Read about René Descartes, Abraham Maslow, Camille Paglia, early environmentalist John Burroughs, comedian David Cross, philosopher Thomas Hobbes, Mormon church founder Joseph Smith and more …

It was on this date, April 4, 1858, that French poet, novelist, and influential critic Remy de Gourmont was born. He earned a bachelor's degree in law at Caen in 1879 and upon his graduation he moved to Paris. From 1881 to 1891, de Gourmont was employed by the Bibliothèque nationale, where he began to […]

It was on this date, April 2, 1947, that American author, teacher, and social critic Camille Paglia was born. She was brought up in New York by Italian immigrant parents and spent her earliest days on a farm before her educator-father moved the family to more urban surroundings. Paglia graduated Harpur College at Binghamton University […]

Read about Harry Houdini, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s expulsion from Oxford, Richard Dawkins, “Typhoid Mary’s” final quarantine, Russian writer Maxim Gorky, Ludwig Büchner’s “Bible of Materialism,” church opposition to anesthesia and more …

It was on this date, March 28, 1750, that Venezuelan soldier Francisco de Miranda was born Sebastian Francisco de Miranda in Caracas into a wealthy family of the Canary Islands. Consequently, Miranda was able to afford the best education and, in 1771, bought himself a commission as a Captain in the Spanish Army. Becoming interested […]

It was on this date, March 28, 1942, that American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist Daniel Clement "Dan" Dennett III was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Although a researcher on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science and the philosophy of biology, Dennett is chiefly known, along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the late […]

It was on this date, March 27, 1839, that the future 14th Premier of New Zealand, John Balance, was born in Mallusk, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland. Interested in books as a youth, he eventually became interested in politics. But, having witnessed the damage caused by religious rioting when in Belfast, Ballance also became committed […]

It was on this date, March 27, 1797, that French poet, playwright, and novelist Alfred de Vigny was born into an aristocratic family in the town of Loches in central France. His mother, a woman of strong will inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, saw to his early education. Although the French Revolution left the family in […]

It was on this date, March 24, 1834, that English poet, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist William Morris was born in Walthamstow. As a youth he was an avid reader and at Oxford he was a zealous student of theology, ecclesiastical history medieval poetry and art. From there he was expected to join the Roman […]

Read about the lie of Arnold Toynbee, erotic film star Nina Hartley, Turkish secularizer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, astronomer Percival Lowell, Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, the French Headscarf Ban, James Madison and more …