June 27: On This Day in 1859 - Happy Birthday Song

June 27, 1859:  Perhaps the most often sung song, "Happy Birthday To You," was composed by Mildred J. Hill, a schoolteacher born in Louisville, KY, on this day.  Her younger sister, Patty Smith Hill, was the author of the lyrics, which were first published in 1893 as "Good Morning to All," a classroom greeting published in the book Song Stories for the Sunday School.  The lyrics were amended in 1924 to include a stanza beginning "Happy Birthday to You." 

Now it is sung somewhere in the world every minute of the day.  Although the authors are believed to have earned very little from the song, reportedly it later generated about $1 million a year for its copyright owner.  The song is expected to enter public domain upon expiration of the copyright in 2010.  Mildred Hill died in Chicago, IL, on June 5, 1916, without knowing that her melody would become the world's most popular song.

June 25: On This Day in 1903 - George Orwell

June 25, 1903: Engish satirist, George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair), was born in Mothiari, Bengal on this day. George Orwell was Blair's pseudonym.

Orwell achieved prominence in the 1940s, writing two excellent satires that attacked totalitarianism: Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Both books reflect his distrust of autocratic government; with Animal Farm showing the destructive nature of Stalinism and Nineteen Eighty-Four portraying a dystopian society that focuses on a repressive, totalitarian regime.

He was also well-known for his essays, literary reviews, poetry, and polemic journalism. In his essay, "Politics and the English Language," he criticizes the effects of bureaucratic euphemism and clichés, while providing these six rules for writers.

• Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

• Never use a long word where a short one will do.

• If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

• Never us the passive voice where you can use the active.

• Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

• Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

His focus on the power of language in shaping reality is apparent in the invention of Newspeak in the novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, the official language of the imaginary country Oceania. Newspeak is a variant of the English language where vocabulary is changed and limited by the government to make it challenging to express ideas.

George Orwell has influenced many with his incredible use of satire and wit. His ability to critically observe politics resulted in almost prophetic-like visions of the future. His criticism of capitalism, fascism, Stalinism, and imperialism was bold and inspiring; remaining true to his goal which was “What I most wanted to do is to make political writing into an art.” I say, mission accomplished.