The Gad About Town

I don’t know who Godot is. I don’t even know (above all don’t know) if he exists. And I don’t know if they believe in him or not—those two who are waiting for him. The other two who pass by towards the end of each of the two acts, that must be to break up the monotony. All I knew I showed. It’s not much, but it’s enough for me, by a wide margin. I’ll even say that I would have been satisfied with less.—Samuel Beckett, 1952

En attendant Godot, a new play by Samuel Beckett, received its first official performance on this date in 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris. The play had received a staged reading on French radio in 1952, for which Beckett supplied an introduction; part of the note is quoted above.

Beckett had promised he would attend the radio performance, but he did not. (He was Godot that night.) The text of the play was published at the end of 1952, then on January 4, 1953, a single preview was staged for reviewers before opening night. Most were positive.
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The Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world at 2722 feet tall, opened on this date in 2010. The photo above is from the street level. Located in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa has 163 floors, 154 of which are usable.

Its first observation deck was located on the 124th floor, which set the record for the highest outdoors observation deck. This record stood for less than two years when the owners of the Canton Tower in China opened an observation deck more than 100 feet higher. The Burj Khalifa re-took the title in 2014 when an observation deck was opened at the 148th floor—1821 feet up.

And then last year, the Shanghai Tower opened an observation deck 1841 feet above the ground.
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