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Remembering Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, among the hills of Virginia, on this day in 1743. A favorite amongst the founding fathers, he is also one of my favorite authors. Jefferson distinguished himself as a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist...
Remembering Noah Webster
Noah Webster was born at West Hartford, Connecticut on this day in 1758. He studied at Yale during the Revolution, but was unable to afford to go on to law school so he became a teacher. In 1783 he began a three-volume set of books for teaching English...
Remembering E. E. Cummings, or e e cummings, whichever you prefer
Edward Estlin Cummings was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts on this day in 1894. Growing up in a literate and liberal home, he was writing poetry by age ten. He attended Cambridge Latin High School and received both BA and MA from Harvard. His poetry...
The Gutenberg Bible
Something extraordinary happened at Mainz, Germany on this day in 1452. A goldsmith turned printer by the name of Johann Gutenberg started a print job. It was a big job, and took over two years to complete: The first verifiable book printed with moveable...
Students Beware: Longer School On The Horizon
If Mr. Obama has his way, students in the U.S. may be in for longer school days, a longer school year or possibly both. In a statement quoted from the Associated Press, Mr. Obama warns that American youngsters spend too little time in school, putting...
Remembering Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born at Edinburgh, Scotland on this day in 1859. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh from 1876 to 1881. He served as ship's medical officer on two voyages before opening a practice with a classmate which...
Happy Birthday to Honore de Balzac
The prolific French novelist Honoré de Balzac was born at Tours, France on this day in 1799. Educated to practice law, by his early twenties he had written several novels under pseudonyms while working as a journalist. He bought a publishing firm and...
Happy Birthday to Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell was born at Ravenscroft in Wales on this day in 1872, but raised at London after his parents' deaths. Tutored at home, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1890, distinguishing himself in mathematics and philosophy...