On this date in 1981, Jack Henry Abbot was captured in the field of Louisiana after a two-month manhunt. And just who was this guy?  He killed Richard Adan as he had been on parole after the officials had been assured that he had a great writing talent.  He was a despicable character who went to reform school at age […]

How much times have changed!  The Marquess had accused author/playwright Oscar Wilde of homosexuality (sodomy) involving her son, and he was ultimately imprisoned for this crime in 1895.  He experienced harsh living and labor, resulting in poor health.  On this date in 1897, Oscar Wilde was released from jail due to insufficient evidence.  I, for one, am extremely glad that […]

“Nevermore” became the word of the day on this date in 1845 with the publication of Edgar Allen Poe’s popular poem The Raven. For more information: http://famousdaily.com/history/poe-the-reaven-first-published.html http://www.answers.com/topic/the-raven-published http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/raven-published-1845-20400.html

Rarely do I get to feature an author I really like on my daily history feature, but I get to today!  On this date in 1809, Jane Austen wrote the following quote in one of her letters: I begin already to weigh my words and sentences more than I did, and am looking about for a sentiment, an illustration, or […]

There have been a number of controversial Nobel Peace Prize winners, but this one was pretty intriguing.  On this date in 1986, author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel won this prestigious prize.  It is quite fitting since he has devoted his life to there not being a repeat of this horrific time in our history. For more information: http://www.pbs.org/eliewiesel/nobel/citation.html http://worldhistoryproject.org/1986/12/10/elie-wiesel-is-awarded-the-nobel-peace-prize […]

For the record, I have never read anything by today’s feature, but, of course, I know the name and his best-selling series.  On this date in 1943 (the same year as my mom!), R.L. (Robert Lawrence) Stine was born.  He is a Columbus, Ohio native, and he is Jewish by birth.  His career began with humor stories for kids under […]

Let me say at the outset that I am not an Ernest Hemingway fan.  I understand and appreciate the fact that he was a great author in spite of his troubled life, but I never found his writing style interesting.  Often the stories were better than the writing style.  But that is just my opinion.  On this date in 1934, […]