American puppeteer and storyteller Jim Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi on this day in 1936. He is best remembered for his work on Sesame Street and creation of the Muppets. Among the twentieth century’s true visionaries, his career was one of continual innovation and artistic risk-taking. While he was a member of his high…
August 29, 1786 – Shays’ Rebellion begins
While the outcome of the American Revolution was a triumph for the young nation, the first years of the United States were rough. Uncertainty about what form the government should take lingered, as well as questions about the boundaries between federal and state governments. After years of fighting a foreign power, the new country found…
Happy birthday, Alexandre Dumas!
Alexander Dumas was one of the nineteenth-century’s pre-eminent novelists. While his masterpieces The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo remain well read and oft-adapted into the twenty-first century, not everyone knows about the man himself. Born on July 24, 1802, Dumas was the son of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas and Marie-Louise Elisabeth Labouret. His mother…
Mary Pickford, the first queen of the movies
On June 24, 1916, film star Mary Pickford became the first movie actress to negotiate a million-dollar contract. Though often forgotten outside of film buff circles, Pickford was one of the most powerful figures in the early film industry, wielding an extraordinary amount of control over her career and enjoying a worldwide popularity rivaled by…
May 7, 1915 – The sinking of the RMS Lusitania
Aside from the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, the 1915 demise of the RMS Lusitania is arguably the most famous maritime disaster of the Edwardian era. A passenger ship carrying almost 2,000 occupants from New York City to Liverpool during the early part of World War I, the Lusitania was sunk by a German…
Hans Christian Andersen’s 219th birthday
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen was born on this day 219 years ago. He wrote novels, plays, poetry, and travelogues over the course of his seventy-year life, but he is best remembered for creating fairy tales like "The Little Mermaid," "The Snow Queen," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Red Shoes." Andersen was born into poverty…
National Johnny Appleseed Day
March 11th is National Johnny Appleseed Day, a celebration of the life of pioneering nurseryman John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman. The line between reality and legend is often blurred when it comes to Chapman's biography. Hard facts about his life are sparse. He was born on September 26, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. His father Nathaniel was…
Frederick Douglass’ 206th birthday
Abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass was born 206 years ago. Having been born into slavery, Frederick Douglass was not 100% certain of his birth date, but he selected February 14th as his day of choice because he recalled his mother referring to him as her "little valentine." Douglass' memories of his mother were…
Anne Bronte’s 204th birthday
English novelist Anne Bronte was born on this day in 1820. The youngest of the famous Bronte sisters, she remains the most unsung, though not due to any lack of talent. While gentle and unassuming in real life, her most successful novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall rocked Victorian society with its bold presentation of…
Charles Dickens’ other Christmas tales
Just about everyone has the story of A Christmas Carol memorized, but did you know Charles Dickens wrote other Christmas books? In the 1840s, Dickens would publish four more Yuletide tales to varying degrees of success. While most repeat the formula of people being visited by supernatural beings—be they ghosts, fairies, or goblins— each has…
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