Born on this day – Sylvester Weaver:

Sylvester Weaver

Blues Guitarist

July 25, 1897 – April 4, 1960

Credits:

Compilation albums:

Complete Recorded Works Vol. 1 (1923–1927) (1992); Complete Recorded Works Vol. 2 (1927) (1992).

Born on this day – William C. DeMille:

William C. DeMille

Writer

Director

July 25, 1878 – March 5, 1955

Credits:

Book:

Hollywood Saga (1939).

Movies and television:

A Trip to Paramountown (1922); After Five (1915); After the Show (1921); Almost Human (1927); Anton the Terrible (1916); Bought and Paid For (1922); Braveheart (1925); Cameo Kirby (1914); Captain Fury (1939); Carmen (1915); Clarence (1922); Classmates (1914 / 1924); Common Ground (1916); Craig's Wife (1928); Don't Call It Love (1923); Famous Scenes from Pagliacci (1934); For Alimony Only (1926); For Better, for Worse (1919); Gigolo (1926); Grumpy (1923); Hashimura Togo (1917); His Double Life (1933); Hollywood (1923); Icebound (1924); Jack Straw (1920); Joan the Woman (1916); Locked Doors (1925); Lost: A Wife (1925); Maria Rosa (1916); Men and Women (1925); Midsummer Madness (1920); Mirandy Smiles (1918); Miss Lulu Bett (1921); New Brooms (1925); Nice People (1922); One More American (1918); Only 38 (1923); Passion Flower (1930); Peg o' My Heart (1919); Quest of His Youth (1920); Rose of the Rancho (1914); Sinners in the Sun (1932); Social Register (1934); Strongheart (1914); Temptation (1915); Tenth Avenue (1928); The Bedroom Window (1924); The Blacklist (1916); The Clown (1916); The DeMille Dynasty (1998); The Doctor's Secret (1929); The Emperor Jones (1933); The Explorer (1915); The Fast Set (1924); The Forbidden Woman (1927); The Ghost House (1917); The Goose Girl (1915); The Governor's Lady (1915); The Heir to the Hoorah (1916); The Honor of His House (1918); The Idle Rich (1929); The Little Adventuress (1927); The Lost Romance (1921); The Man Higher Up (1929); The Marriage Maker (1923); The Master Mind (1914); The Mystery Girl (1918); The Night Club (1925); The Only Son (1914); The Prince Chap (1920); The Puppet Crown (1915); The Ragamuffin (1916); The Runaway (1926); The Secret Call (1931); The Secret Game (1917); The Secret Orchard (1915); The Sowers (1916); The Splendid Crime (1925); The Telephone Girl (1927); The Tree of Knowledge (1920); The Warrens of Virginia (1915 / 1924); The Widow's Might (1918); The Wild Goose Chase (1915); The Wise Wife (1927); The Woman (1915); The Woman God Forgot (1917); The World and the Woman (1916); The World's Applause (1923); This Mad World (1930); Two Kinds of Women (1932); We Can't Have Everything (1918); What Every Woman Knows (1921); Why Change Your Wife? (1920); Young Romance (1915).

Recommended reading - The Way Some People Die (1951):

The Way Some People Die

By Ross Macdonald.

Paperback.

Published 1951.

ISBN-10: 0307278980

ISBN-13: 978-0307278982

Back cover description:

“The greatest American mystery novelist. Macdonald imbued the mystery with the qualities of a full-bodied novel: impeccable plotting, a sense of place, a careful delineation of human psychology, and a perfect fusion of story and character.” – Richard North Patterson.

In a rundown house in Santa Monica, Mrs. Samuel Lawrence presses fifty crumpled bills into Lew Archer's hand and asks him to find her wandering daughter, Galatea. Described as ‘crazy for men’ and without discrimination, she was last seen driving off with small-time gangster Joe Tarantine, a hophead hood with a rep for violence. Archer traces the hidden trail from San Francisco slum alleys to the luxury of Palm Springs, traveling through an urban wilderness of drugs and viciousness. As the bodies begin to pile up, he finds that even angel faces can mask the blackest of hearts. Filled with dope, delinquents and murder, this is classic Macdonald and one of his very best in the Lew Archer series.

“Ross Macdonald gives to the detective story that accent of class that Raymond Chandler did.” – Chicago Tribune.

Neil deGrass Tyson, on learning:

I know of no time in human history where ignorance was better than knowledge.

- Neil deGrass Tyson.

On this day in music history - Strauss: Four Last Songs, by Renée Fleming (2008):

Strauss: Four Last Songs

Album by Renée Fleming,

was released on July 24, 2008.

Track list:

Frühling; September; Beim Schlafengehen; Im Abendrot; Ach! Wo war ich? Tot? ...; Ein Schönes war; Es gibt ein Reich; Verführung, op. 33 no. 1; Freundliche Vision, op. 48 no. 1; Winterweihe, op. 48 no. 4; Zueignung, op. 10 no. 1; Zweite Brautnacht!; Eugene Onegin--Letter Scene; Rusalka--Song to the Moon; Otello--Willow Song...Ave Maria; Thaïs--Ah! Je suis seule...Dis-moi que je suis belle; Capriccio--Moonlight Music & Final Scene.

On this day in movie history - Saving Private Ryan (1998):

Saving Private Ryan

directed by Steven Spielberg,

written by Robert Rodat,

was released in the United States on July 24, 1998.
Music by John Williams.

Cast:

Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Harrison Young, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Farina, Ted Danson, Harve Presnell, Bryan Cranston, David Wohl, Nathan Fillion, Paul Giamatti, Ryan Hurst, Max Martini, Leland Orser, Joerg Stadler, Dylan Bruno, Demetri Goritsas, Rolf Saxon, Corey Johnson, John Sharian, Glenn Wrage, Stéphane Cornicard, Dale Dye, Amanda Boxer, Kathleen Byron, Andrew Scott, Erich Redman.

On this day in movie history - The Grey Fox (1982):

The Grey Fox

directed by Phillip Borsos,

written by John Hunter,

was released at the Taormina Film Festival, in Italy, on July 24, 1982.
Based on the true story of Bill Miner (1847–1913).
Music by Michael Conway Baker.

Cast:

Richard Farnsworth, Jackie Burroughs, Ken Pogue, Wayne Robson, Timothy Webber, Gary Reineke, David Petersen, Don MacKay, Samantha Langevin, Tom Heaton, Jim McLarty, George Dawson, Ray Michal, Stephen E. Miller, David L. Crowley, David McCulley, Garry Chalk, Jack Leaf, Isaac Hislop, Sean Sullivan, Bill Murdoch, Jack Ackroyd, Nicholas Rice, Frank C. Turner, Bill Meilen, David Raines, Paul Coeur, Mel Tuck, Peter John, Paul Whitney, David Ackridge, Murray Ord, Tom Glass, Antony Holland, Jon York, John Owen, Lisa Westman, Robert Milicevic.