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1-50 of 203
- Jules Laforgue was born on 16 August 1860 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Jules was a writer, known for Hommelette for Hamlet, operetta inqualificabile (da J. Laforgue) (1990) and Through the Windows (2012). Jules was married to Leah Lee. Jules died on 20 August 1887 in Paris, France.
- William Kemmier was born on 9 May 1860 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He died on 6 August 1890 in Auburn, New York, USA.
- Considered to be the first American serial killer and possibly the most prolific, he was also a con-man and bigamist. He was a doctor who studied medicine at Ann Arbor, MI. He then moved to New York where he practiced briefly. His first brush with the law occurred there when some corpses were found in his possession. He fled to Chicago where he worked for a drug company. The owner mysteriously disappeared and he became the owner. Over the next few years several people who crossed his path also mysteriously disappeared. In 1891 he began construction of a hotel at the corner of 63rd St. in Chicago. It was constructed by several builders over time and had a labyrinthine network of passages that would become his "torture chambers". It was during the Chicago World Fair of 1893 that he did most of his killings when his victims checked into his hotel. They were mainly young attractive women. Holmes would drug them, have sex with their bodies and then drop them down a chute into a gas chamber. There he would watch through a glass panel as they slowly choked to death. Then he would dissect their bodies and dispose of them in acid baths, furnaces or by using quicklime. However, it was because of insurance fraud in Texas that he was brought to the attention of the authorities again. Detective Geyer followed his trail through Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The bodies of the Pietzel family were found in an Indianapolis boarding house and Holmes was arrested. On 11/30/1895 he received the death sentence. Holmes wrote in his memoirs that he had killed 27 people; however, when he was taken to the gallows he retracted his confession saying that he had done it just for a publicity stunt. Over 200 bodies were found in his Chicago death house, known as "'Holmes' Torture Castle".
- Writer
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Charles Hale Hoyt was born on 26 July 1860 in Concord, New Hampshire, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for A Texas Steer (1915), A Midnight Bell (1921) and A Bunch of Keys (1915). He was married to Flora Walsh and Caroline Miskel. He died on 20 November 1900 in New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
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.- Albert Kirchner was a French photographer, manufacturer, exhibitor, and filmmaker who is noted for producing several religious and erotic films. He was employed by Eugène Pirou, a French filmmaker and photographer. Kirchner directed the first known erotic film, Coucher de la mariée (1896), that featured actress Louise Willy. The success of the film led him to continue to work in the cinema, and in January 1897 he and two colleagues, Anthelme and Pacon, patented a film camera "Biographe Français Léar" and formed a company to exploit it. In 1897, he arranged screenings of his films at multiple locations in Paris. That same year, in partnership with Michel Coissac, who later became a well-known film historian, Kirchner directed the film Passion du Christ (The Passion of Christ). Shot in Paris, it was the first film made based on the story in the Bible, and made Kirchner the first filmmaker to direct a film about the life of Christ. It was shown in a large number of regions and created influence among contemporary film directors of whom many adopted its theme.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Hugo Wolf was born on 13 March 1860 in Windischgrätz, Styria, Austrian Empire [now Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia]. He was a composer, known for The Music Teacher (1988), Dafne (2008) and Forsaken (2005). He died on 22 February 1903 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria].- Writer
- Actor
- Script and Continuity Department
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in 1860, the third of six children to a family of a grocer, in Taganrog, Russia, a southern seaport and resort on the Azov Sea. His father, a 3rd-rank Member of the Merchant's Guild, was a religious fanatic and a tyrant who used his children as slaves. Young Chekhov was a part-time assistant in his father's business and also a singer in a church choir. At age 15, he was abandoned by his bankrupt father and lived alone for 3 years while finishing the Classical Gymnazium in Taganrog. Chekhov obtained a scholarship at the Moscow University Medical School in 1879, from which he graduated in 1884 as a Medical Doctor. He practiced general medicine for about ten years.
While a student, Chekhov published numerous short stories and humorous sketches under a pseudonym. He reserved his real name for serious medical publications, saying "medicine is my wife; literature - a mistress." While a doctor, he kept writing and had success with his first books, and his first play "Ivanov." He gradually decreased his medical practice in favor of writing. Chekhov created his own style based on objectivity, brevity, originality, and compassion. It was different from the mainstream Russian literature's scrupulous analytical depiction of "heroes." Chekhov used a delicate fabric of hints, subtle nuances in dialogs, and precise details. He described his original style as an "objective manner of writing." He avoided stereotyping and instructive political messages in favor of cool comic irony. Praised by writers Lev Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, he was awarded the Pushkin Prize from the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1888.
In 1890, Chekhov made a lengthy journey to Siberia and to the remote prison-island of Sakhalin. There, he surveyed thousands of convicts and conducted research for a dissertation about the life of prisoners. His research grew bigger than a dissertation, and in 1894, he published a detailed social-analytical essay on the Russian penitentiary system in Siberia and the Far East, titled "Island of Sakhalin." Chekhov's valuable research was later used and quoted by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his "Gulag Archipelago." In 1897-1899, Chekhov returned to his medical practice in order to stop the epidemic of cholera.
Chekhov developed special relationship with Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Theater. He emerged as a mature playwright who influenced the modern theater. In the plays "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," "Seagull," and "Cherry Orchard," he mastered the use of understatement, anticlimax, and implied emotion. The leading actress of the Moscow Art Theater, Olga Knipper-Chekhova, became his wife. In 1898, Chekhov moved to his Mediterranean-style home at the Black Sea resort of Yalta in the Crimea. There he was visited by writers Lev Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Ivan Bunin, and artists Konstantin Korovin and Isaac Levitan.- Gustav Esmann was born on 17 August 1860 in Denmark. He was a writer, known for Alexander den Store (1917), Kära släkten (1933) and Højt spil (1913). He died on 4 September 1904 in Denmark.
- Niels R. Finsen was born on 15 December 1860 in Tórshavn, Færøerne, Denmark. He died on 24 September 1904 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Dan Leno was born on 20 December 1860 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Limehouse Golem (2016), Contrasts (1967) and Bluebeard (1902). He was married to Sarah Lydia Reynolds (actress). He died on 31 October 1904 in London, England, UK.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Born in New York City in 1861, pianist/composer Edward MacDowell formally studied music at an early age. He went to Paris, France, at age 15 and attended the world-famous Conservatoire. Two years later he left France and traveled to Germany, where he studied at the Frankfurt Conservatory. He found his niche there, and three years later he was appointed head piano instructor at the Darmstadt Conservatory, where he began his composing career. He worked with famed composer Franz Liszt, who was impressed with his work and encouraged him to continue composing. His compositions met with success in Europe, and he returned to the US in 1884, where he married Harriet Nevins, who had been one of his pupils in Germany. They returned to Germany shortly thereafter, living in Wiesbaden until 1888, when they went back to the US and settled in Boston, Massachusetts. He began to teach music privately, and performed works of his own and other musicians' all over the city.
In 1896 he was offered the job of head of the new Music Department at Columbia University in New York, and he accepted. There he began an orchestra and a chorus, but when he attempted to make the musical arts part of the academic curriculum, he ran into strong opposition from the more conservative academics, who argued that serious music students did not study at American universities but traveled to Europe for study, as he did. He was not able to overcome those faculty objections, and, exasperated, he resigned from his position and took to his farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Although he continued to compose music, he rarely made public appearances after that incident. He died in New York City on January 23, 1908.- Art Department
Sidney Paget was born on 4 October 1860 in London, England, United Kingdom. Sidney is known for The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976). Sidney died on 28 January 1908 in Margate, Kent, England, UK.- Joseph Petrosino was born on 30 August 1860 in Salerno, Campania, Italy. He died on 12 March 1909 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascualwas a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music idioms. In 1883 he married Rosina Jordana. He died from his kidney disease on 18 May 1909.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Gustaf Fröding was born on 22 August 1860 in Alster, Värmland, Sweden. He was a writer, known for Saltstänk och krutgubbar (1946), Tone Bengtssons litteraturhistoria (1966) and About Endlessness (2019). He died on 8 February 1911 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Gustav Mahler is largely considered one of the most talented symphonic composers of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. His musical output comprised mainly of symphonic and song cycles requiring mammoth orchestras and often choruses. Sadly, Mahler never experienced popularity as a composer during his lifetime, not nearly as much as Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, or even Tchaikovsky, but his talents as interpretive artist on the conductor's podium earned him many accolades and prestigious assignments as music director to famous orchestras. Mahler was born in Kaliste, Bohemia on July 7, 1860, to a distillery manager father and a homemaker mother. Gustav was the second of twelve children, of which five died in infancy and three others did not live to mature adulthood. The constant conflicts between Gustav's domineering and abusive father and his weak mother helped to shape his compositional style, always reflecting on the struggle between good and evil, happy and sad, strong and weak, etc. Mahler showed musical talent at an early age, and by the age of eight years, he was already composing music influenced by military marches played at the nearby barracks. His parents eagerly encouraged his music studies, sending him to private tutors and ultimately to the Vienna Conservatory (1875-1878). Mahler's studies at the Conservatory got off to a slow start, but the final year at school was marked with him winning several composing awards. After graduation, for want of paying composing work, Mahler instead started conducting, typically directing light operas at second-rate orchestras. His insistence on complete artistic control of the entire production, from the stage costumes to the dramatic routines to how each and every note in the opera was played, earned him few friends among the orchestral players and performers but many positive reviews from critics. It was during these ten years after graduation from the Conservatory in which Mahler really began serious orchestral composing. Works written during this time included Das Klagend Lied (1880), Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) (1884), and his First Symphony (1888). It must be noted that Mahler conducted the premieres of each of his orchestral works. However, the premiere of his First, in Budapest in November 1889, was deemed a critical failure, since the audience was unaccustomed to the sound of this complex, modern work. Yet the First is perhaps his most approachable symphony, containing many Austrian Lieder themes and simple melodies. And, still, with a performance time of 55 to 60 minutes, it is his shortest symphony! Failures of Mahler the composer did not daunt Mahler the conductor, as his successes with the operas of Mozart, Wagner, and even some brand new works from Tchaikovsky earned him a reputation as a brilliant interpretive artist. Still, Mahler persevered, composing the Second Symphony (1892), a mammoth work of five movements requiring a full orchestra, female choral soloists, two choirs, an offstage brass band, and a pipe organ. His Third Symphony (1896) took this one step further, a six movement symphonic journey typically taking one hour and forty minutes to perform. During this time, Mahler was busy conducting orchestras and opera companies in Kassel (1883), Prague (1885), Leipzig (1886), Budapest (1888), Hamburg (1891), and Vienna (1894), but it was the musical director position at the Vienna Court Opera that he was aiming for. First, he had to overcome some family problems (both his parents died within months of each other, a younger brother fled to the United States, and another younger brother committed suicide), but, more importantly, Mahler's Jewish faith stood in the way of his career goal (Vienna was largely anti-Semitic during this time). To accommodate, he accepted a Roman Catholic baptism, and was promptly appointed musical director of the Vienna Hofoper Court Opera. Mahler's tenure at the Hofoper was tumultuous yet productive; he composed his Fourth Symphony (1901), thereby completing what many music historians agree wraps up his "Early Symphonies." His Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Symphonies (1903, 1904, 1905 respectively), all purely orchestral, make up his intermediate works. Although these works are increasingly modern and complex, they still contain some wonderful lyrical passages, especially the divinely beautiful Adagio from his 5th. Also, during this time he married Alma Schindler (a composer of fair talent herself), and they had two daughters, Maria (born 1902), and Anna (born 1904). Still, as director of The Hofoper, Mahler brought new high standards of performance unmatched anywhere else in the world. 1907 brought three tragic events to Mahler's life (ironically foreshadowed by the three "hammer blows" present in the Finale of his 6th Symphony): First, he was forced to resign from the Hofoper in somewhat acrimonious circumstances (chiefly disagreements as to what artistic direction he wanted to take the Hofoper), second, the diagnosis of the valve defect in his heart, and third, the death of his elder daughter (of Scarlet Fever). But by this point in his career Mahler had reached worldwide popularity as an orchestral and operatic conductor, and new work was not difficult to find. But it was composing that fueled his passions; The Eighth Symphony (1908) began the final series of Mahler's works. The Eighth is another work of Biblical proportions; a standard performance requires a full orchestra with enlarged brass and woodwind sections, eight soloists (three sopranos, two altos, a tenor, baritone, and bass), two full mixed choirs, a children's choir, several "unconventional" orchestral instruments (guitars, a harmonium, a piano, and a celesta), and, again, a pipe organ. Mahler disliked the alternate title bestowed upon this symphony, A Symphony of a Thousand, but indeed, during the premiere (in Munich in 1910), over one thousand performers were present. Amazingly, this lengthy and difficult work (only two movements but requiring 80-90 minutes to perform), was a huge success at its premiere; in attendance were many famous musicians, businesspeople, and royal families. Concluding Mahler's final works were Das Lied von der Erde (1908), the Ninth Symphony (1909), and an unfinished Tenth Symphony (1911), all of which he did not live to see or hear performed. The completed portions of the Tenth contain references to how Mahler lamented his crumbling marriage (by this time Alma was having an affair) yet it is considered perhaps the most pure form of Mahler's music (it contains many elements of modern 20th Century music). It was during concluding a winter season of conducting the New York Philharmonic Society in the spring of 1911 in which the heart condition diagnosed four years earlier caught up with Mahler; he traveled back to Austria to spend his final days near his family. He died late in the evening of May 18. Mahler's legacy took a long time to mature. His music, although complex and full of vivid imagery, failed to become popular in musical circles until fifty years after his death; it was primarily the efforts of Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, and, more recently, Simon Rattle , who have introduced the works of Mahler to many. Mahler himself declared, "My time will come."- Ellen Axson Wilson was born on 15 May 1860 in Savannah, Georgia, USA. She was married to Woodrow Wilson. She died on 6 August 1914 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
- William H. West was born on 26 July 1860 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fatal Opal (1914), On the Warpath (1911) and Mysteries of the Grand Hotel (1915). He was married to Roumelia G. Morris. He died on 20 August 1915 in Glendale, California, USA.
- Karl Staaff was born on 21 January 1860 in Klara, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a writer, known for Elisabet (1921) and Johansson och Vestman (1946). He died on 4 October 1915 in Engelbreckt, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.
- Actor
- Writer
Lewis Waller was born on 3 November 1860 in Bilbao, Spain. He was an actor and writer, known for King John (1899), Brigadier Gerard (1915) and Fires of Fate (1923). He was married to Florence West. He died on 1 November 1915 in Nottingham, England, UK.- Molly Elliot Seawell was born on 29 October 1860 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Molly Elliot was a writer, known for The Fortunes of Fifi (1917), The Sixteenth Wife (1917) and The Heart of Cerise (1915). Molly Elliot died on 15 November 1916 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
- Princess Margaret Louise of Prussia Duchess of Connaught was born on 25 July 1860 in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia [now Brandenburg, Germany]. She was married to Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught. She died on 14 March 1917 in Westminster, London, England, UK.
- Edoardo Scarfoglio was born on 26 September 1860 in Paganica, Abruzzo, Italy. He was a writer, known for Times Gone By (1952). He was married to Matilde Serao. He died on 6 October 1917 in Naples, Campania, Italy.
- Writer
- Director
Michel Zévaco was born on 1 February 1860 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. He was a writer and director, known for Déchéance (1918), Clash of Steel (1962) and Le capitan (1946). He died on 8 August 1918 in Eaubonne, Val-d'Oise, France.- Princess Charlotte of Prussia was born on 24 July 1860 in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia [now Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany]. She was married to Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen. She died on 1 October 1919 in Baden-Baden, Weimar Republic [now Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany].
- Mrs. E.M. Kimball was born on 15 March 1860 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Deep Purple (1915), The Yellow Passport (1916) and The Feast of Life (1916). She was married to Edward Kimball. She died on 11 December 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Pauline Hall was born on 26 February 1860 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for The Governor's Boss (1915). She was married to George Brinton McLellan and Edward R. White. She died on 29 December 1919 in Yonkers, New York, USA.
- Luigi Bertelli was an Italian writer, journalist and poet, author of the adventures of a popular character of the early twentieth century: Gian Burrasca. He is best known under the pseudonym of Vamba, the name of Cedric the Saxon's fool in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. He founded the Sunday newspaper in 1906. In the children's magazine appeared the signatures of the most famous writers of the time (Giovanni Pascoli, Gabriele d'Annunzio, Grazia Deledda, Edmondo De Amicis) and of the most refined illustrators (Umberto Brunelleschi and Filiberto Scarpelli). On those pages he published in 55 episodes, between 7 February 1907 and 17 May 1908, Gian Burrasca's newspaper.
- Playwright and journalist Charles Haddon Chambers was born in Sydney, Australia, on April 22, 1860, to Irish immigrants. After graduating from school he took a government job with the New South Wales Civil Service, but left after a few years to be a stockrider in the outback.
At age 22 he left Australia for London, England, to try his hand at journalism. He also began writing plays, and it wasn't long before a comedy he wrote, "Captain Swift", was produced by Sir Beerbohm Tree at the Haymarket Theatre in 1888, and it was a hit. In 1890 another of his plays, "The Idler", was produced on Broadway in New York. Several of his plays were turned into films.
During World War I he worked for the British government turning out propaganda. He died of a stroke in London in 1921. - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Karl Mantzius was born on 20 February 1860 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor and director, known for Addys Ægteskab (1916), Penge (1915) and Pavilionens hemmelighed (1916). He was married to Wanda Fride Augusta Mathiesen, Sara Beckett and Waleen, Soffy. He died on 17 May 1921 in Frederiksberg, Denmark.- Boies Penrose was born on 1 November 1860 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He died on 31 December 1921 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Henri Pouctal was born on 21 October 1860 in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, Seine-et-Marne, France. He was a director and actor, known for La dame aux camélias (1912), L'instinct (1916) and Volonté (1917). He died on 2 February 1922 in Paris, France.- M.R. Morand was born on 17 December 1860 in Bury, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Daddy (1917), Gloria (1916) and The Land of Mystery (1920). He was married to Helena Woodley Nash. He died on 5 March 1922 in Westminster, London, England, UK.
- Lillian Russell was born on 4 December 1860 in Clinton, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Wildfire (1915), La Tosca (1911) and Potted Pantomimes (1914). She was married to Alexander Pollock Moore, Giovanni Perugini, Edward Solomon and Harry Braham. She died on 6 June 1922 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Marie de Clermont was born on 30 November 1860 in Jülich, Kingdom of Prussia [now Germany]. She was an actress, known for Mottige Janus (1922). She died on 26 August 1922 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.
- Rowland Buckstone was born on 29 March 1860 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for An Enemy to the King (1916). He was married to Cecily J. Wilson. He died on 13 September 1922 in London, England, UK.
- Frank McKee was born on 6 August 1860 in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for Happy Days (1929) and The Last Dance (1912). He was married to Isabelle Coe and Mrs. A.F. Cammeyer (widow of shoe manufacturer). He died on 13 November 1922 in New York, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Edwin Stevens was born on 16 August 1860 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Boy Girl (1917), Love Insurance (1919) and The Little Minister (1921). He was married to Louise Weller. He died on 3 January 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Leo Stormont was born on 13 August 1860 in Dundee, Scotland, UK. He was a director and actor, known for England Invaded (1909), Royal England, a Story of an Empire's Throne (1911) and Sonia (1921). He died on 28 January 1923 in St George Hanover Square, London, England, UK.- As Australia's first Minister for Repatriation, Edward Millen was a central figure in the establishment of Australia's repatriation policies and machinery. Born in Deal, Kent, on 7 November 1860, the son of John Bullock Millen, a pilot of the Cinque Ports, and Charlotte, née Davis, he began his working life as an adjuster of marine insurance. Migrating to New South Wales around 1880, Millen first worked as a journalist in Bourke and Walgett. He took up grazing leases near Brewarrina, before commencing work on the Central Australian and Bourke Telegraph and the Western Herald and Darling River Advocate. He also ran a land agent business.On 19 February 1883, he married Constance Evelyn Flanagan at Bourke. Having developed an interest in politics, in 1891 he stood unsuccessfully as a Free Trader for the Legislative Assembly seat of Bourke. In July 1894, he recontested the seat and won. In the Assembly, Millen made a name for himself as a land reformer. In debate on the Crown Lands Bill, he implored his fellow members 'to deal with this measure apart from class interests, and free from party prejudices'.
In 1893, Millen was a foundation member of the general council of the New South Wales Australasian Federation League. In November 1896, he was active at the People's Federal Convention in Bathurst. In 1897, he stood as a candidate for New South Wales for the Australasian Federal Convention, but was unsuccessful. During debate on the Federation Bill in the Legislative Assembly in 1897, he expressed some serious concerns about the way in which Federation was moving. He stated that equal representation of the states in the proposed Senate would be 'objectionable and dangerous'. He averred that the New South Wales delegates to the 1897 Federal Convention in Adelaide had been elected because of their capacity for 'political business' and their 'consistent advocacy' of Federation. He considered that this did not mean that New South Wales had to endorse decisions that the delegates to the Convention had supported. In April 1898, he became a founding member of the Anti-Convention Bill League. He continued to oppose Federation, campaigning energetically for the 'no' vote prior to the referendum on Federation in June 1898. He made it clear that the supporters of the 'no' vote were 'not against Federation', but simply against the terms of the Bill itself.
Despite being welcomed to Bourke by (according to the Western Herald and Darling River Advocate) 'a Great and Enthusiastic Concourse of People', Millen, who stood as a Liberal Federal candidate, was defeated at the New South Wales election of July 1898, albeit by a handful of votes. On 8 April 1899, he became, with Albert Gould, one of twelve new members of the Legislative Council whose appointment was Premier George Reid's final master stroke in bringing New South Wales into the Federation camp prior to the 1899 referendum. Two years later, he stood for the Senate. Elected in March 1901, he resigned from the Legislative Council the following May, retaining his Senate seat until his death.
Millen was one of the first leaders of the Senate, serving in 1901 as deputy to Josiah Symon's unofficial leadership, and as Leader of the Government in the Senate or Leader of the Opposition in the Senate continuously from 1907 to 1923. 'As leader of the Senate,' said W. M. Hughes at the time of Millen's death, 'he had no equal'. Labor's Albert Gardiner spoke admiringly of Millen's leadership and the respect in which he was held, commenting on his aptitude in managing the business of the Senate. George Pearce would write that Millen had been 'one of the ablest and most destructive critics the Federal Parliament has ever had', and one who caused 'misgiving in the hearts of his opponents'.
Hansard points to Millen's long and vigorous involvement in debate and the breadth of his interests. A Free Trader, he argued that efficient industry should not require bounties or high tariffs: 'I say at once if these industries cannot stand after 30 years, like good honest tubs on their own bottoms, they are not entitled to much consideration at our hands'. He supported White Australia, including the immediate cessation of Kanaka immigration and the gradual deportation of those already in Queensland. 'It is', he said, 'not merely a question as to whether or not these coloured races may intermix with our own. There is an equally serious matter, and it is that the introduction of inferior labour would, in my opinion, tend to degrade labour throughout the Commonwealth'. However, it was the events of World War I that led to his greatest challenges and success.
At the outbreak of war, as Minister for Defence in Joseph Cook's Liberal Government, he declared that Australia was no 'fair-weather partner'. On behalf of the Government, in April 1914, he had rebuffed Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, for suggesting that Australia should not retain its own fleet in Australian waters. He tabled a memorandum in the Senate expressing 'the sharpest criticism of the British'. Privately, he wrote to the Governor-General, Lord Denman, in June, describing Churchill's suggestion as 'disastrous', and emphasising that 'even if the retention of these vessels in the Pacific reduced their fighting value to nil, I would still urge at the present time that they should remain here'. He added: 'Australians will not consent to being taxed for the purpose of building docks and other shore establishments for vessels employed on the other side of the world . . . '. Despite this, the Cook Government placed the navy under British Admiralty control in August 1914. Millen was responsible for the initial recruiting of the AIF and the formulation of defence proposals, but his period as Minister for Defence was short-lived. After the Labor Party won the 1914 election, he became a member of the federal parliamentary war committee, a subcommittee of which investigated repatriation.
In September 1917, Millen became Australia's first Minister for Repatriation. This was the most significant appointment of Millen's career. His work would have a far-reaching impact on Australian society. According to Clem Lloyd and Jacqui Rees in their history of Australian repatriation, Millen's contribution was 'the most significant' amongst that of a number of distinguished Australians involved in the establishment of this largely new area of public policy. Millen 'influenced profoundly the evolution of repatriation at three decisive points: the creation of an Australian war pension scheme following the outbreak of war in August 1914; the definition of concepts underlying the comprehensive repatriation scheme that was embodied in the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Act of July 1917; and the formation in April 1918 of Australia's first repatriation administration'.
From the outset, Millen understood the 'magnitude and complexity' of the proposals he had introduced into the Senate on 18 July 1917. He described repatriation as 'an organized effort on the part of the community to look after those who have suffered either from wounds or illness as the result of the war', and 'to reinstate in civil life all those who are capable of such reinstatement'. He pointed to the national loss 'if 250,000 men remain unnecessarily idle for one week'.
Millen was an industrious and competent minister, but the establishment of the repatriation department alone was a mammoth task. The new department was staffed with experienced policy administrators and largely inexperienced service personnel. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the controversy in Parliament and the press over the War Service Homes Commission.On 12 December 1918, Millen introduced legislation, which became the War Service Homes Act 1918-19. The Act allowed for the administration of the Commission to be in the hands of a sole commissioner who had an unusually large measure of autonomy. By September 1920, parliamentary concern over the administration of the scheme by the Commissioner, J. T. Walker, and indeed over Walker's initial appointment by Millen, led to a series of inquiries by the joint committee of public accounts.The affair was complex and raised important issues concerning the Commissioner's accountability to the Minister and thereby to the Parliament. Professor Wettenhall has written that the parliamentary debates of December 1921 'furnish one of the fullest examinations of the difficult question of ministerial responsibility for the actions of an autonomous public corporation in the history of the Commonwealth Parliament'.
Millen's work as minister appears to have been further complicated by the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia lobbying the Prime Minister, W.M. Hughes, on such subjects as increases in war service pensions. In March 1920, Millen had introduced new repatriation legislation, the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Bill. The Bill provided for improved pensions and a paid repatriation commission. It was the protracted debate on this Bill that led Senator Thomas to successfully move that the Senate pass a resolution that the two Houses should consider amending their standing orders in order to enable a minister in one House to appear on the floor of the other. This would have allowed Millen to answer criticisms being made in the House of Representatives by Earle Page and others. In the event, no further action was taken by either House.
An apparent debacle in the administration of the War Service Homes Commission, for which Millen necessarily was responsible, should not devalue Millen's considerable overall success as Minister for Repatriation as well as his achievements in other significant areas of government activity. As Leader of the Government in the Senate and with Prime Minister Hughes abroad, Millen and the Acting Prime Minister, W. A. Watt, in 1919, brought about a successful end to the seamen's strike of that year. In 1920, Millen was Australia's delegate to the first meeting of the General Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva, securing mandated Pacific protectorates for Australia in the face of Japanese opposition.
In December 1922, Millen successfully contested the federal election, remaining in the Parliament to support Hughes, but retiring from the Ministry in February 1923. In March, he was granted leave of absence from the Senate because of deteriorating health, which, it was believed, had been caused, or at least exacerbated, by the burden of his work during the post-war period. He died on 14 September 1923 at Caulfield in Melbourne. His wife and two daughters, Jessie and Ruby, survived him. The obsequies for Millen were impressive: services in the Queen's Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne, and at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Sydney, and a State funeral before burial in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. Hughes referred to Millen's life as being 'a pattern to public men', and to the fact that he had given his life to the 'great burden of repatriating our soldiers'. In the Senate, Pearce referred to Millen's work for repatriation as an 'enduring monument', while Hughes, unveiling a monument of a different kind, said: 'No man did more to make this country what it is than Senator Millen'. - Viktor Rákosi was born on 20 September 1860 in Ukk, Hungary. He was a writer, known for Elnémult harangok (1916), Elnémult harangok (1940) and Elnémult harangok (1922). He died on 15 September 1923 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Kate Jepson was born on 7 July 1860 in Clinton, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for The Turmoil (1916), Just Out of College (1915) and The Education of Mr. Pipp (1914). She died on 27 September 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Izsó Gyöngyi was born on 28 March 1860 in Miskolc, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor, known for Az ezüst kecske (1916). He died on 5 December 1923 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Edmund Gasinski was born on 10 August 1860 in Kielce, Poland, Russian Empire [now Kielce, Swietokrzyskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Tamten (1921), Cud nad Wisla (1921) and Chcemy meza (1916). He died on 20 April 1924 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Eugénie Nau was born on 22 July 1860 in Saint-Pierre-de-Tournon, France. She was an actress, known for Mysteries of Paris (1912), Les Aventures de Robinson Crusoé (1922) and Les Misérables, Part 2: Fantine (1913). She died on 13 June 1924 in Paris, France.
- Actor
- Writer
John M. East born John Marlborough East in London in 1860. John began on comedy and drama theatre from the 1880's. Popular gentleman character and support actor, appeared in more than 30 British silent drama and adventure movies, making his film debut as Tom Cribb in Harold M. Shaw's 'The House of Temperley' starring Ben Webster for the London Film Co in 1913. Perhaps his best known roles was as Little John in 'In the Days of Robin Hood' starring H. Agar Lyons in the title role made at the Natural Colour Kinematograph studios in 1913 and as Old Kipps in 'Kipps' starring George K. Arthur at the Stoll Film Co in 1921. He made his final movie as the Shepherd in 'Owd Bob' directed by Henry Edwards for Atlantic Union Film Co in 1924 John died that same year in London age 64. In the mid 1910's he became so well-known in the movies he received over 3000 votes in Picturegoer magazine's 1916 contest to establish the 'Greatest British Film Player. John was also a screenwriter and one of the co-founders of the Neptune Film Company in Borehamwood which is today the site of Elstree studios.- Florence Kling Harding was born on 15 August 1860 in Marion, Ohio, USA. She was married to Warren G. Harding and Henry Atherton DeWolfe. She died on 21 November 1924 in Marion, Ohio, USA.
- Albert Kövessy was born on 6 October 1860 in Kótaj, Hungary. He was an actor, known for Doktor úr (1916). He was married to Iványi, Mária. He died on 21 December 1924 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Edward Jobson was born on 29 February 1860 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Saphead (1920), Burning Daylight (1920) and Someone in the House (1920). He died on 7 February 1925 in San Jose, California, USA.