The opera concerns some aspects of the real-life assassination of Gustav III, King of Sweden. Its libretto was used as the original basis for Giuseppe Verdi's later Un ballo in maschera, though Italian censorship forced numerous changes to that version.
Barbara Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, the wife of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush. Born in New York City and raised in Rye, her children include George W. Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another. Bush was generally popular as First Lady, recognized for her apolitical grandmotherly image. Founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, and diagnosed with Graves' disease in 1989, she frequently carried out charity work, including support for people with AIDS. She spoke at commencement in 1990 at Wellesley College; her selection was controversial, but the speech was widely regarded as a success. She remained active in political campaigning after leaving the White House, as her sons George and Jeb each ran for both governor and president. (Full article...)
... that Paul Tiulana lost his leg in World War II, and afterwards helped to bring back an Iñupiat dance that had not been fully performed in more than fifty years?
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