Category Archives: On This Date

October 16, 1384~ Jadwiga is Crowned King of Poland

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The Oath of Jadwiga by Józef Simmler

After Jadwiga wed Gniewosz of Dalewice, a Polish knight and courtier who had opposed the marriage, spread gossip that she was having an affair. Jadwiga took a solemn oath stating that she had only had marital relations with her husband. After all the witnesses confirmed her oath, Gniewosz confessed that he had lied. The medieval penalty was to force Gniewosz to publicly get under a table, say: “I lied like a dog”, and bark a few times. Despite this, Gniewosz continued his career at the court even after Jadwiga’s death.

1867 / Oil on canvas / 114”x84 2/5” / National Museum, Warsaw, Poland

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Previous October 16 posts:

Autumn~ October 16

Artist Birthday Quiz for 10/16~

October 15, 1939~ Dedication of NY Municipal Airport (later LaGuardia Airport)

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Flight (detail), a mural by James Brooks

1939-1942; sealed and painted over 1952; uncovered and restored late 1970s; rededicated September 18, 1980
Painting on curved canvas panels / 12’x237’ / Marine Air Terminal, Terminal A, LaGuardia Airport

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Previous October 15 posts:

Autumn~ October 15

Artist Birthday Quiz for 10/15~

October 13, 1399~ Coronation of England’s Henry IV at Westminster Abbey

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Bolingbroke Claims the Crown by the Virgil Master

c.1401-1405 / From “Book of the Capture and Death of King Richard II” by Jean Creton
Colors and gold with ivy leaf border / 11”x4 1/5” / British Library, London, UK

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Previous October 13 posts:

Autumn~ October 13

Artist Birthday Quiz for 10/13~

October 11, 1987~ AIDS Memorial Quilt displayed for the first time in DC

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NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall,
photographed by Mark Thiessen in 1996

Fabric, decorative objects, and personal belongings / Panels measuring 3′ by 6′ assembled into larger
12′ by 12′ blocks / In November 2019, the National AIDS Memorial became the permanent caretaker and steward of the Quilt

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Previous October 11 posts:

Autumn~ October 11

Artist Birthday Quiz for 10/11~

October 10, 1935~ Porgy and Bess opens at the Alvin Theatre in NYC

Posted in African American Visual Artists, Black American Visual Artists, On This Date, Women Artists by

Porgy and Bess, Embracing (detail)  by Kara Walker

2013 / Lithograph on Somerset paper / 15”x18” / Various, incl. Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC / Published by The Arion Press, San Francisco, as part of an additional suite of 4 lithographs to accompany the book “Porgy & Bess, The Libretto” by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin with 16 lithographs by Kara Walker

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Previous October 10 posts:

Autumn~ October 10

Artist Birthday Quiz for 10/10~

October 9, 1936~ Hoover Dam begins transmitting electricity to Los Angeles

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Power House Abutments, Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam)
by Stanley Huber Wood

1934 / Pencil, watercolor, and ink on paper / 18”x20 1/5” / Created under the Public Works of Art Project
Published as part of “Boulder Dam in Color: A Portfolio of Watercolors” in the May 1934 issue of Fortune magazine

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Previous October 9 posts:

Autumn~ October 9

John Lennon: Born October 9, 1940

Artist Birthday Quiz for 10/9~