February 20 is the birthday of French composer and player of the musette NICOLAS CHÉDEVILLE (1705-1782).

Chédeville "began playing the oboe and musette (a bagpipe-like instrument commonly used in French baroque music) in the Paris Opera orchestra in the 1720s. After Jean Hotteterre's death in 1732, he took over his post in Les Grands Hautbois, the royal oboe band. He retired from the opera in July 1748, though returned occasionally to play the musette there. When he was nearly 70, he married the younger daughter of a valet who had once worked for the Duc d'Orléans, and was still describing himself as musette player to the king. In his last years he experienced financial difficulties. His ten houses were signed over to creditors in 1774, following which he separated from his wife. He resigned from Les Grands Hautbois in 1777, petitioned for bankruptcy in 1778 and died in Paris four years later. Lawyers were still trying to settle his affairs in 1790." (Wikipedia)

February 20 is the birthday of American photographer ANSEL ADAMS (1902-1984).

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied - it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.”

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand."

“Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.”

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.”

To see examples of Adams’ photography, CLICK HERE.

February 20 is the birthday of Kansas City-born film director ROBERT ALTMAN (1925-2006).

"I've never had a big hit movie. "MASH" was probably the biggest. I don't make those kind of films, and I never have. I wish each one of them would just do billions of dollars worth of ticket sales, but they never do and they never will."

Among Altman's classic films are "M*A*S*H," "Nashville," "The Long Goodbye," "Three Women" and ... KANSAS CITY.

February 20 is the birthday of Bahamian-American actor and film director SIDNEY POITIER (1927-2022).

"A good deed here, a good deed there, a good thought here, a good comment there, all added up to my career in one way or another."

Poitier "won an Academy Award for Best Actor, the first black actor to win that award, and was nominated a second time. In addition, he was nominated six times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award (BAFTA) for Best Foreign Actor, winning each once. From 1997 to 2007, he served as the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan." (Wikipedia)