English playwright/critic (and whingy little bitch) John Dennis premiered his play Appius and Virginia in 1709, for which he invented a new machine for mimicking the sound of thunder. The piece was not a success and was shortly cancelled and replaced with a performance of Macbeth. Dennis attended the play, and was outraged to find that the Drury theatre was using his invention. He exclaimed, 'That is MY thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play!'
This is the origin of the idiom 'to steal one's thunder'.
Boru
This is the origin of the idiom 'to steal one's thunder'.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
