F. Scott Fitzgerald's (1896-1940) classic novel The Great Gatsby was published on April 11, 1925. (read Orrin's review, Grade: A)

O. Henry's great short story The Gift of the Magi was first published on April 10, 1906. Read Orrin's review.

Lew Wallace (1827-1905) was born in Brookville, IN on April 10, 1827. Read Orrin's review of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880)(Grade: A+)

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) was born in Paris, FR on April 9, 1821. His masterwork is The Flowers of Evil.

Barbara Kingsolver (1955-) was born in Annapolis, MD on April 8, 1955. Read Orrin's fairly ugly review of The Poisonwood Bible (Grade: F)

Billie Holiday [Eleanora Fagan](1915-59) was born in Baltimore, MD on April 7, 1915.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, GB on April 7, 1770. One of his best known works is Tintern Abbey

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was born in Franklin County, VA on April 5, 1856. Read Orrin's review of Up From Slavery (1901) (Grade: A)(#3 on the Modern Library Top 100 Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century)

Colin Powell (1937-) was born in New York, NY on April 5, 1937.

Herbert von Karajan (1908-89) was born in Salzburg, Austria on April 5, 1908.

James Earl Ray assassinated the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN. Gerald Posner disproves all of the ridiculous conspiracy theories surrounding the killing in his excellent book Killing the Dream(Read Orrin's review, Grade: B)

Maya Angelou (1928-) was born in St. Louis, MO on April 4, 1928. Read Orrin's review of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)(Grade: B)

Muddy Waters [McKinley Morganfield](1915-) was born in Rolling Fork, MS on April 4, 1915.

Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) was born in Boston, MA on April 3, 1822. Read Orrin's review of The Man Without a Country (1863) (Edward Everett Hale 1822-1909) (Grade: A+)

Ma Rainey [Gertrude Pridgett](1886-1939), "The Mother of the Blues", was born in Columbus, GA on April 3, 1888.

Washington Irving (1783-1859) was born in New York, NY on April 3, 1783. Read Orrin's review of Tales of the Alhambra (Grade: A)

The great folklorist Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born in Odense, Denmark on April 2, 1805

Emile Zola (1840-) was born in Paris, FR on April 2, 1840. Brothers Judd recommends his novel Germinal (1885)

Whittaker Chambers (1901-61) was born Jay Vivian Chambers in Philadelphia, PA on April 1, 1901. His long strange journey [brilliantly told in Sam Tanenhaus' prize winning Whittaker Chambers: A Biography (Read Orrin's review, Grade: A)] stands as an allegory of 20th Century man and his own memoir, Witness (1952) (read Orrin's review, Grade : A+), is one of the great books of this or any century. See also Orrin's review of Ghosts on the Roof: Selected Journalism of Whittaker Chambers 1931-1959 (1989) (Whittaker Chambers 1901-61)(edited by Terry Teachout) (Grade: A)

Edmond Rostand (1868-1918) was born in Marseille, FR on April 1, 1868. Read Orrin's review of Cyrano de Bergerac (1897)(Edmond Rostand 1868-1918) (Grade: A+)

Milan Kundera (1929-) was born in Brno, CZ on April 1, 1929. Brothers Judd recommends The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984).

Toshiro Mifune (1920-97) was born in Tsingtao, China on April 1, 1920. As John Wayne was to John Ford, so was Mifune to Akira Kurosawa. Brothers Judd recommends their collaborations: Rashomon (1950), The Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Yojimbo (1961). Mifune also starred in an excellent series of films based on the life of Musashi Miyamoto [see Orrin's review of A Book of Five Rings (1645)(Miyamoto Musashi 1584-1645) (Grade: C+)]

Ted Post (1918-) was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 31, 1918. Brothers Judd recommends Hang 'em High (1967) (directed by Ted Post 1918-)

Edward FitzGerald (1809-83) was born on March 31, 1809. Read Orrin's review of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1859)(Grade: C)

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809-52) was born on March 31, 1809. Read Orrin's review of Taras Bulba (1839)(Grade: A+)

John Fowles (1926-) was born on March 31, 1926. Read Orrin's review of The Magus (1965)(Grade: C)(#93 on the Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century)

Al Gore (1948-) was born on March 31, 1948. Read Orrin's review of Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (1992)(Grade: F)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was forced, by popular demand, to bring Sherlock Holmes back to life on March 31, 1905. Read Orrin's review of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901)(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1859-1930) (Grade: A+) Holmes has been revived again in Laurie R. King's acclaimed series of novels; read Orrin's review of The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994) (Grade: C)

Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands on March 30, 1853.

Anna Sewell (1820-78) was born in Yarmouth, ENG on March 30, 1820. Read Orrin's review of Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse (1877)(Grade: B-)

Denton True "Cy" Young (1867-1955) was born on March 29, 1867 in Gilmore, Ohio. For all the "unbreakable" records we've seen go down, let's see someone get to 511 victories.

John Tyler (1790-1862) was born in Charles City County, Va., on March 29, 1790.

Albert von Tilzer was born in Indianapolis, IN on March 29, 1872 . He composed the tune for the song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," in 1908.

Frederick Exley (1929-92) was born on March 28, 1929. Brothers Judd recommends A Fan's Notes (1968)

Nelson Algren (1909-81) was born in Detroit, MI on March 28, 1909. Read Orrin's review of The Man with the Golden Arm (1949) (Grade: C)

Russell Banks (1940-) was born in Newton, MA on March 27, 1940. Read Orrin's review of Affliction (1989) (Grade: B-)

Bob Woodward (1943-) was born in Geneva, IL on March 26, 1943. Read Orrin's reviews of The Agenda : Inside the Clinton White House (1994) (Grade: B) and Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom (2000) (Grade: B)

John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969) commited suicide on March 26, 1969. Read Orrin's review of A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)(Grade: B-)

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was born on March 26, 1874.

A.E. Housman (1859-1936) was born in Worcestershire, England on March 26, 1859. Read Orrin's review of A Shropshire Lad (1896)(Grade: B)

Aretha Franklin (1942-) was born in Memphis, TN on March 25, 1942.

Flannery O'Connor (1925-68) was born in Savannah, GA on March 25, 1925. Read Orrin's reviews of Wise Blood (1952)(Grade: A+) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960) (Grade: B-)

William Morris (1834-96) was born in Walthamstow, ENG on March 24, 1834. Read Orrin's review of The Wood Beyond the World (1895) (Grade: B+)

Akira Kurosawa (1910-99) was born in Tokyo on March 23, 1910. Among his achievements are The Seven Samurai (1954), Ran (1985), Rashomon (1951) and The Hidden Fortress (1958)(basis for Star Wars).

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry (1736-1799) gave his most famous speech: "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.".

Louis [Dearborn LaMoore] L'Amour (1908-88) was born in Jamestown, ND on March 22, 1908