256: Emily Brontë Author known for her novel Wuthering Heights Born: 30 July 1818, Thornton, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Died: 19 December 1848, Haworth, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Original Name She Published Under: Ellis Ball She was one of the three famous Brontë sisters (with Charlotte and Anne being the other two). Her only novel…
255: Charlotte Brontë Author Most Known for Writing Jane Eyre Born: 21 April 1816, Thornton, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Died: 31 March 1855, Haworth, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Original Name She Published Under: Currer Bell She also wrote Shirley and Villette. Charlotte worked for a time as a teacher before publishing her works. She and…
254: Harriet Beecher Stowe Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin—the Historical Fiction Novel That Led President Lincoln to Allegedly Remark to Her That She was the Lady Who Launched the War Between the States Born: 14 June 1811, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States of America Died: 1 July 1896, Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America Harriet was…
253: Elizabeth Barrett Browning One of the Most Famous Poets of the Romantic Era Born: 6 March 1806, Kelloe, County Durham, United Kingdom Died: 29 June 1861, Florence, Italy Elizabeth was the oldest of twelve children and the first in her family born in England in over two hundred years—her father was a rich plantation…
“A tale to make the reader dread to look around, to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart.” 252: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Author of the Novel Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus Born: 30 August 1797, London, United Kingdom Died: 1 February 1851, London, United Kingdom When not recognized for that she is…
“I had to become a man.” 251: Christine de Pisan Feminist Author and Poet Born: 11 September 1364, Venice, Italy Died: 1430, Poissy, France Alternate Spelling: Christine de Pizan Christine wrote a biography on Charles V of France as well as several works championing women—including The Book of the City of Ladies (originally Le Livre…
“It wasn’t long before I repented of having distinguished myself. Even boys become unpopular if its discovered they are fond of their books. For a girl, it’s worse.” 250: Murasaki Shikibu Novelist, Poet, and Lady in Waiting to the Imperial Court During the Heian Period of Japanese history Born: c.978, Kyoto, Japan Died: c.1014, Kyoto,…
249: Enheduanna The First Known Published Author in the History of the World (There are Older Writings but They are Unsigned) Born: c.2285 BC, Mesopotamia (Present-day Iraq) Died: c.2250 BC, Mesopotamia (Present-day Iraq) High Priestess for the Gods Inanna and Nanna in the Sumerian City-State of Ur; Endeduanna oversaw the most important temple in Sumer….
248: Perla Ovitz Entertainer who was Born With Pseudoachondroplasia Dwarfism; Alongside Most of her Siblings Born: 10 January 1921, Rozavlea, Romania Died: 9 September 2001, Israel Original Name: Piroska Ovitz Perla’s father had the condition and her mother was of average size (as was her father’s first wife). Of his ten children seven were little…
247: Millvina Dean The Last Living Survivor of the Wreck of RMS Titanic Born: 2 February 1912, Branscombe, United Kingdom Died: 31 May 2009, Ashurst, United Kingdom Original Name: Elizabeth Gladys Dean Millvina was two months old at the time and the youngest of the 705 surviving passengers and crew. She was traveling third-class with…