Beautiful, Interesting, Fun & Historical Things I like

#italia #roma #rome

#Buongiorno ragazzi, impossibile arrivare a Piazza Venezia e rimanere indifferenti a questo monumento. Il nome deriva da Vittorio Emanuele II, il primo re d'Italia. Alla sua morte, nel 1878, fu deciso di innalzare un monumento che celebrasse il Padre della Patria e con lui l'intera stagione risorgimentale. Il #Vittoriano doveva essere uno spazio aperto ai cittadini. Il complesso monumentale venne inaugurato da Vittorio Emanuele III il 4 giugno 1911. Fu il momento culminante dell'Esposizione Internazionale che celebrava i cinquanta anni dell'Italia unita. Nel complesso monumentale, sotto la statua della Dea Roma, è stata tumulata, il 4 novembre del 1921, la salma del Milite Ignoto in memoria dei tanti militari caduti in guerra e di cui non si conosce il nome o il luogo di sepoltura. L'altare della Patria è solo una porzione del complesso, nata da un'idea del 1906. Il concorso venne vinto dallo scultore bresciano Angelo Zanelli.

The name was taken after Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy. At his death, in 1878, it was decided to erect a monument to celebrate the Father of the Homeland and with him the whole Risorgimento. The Vittoriano was designed to be a space open to all the citizens. The monumental complex was inaugurated by Victor Emmanuel III on the 4th of June 1911, at the climax of the Internatinal Exposition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Unification of Italy. The monumental complex is where, underneath the statue of the Goddess Roma, the body of the Unknown Soldier lies at rest, in memory of the many soldiers who died in war and whose names and place of burial is unknown.

"Now I've shot so many Nazis, Daddy will have to buy me a sable coat." (From his Wikipedia article).

Neil Munro "Bunny" Roger

June 9, 1911-April 27, 1997.

Bunny Roger killed a bunch of Nazis and then invented Capri pants.

He was expelled from Oxford for his indiscrete gayness (discrete gayness being perfectly fine at Oxford and part of the curriculum until...today probably, at least like 1992?). Then, having been sent down to London, he started his own fashion business, and his first client was Vivien Leigh.

Bunny served in WWII, killing fascists in North Africa and Italy, and often wearing a mauve scarf in the field. Roger claimed that he had gone into a battle brandishing a rolled-up copy of VOGUE and commanding: "When in doubt, powder heavily!"

Roger was known in high society for his themed soirées; Diamond, Amethyst, and Flame Balls were held to celebrate his 60th, 70th, and 80th birthdays. He wore a curious plum colored catsuit with a feathered headdress at his 70th birthday ball in 1981. At his 80th, he made his entrance in a catsuit of scarlet sequins with a cape of orange organza, greeting his guests from behind a wall of fire. His parties were covered by the newspapers, including a New Year's Eve Fetish Ball where the proper upper class mixed with young guests in rubber S/M gear.

From an obituary: "Beneath his mauve mannerisms, Bunny was stalwart, frank, dependable and undeceived; to onlookers a passing peacock, to intimates, a life enhancer and exemplary friend."

From another obituary:

And this in-memoriam piece.

Centro Storico Palermo, Sicilia

The Historical District in Palermo, Sicily