Relating to or characteristic of the playwright Bertolt Brecht, who believed that theatre should be used to make political or social comment, and who therefore refused to allow the audience to suspend their disbelief by, for example, keeping the lights on in the auditorium.
Brechtian
Fact of the Day
American president Franklin D. Roosevelt claimed to be descended from William the Conqueror.
Quote of the Day
"I let down my friends, I let down my country. I let down our system of government,
"
~ Richard Nixon
On This Day
1284 The future Edward II was born at Caernarfon Castle, Wales. He was the only son from Edward I's first marriage to Eleanor of Castile to outlive his father.
1719 The much-loved Daniel Defoe story Robinson Crusoe was published.
1792 French highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person to be executed by the guillotine.
1915 Ninety thousand Australian, New Zealand, British and French forces began landing on the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula. They hoped to secure the northern bank of the Dardanelles, but were forced to withdraw after eight months of intense fighting.
1916 British authorities declared martial law in Dublin for a month, in response to the Easter Rising.
1984 David A. Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy (of the political Kennedy family), died of a drug overdose in Palm Beach, aged 28.
1990 The US shuttle Discovery released the Hubble Telescope into orbit. It remains one of the largest, most versatile and best known space telescopes.