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA. He died on 16 January 1901 in Aberdeen, Mississippi, USA.

Ignatius Donnelly was born on 3 November 1831 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He died on 1 January 1901 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Leopoldo Alas 'Clarín' was born on 25 April 1852 in Zamora, Castilla y León, Spain. He was a writer, known for Adiós cordera (1969), La regenta (1974) and Narradores (1991). He was married to Onofre García Argüelles y García-Bernardo. He died on 13 June 1901 in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.

Victor Betzonich was born on 10 September 1864 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Capital Execution (1903). He died on 29 November 1901.