Classics Calendar for April 21

The title character from Huckleberry Finn; detail of E. W.
Kemble's illustration in the first edition of Twain's masterpiece

Here are today's milestones:



Born on this day:

Charlotte Bronte (1816; died March 31, 1855) English novelist; Jane Eyre



John Muir (1838; died December 24, 1914) Scottish-American naturalist and writer; The Mountains of California; Our National Parks; My First Summer in the Sierra; The Yosemite



John C. Van Dyke (1856; died Unknown Date, 1932) American art historian and critic who wrote not only on art, but on his time in the West in The Desert. Also a posthumous Autobiography.



Max Weber (1864; died June 14, 1920) German sociologist and philosopher; The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism; The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism; Ancient Judaism; Economy and Society



Died on this day:

Anselm of Canterbury (1109; born c. 1033) Italo-English monk, Archbishop (of Canterbury), theologian, philosopher; theological writings including especially the Monologion, the Proslogion, and the Cur Deus Homo.



Peter Abelard (1142; born Unknown Date, 1079) French philosopher and theologian; Historia Calamitatum (Story of His Misfortunes); Letters of Abelard and Heloise; Sic et Non



Jean Racine (1699; born December 22, 1639) French playwright; Phèdre; Andromaque; Athalie



Mark Twain (1910; born November 30, 1835) American author of novels such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, as well as short stories like "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyberg" and "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"



John Maynard Keynes (1946; born June 5, 1883) English economist; The Economic Consequences of the Peace; A Treatise on Probability; A Treatise on Money; The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money



Aldo Leopold (1948; born January 11, 1887) American naturalist; A Sand County Almanac



Bonus Classic:

Skanda Purana (6th century) Indian holy book of stories centering on Lord Shiva; attributed to Vyasa (c. 200)



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