It was on this date, January 30, 1775, that English satirist and writer Walter Savage Landor was born in Ipsley Court, Warwick, the son of a doctor who married a woman of wealth. A bit of an unruly youth, Landor was removed from Rugby for insolence and suspended from Trinity College, Oxford, for firing off […]

It was on this date, January 29, 1737 (N.S February 9), that English-born American patriot and pamphleteer Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, Norfolk, into an English Quaker family. He worked as a stay-maker for women’s dresses, and as an excise-man, but in London Benjamin Franklin persuaded the budding writer to emigrate to America. As […]

It was on this date, January 28, 1887, that Polish-born American pianist Arthur (Artur) Rubinstein was born in Łódź. His parents were merchants who saw to his education: by age five he was already performing classical works at the piano. When he was 13, Rubinstein gave his first formal concert in Potsdam. Six years later, […]

It was on this date, January 28, 1968, that Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She started singing at age four. Not only does her voice attract fans, with songs like “Adia,” “Angel,” “Hold On,” and “Sweet Surrender” – yielding three Grammy Awards – but McLachlan has also distinguished herself as […]

It was on this date, January 27, 1343, that Pope Clement VI issued a bull, Unigenitus, officially reaffirming that the Catholic Church can grant remission of sin through indulgences. The sale of indulgences was the chief concern of Martin Luther and the chief cause of the Protestant Reformation. But, the scheme is fortuitous on a […]

It was on this date, January 27, 1756, that Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg. His father, the Catholic musician Leopold Mozart, was a court favorite and professional violinist in Salzburg. His patron encouraged the careers of Leopold’s precocious children, and Wolfgang and his sister “Nannerl” (Maria Anna) both became accomplished pianists […]

It was on this date, January 26, 1564, that Pope Pius IV, in a document called “Benedictus Deus,” ratifying the proceedings of the Council of Trent, instituted the ten rules for suppressing free thought and thereby created the Index of Prohibited Books. There was no real Index until 1564 because literature and literacy were so […]

It was on this date, January 25, 1759, that the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns, was born in Alloway, near Ayr. Most of his poems were written in the meter of the popular songs of his day, so Burns could be called a lyricist as well as a poet. At age 21 Burns became […]

It was on this date, January 25, 1874, that British novelist and playwright William Somerset Maugham was born in the British Embassy in Paris. His parents died before Maugham was ten. Brought up by a religious aunt and uncle, he got himself into medical school, clerked in the slums of Lambeth, and when his first […]

It was on this date, January 25, 1882, that British novelist Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen in London. She was the daughter of Julia Jackson Duckworth, a member of the Duckworth publishing family, and Sir Leslie Stephen, the literary critic and founder of the Dictionary of National Biography. Virginia gave little thought to […]