Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He was seen, during his lifetime and afterwards, as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born to a family of modest means, he was admitted at the age of 10 to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 before achieving international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande. Debussy developed his own style in the use of harmony and orchestral colouring. His works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers, including Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin and the jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. (Full article...)

David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy (1761)

• ... that social media users made Joshua Reynolds's David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy (pictured) into a meme based on the distracted boyfriend meme?
• ... that Abu al-Juyush Nasr became the Sultan of Granada in 1309 following the ousting of his brother, only to be ousted in a civil war five years later?
• ... that the goose barnacle Conchoderma virgatum rarely attaches directly to a fish, but four individuals were once found attached to a single spine of a porcupinefish?
• ... that US President Donald Trump's nomination of meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier to direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy has been received positively by scientists?
• ... that Claude Debussy composed The Little Nigar, a cakewalk, for a piano method?
• ... that voice actress Rie Murakawa's accolades include the Best Funny Radio and Best Comfort Radio awards in 2016?
• ... that Westbourne Terrace was one of 19 different "Westbourne" streets that appeared in the London Postal Guide in the nineteenth century?
• ... that Gavin Buckley, the mayor of Annapolis, Maryland, thinks of himself as Australian?

N. K. Jemisin

• N. K. Jemisin (pictured) wins the Hugo Award for Best Novel for a third consecutive time for The Stone Sky.
• Former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan dies at the age of 80.
• The Asian Games open in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.
• Former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee dies at the age of 93.
• American soul singer and songwriter Aretha Franklin dies at the age of 76.

August 22

Signing of the First Geneva Convention

• 1642 – King Charles I raised the royal standard at Nottingham, marking the beginning of the First English Civil War.
• 1864 – Under the leadership of Henry Dunant and the International Red Cross Committee, twelve European nations signed the First Geneva Convention (signing pictured), establishing the rules for protection of the victims of armed conflicts.
• 1910 – Japan annexed Korea with the signing of the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, beginning a period of Japanese rule of Korea that lasted until the end of World War II.
• 1985 – A fire broke out on British Airtours Flight 28M, causing 55 deaths mostly due to smoke inhalation and bringing about changes to make aircraft evacuation more effective.
• 2012 – A series of ethnic clashes between the Orma and Pokomo tribes of Kenya's Tana River District resulted in the deaths of at least 52 people.

Luca Marenzio (d. 1599) · Bill Woodfull (b. 1897) · Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (b. 1934)