THE WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL

by **Paul** Mon 30 Oct 2023, 6:38 am

This Day in History: October 30

Featured Event

1938

Britannica On This Day October 30 2023 Orson-Welles

Orson Welles's radio dramatization of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds was broadcast, causing great alarm—though reports of a nationwide panic were unfounded—as some listeners feared a genuine invasion from Mars.

science fiction
literature and performance

Science fiction, abbreviation SF or sci-fi, a form of fiction that deals principally with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society or individuals. The term science fiction was popularized, if not invented, in the 1920s by one of the genre’s principal advocates, the American publisher Hugo Gernsback. The Hugo Awards, given annually since 1953 by the World Science Fiction Society, are named after him. These achievement awards are given to the top SF writers, editors, illustrators, films, and fanzines.

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Orson Welles

American actor, director, and writer

Orson Welles, in full George Orson Welles, (born May 6, 1915, Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.—died October 10, 1985, Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture actor, director, producer, and writer. His innovative narrative techniques and use of photography, dramatic lighting, and music to further the dramatic line and to create mood made his Citizen Kane (1941)—which he wrote, directed, produced, and acted in—one of the most-influential films in the history of the art. (Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.) Welles was born to a mother, Beatrice Ives, who was a concert pianist and a crack rifle shot, and a father, Richard ...(100 of 3462 words)

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Featured Biography

Nastia Liukin
American gymnast

Britannica On This Day October 30 2023 Gold-medalist-floor-exercise-portion-judges-women-August-15-2008

Nastia Liukin, in full Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin, original name Anastasia Valeryevna Lyukina, (born October 30, 1989, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.), American gymnast who won five medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, more than any other gymnast at the Games.

Liukin was born into a family of extraordinary gymnasts. Her Kazakh-born father and coach, Valery Lyukin, won four medals for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Olympic Games and two more at the 1991 world championships, and in 1987 he became the first gymnast to complete a triple back somersault on the floor exercise. Her mother, Anna Kochneva, also competed for the Soviet Union and was the 1987 rhythmic gymnastics world champion in clubs. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991), Lyukin moved his family to the United States, where he cofounded the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas. (The family Anglicized their name to Liukin when they became U.S. citizens.) Liukin’s parents initially objected to her early interest in gymnastics, but she soon became known for her stylish grace and the long lines in her gymnastics moves, which she made look effortless.

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