Classics Calendar for December 8

The 19th-century  "Bohemian center," the
Montgomery Block in 1862, subject of Idwal Jones's
Ark of Empire: San Francisco's Montgomery Block

Here are today's milestones:

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Born on this day:

Horace (65 BCE; died November 27, 8 BCE) Roman lyric poet who wrote Odes

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Wang Anshi (1021; died May 21, 1086) Chinese poet and economist; essays "A Visit to Baochan Mountain"; "In Reply to Official Censor Sima's Letter" (one of "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song")

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Padraic Colum (1881; died January 11, 1972) Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, playwright, children's author, and folklorist; The Saxon Shillin'; The King of Ireland's Son; The Children's Homer; Children of Odin: Nordic Gods and Heroes; The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles

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Diego Rivera (1886; died November 24, 1957) Mexican painter and muralist; murals Man, Controller of the Universe; The History of Mexico; paintings The Fecund Earth; The Flower Seller

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Idwal Jones (c. 1887; died November 14, 1964) American writer of novels and non-fiction; The Vineyard; Ark of Empire: San Francisco's Montgomery Block

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James Thurber (1894; died November 2, 1961) American cartoonist, author, journalist, and playwright; short stories "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"; "The Catbird Seat"; "The Unicorn in the Garden"; play The Male Animal; autobiography My Life and Hard Times; children's books The White Deer; The 13 Clocks; The Wonderful O

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Delmore Schwartz (1913; died July 11, 1966) American poet and short story writer; In Dreams Begin Responsibilities; Summer Knowledge: New and Selected Poems

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Bill Bryson (1951) Anglo-American author; The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America; Notes from a Small Island; A Walk in the Woods; A Short History of Nearly Everything

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Died on this day:

Thomas De Quincey (1859; born August 15, 1785) English essayist; Confessions of an English Opium-Eater; "On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth"; "On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts"; The English Mail-Coach; Autobiographical Sketches

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Bonus Classic:

Clement, Bishop of Rome (??-c. 99) Church Father who wrote First Letter of Clement; the Second is probably spurious.

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