6 August

Born in 1856, Apollinary Vasnetsov, Russian painter

Above: The Lake, 1902

Also, born in 1924, American folk singer Ella Jenkins.

My Uncle Flood used to go into the dining room in the evening and take out his harmonica, and I used to sit there on the floor, just listening to him. I never really studied any music, not even the harmonica, but that was my first instrument because I picked it up from him. My mother put in some extra work days and bought me a really nice harmonica. Then I started copying the sounds that I heard. The next thing I knew, I was playing the harmonica, and then as an adult, that was one of my favorite instruments.

Previously on August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration.