Displaying 31 - 60 of 114 in total
August 21st, Wednesday | Count Basie
Jazz Royalty Count Basie shares a birthday with a prominent Israeli artist, known for his…sheep paintings…Today’s poem is an Edgar Allen Poe classic.
August 20th, Tuesday | Estonia Breaks Free After a Human Chain
Estonia’s path to renewed independence was peaceful, and they achieved it with their Baltic neighbors! Also: Happy World Mosquito Day! A dog-and-cat poem.
August 19th, Monday | Coco Chanel befriends Stravinsky
From convent to boudoirs to hat-making, French designer Coco Chanel at one time befriended Igor Stravinsky. Today’s poem by a humorous birthday poet.
August 16th, Friday | The Good, the Bad, and an Australian Poet
An important editor in the Harlem Renaissance and an Australian poet who spent time in Paraguay. A patriotic poem by the birthday poet.
August 15th, Thursday | Samuel Coleridge Taylor
Samuel Coleridge Taylor is not the person you might be thinking he is: an African-English composer and violin prodigy. Plus, a related poem.
August 14th, Wednesday | Inventor of the Blender
Who invented the blender? Probably someone you've never heard of! And the impetus for the gadget? Milkshakes, of course. Plus, a baseball poem.
August 13th, Tuesday | A Hawaiian Pop Star & a Sharpshooter
Today, birthday-ers Don Ho and Annie Oakley make and break stereotypes - isn't everyone more real up close? Love poem by e.e. cummings.
August 12th, Monday | "America the Beautiful" & Gladys Bentley
The woman who penned “America the Beautiful” and a Harlem Renaissance cross-dressing performer share a birthday. “America the Beautiful” shines as today’s poem.
August 9th, Friday | Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton was more than just Alexander Hamilton’s wife. A Swiss developmental psychologist shares a birthday. Plus, a poem from Willa Cather.
August 8th, Thursday | Sara Teasdale's lost love
Sara Teasdale’s missed-chance love is a common theme in her work. An Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder shares a birthday. Poem from our birthday poet.
August 7th, Wednesday | The Other Kermit and a Spy
The costume designer behind a few Sesame Street residents shares a birthday with a controversial WWI Spy. Do you know Dickinson’s poem #445?
August 6th, Tuesday | Why "Bolivia"?
Independence for Bolivia! But why “Bolivia”? Longest-reigning Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson celebrates a birthday. An evocative love poem from the birthday poet.
August 5th, Monday | Father of the Modern Short Story
The father of the modern short story, an activist, and a lesser-known American poet share a birthday. Today’s poem from the birthday poet.
August 2nd, Friday | Two Activists and a Sculptor walk into a bar...
Two women’s rights activists – from different continents and separate times – and a French sculptor all share a birthday. Plus, a quiet little poem.
August 1st, Thursday | Melville's Stormy Start
Herman Melville’s prose maybe be a bit cumbersome to read at times, but it was certainly inspired by his stormy and eventful life!
July 31st, Wednesday | Atlantic Records was founded by...
Atlantic Records is a classic American label, but it was founded by an immigrant! As promised today’s poem is a response to yesterday’s.
July 30th, Tuesday | Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë’s "Wuthering Heights" stands in stark contrast to the life she led…or does it? In today’s poem a shepherd attempts some wooing.
July 29th, Monday | Tocqueville admires America
Tocqueville was supposed to study American prisons…but what he ended up chronicling was far more compelling: the work ethic of 19th Century Americans.
July 26th, Friday | Shaw: If You Can't Beat 'em, Join 'em
George Bernard Shaw was a frustrated critic of Victorian theater, before he tried writing his own plays. Plus, a poem by Sara Teasdale.
July 25th, Thursday | Parrish, Franklin, and Chapman
The Chemist who helped in the discovery of DNA, a Painter famous for the color blue, and an editing abolitionist share a birthday.
July 24, Wednesday | A writer or a lover first?
A deep dive into Alexandre Dumas reveals a generous friend, a saavy writer, and French lover. Plus, a classic sonnet from the Bard.
July 23rd, Tuesday | A Starry-eyed Gov'na
Birthdays: a governor with stars in his eyes and a physicist whose work would lead to 3D glasses! Today’s poem: a suggestive scene.
July 22nd, Monday | "Give me your tired, your poor..."
The poet who penned the lines “give me your tired, your poor” has a birthday. Today’s poem is from whence those lines came.
July 19th, Friday | Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson
Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson had two rocky marriages before enjoying a truly happy partnership. Perhaps today’s poem was inspired by her last partner?
July 18th, Thursday | Mandela's Prison University
It’s Mandela Day in honor of Nelson Mandela’s birthday. An Australian sprinter seemed to be gifted from start to finish! Plus, a sonnet.
July 17th, Wednesday | The Air Conditioner is Born!
In the heat of summer, the idea for the air conditioner was born! Angela Merkel celebrates a birthday. Plus, a Robert Graves poem.
July 16th, Tuesday | The First Parking Meter
The world’s first parking meter was installed on this day in 1935 – a fateful day! A science-fiction writer #represents and gives us today’s poem.
July 15th, Monday | The Greatest Etcher of all Time
Rembrandt like many artists, lived paycheck to paycheck…except he enjoyed very large paychecks! Today’s poem, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, stars the god Pan.
July 12th, Friday | The Man who Popularized Photography
We all have cameras in our pockets now, but it was George Eastman who popularized photography among the masses. A birthday writer’s poem.
July 11th, Thursday | To Kill a Mockingbird...
Today we take a look at "To Kill a Mockingbird," published in 1960, and never once out of print! Poem by Effie Smith.