Great moments in history and popular culture happen every day, and ON THIS DAY will share a few of them with you. We’ll also point you to related resources in our collection, helping you to discover classic films, musical favorites, and historical tidbits. The primary focus will be on our e-material – e-books, e-audio, and downloadable and streamable music and film – but physical books and DVDs will also be part of the fun.

	On this day in 1885, Alban Berg was born. Berg's major teacher was Arnold Schoenberg, with whom he studied music theory and composition; the two became good friends. Much of Berg's music is built on his own interpretations of Schoenberg's twelve-tone theory, to which he brought more Romantic lyricism than many of his contemporaries. Two of Berg's most popular works, the Violin Concerto and the Chamber Concerto, are available for streaming or download at Freegal.
	On this day in 1909, Carmen Miranda was born. Miranda was a popular actress and singer in Brazil in the 1930s, and in the 1940s, she came to Hollywood, where she quickly became equally popular with North American audiences. By 1945, she was the highest paid actor in movies. Her success in the United States was controversial in Central and South America, where she was seen as playing offensive stereotypes. As cliched as her roles may seem to contemporary eyes, though, her performances did much to popularize Brazilian music and culture. Two collections of Carmen's Hits are available for streaming at Hoopla.
	And on this day in 1944, Alice Walker was born. Walker's poetry, essays, stories, and novels focus on the struggles of African-American women against racism and sexism. She has long been an advocate for the work of other black women writers, and her 1975 essay in Ms. Magazine helped to revive interest in the work of Zora Neale Hurston. Walker's best-known novel, The Color Purple, and two sequels which follow its characters and their descendants, are available as an e-book package at Over Drive.