George Bancroft: An American historian. Born at Worcester, Massachusetts, 1800; died, 1891. Wrote “History of the United States from the Discovery of the Continent” (10 vols.).

Daniel Boone: The pioneer of Kentucky. Born in Pennsylvania, 1735; died in Missouri, 1820.

William Cullen Bryant: An eminent American poet. Born in Massachusetts, 1794; died, 1878. Wrote “Thanatopsis” and many other short poems. Was one of the editors of the “Evening Post” (New York) for more than fifty years.

John C. Calhoun: An eminent American statesman and orator. Born in South Carolina, 1782; died, 1850.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr.: An American lawyer and author. Born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1815; died, 1868.

Charles Dickens: An English novelist. Born at Landport, England, 1812; died, 1870. His best novel is generally conceded to be “David Copperfield.”

William Dimond: An English poet, remembered only for his “Mariner’s Dream.” Died, about 1837.

Eugene Field: An American author. Born in St. Louis, 1850; died in Chicago, 1895. Wrote “A Little Book of Western Verse,” “A Little Book of Profitable Tales,” etc.

Robert Fulton: An American inventor. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1765; died, 1815.

Charles E. A. GayarrÉ: An American historian. Born in Louisiana, 1805; died, 1895. Wrote a “History of Louisiana,” and several other works.

Sir Archibald Geikie: A Scottish geologist. Born in Edinburgh, 1835. Has written “The Story of a Boulder,” “A Class Book of Physical Geography,” and many other popular and scientific works on geological subjects.

Thomas Grimke: An American lawyer and philanthropist. Born in South Carolina, 1786; died, 1834.

Nathaniel Hawthorne: A distinguished American author. Born at Salem, Massachusetts, 1804; died, 1864. Wrote “The Scarlet Letter,” “The Marble Faun,” “The House of the Seven Gables,” “The Wonder Book,” “Tanglewood Tales,” etc. His style has been said to possess “almost every excellence—elegance, simplicity, grace, clearness, and force.”

Homer: The reputed author of the two great poems, the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey.” Supposed to have been born at Smyrna, or Chios, about one thousand years before Christ. The “Iliad” has been called “the beginning of all literature.”

Washington Irving: An American author and humorist. Born in New York, 1783; died, 1859. Wrote “The Sketch Book,” “History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker,” “Tales of a Traveler,” “The Alhambra,” “Columbus and his Companions,” “Mahomet and his Successors,” and many other works.

Charles Kingsley: An English clergyman and writer. Born in Devonshire, 1819; died, 1875. Wrote “Hypatia,” “Westward Ho!” “The Heroes,” “The Water Babies,” “Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet,” “Madame How and Lady Why,” several poems, and a volume of sermons.

Sir Edwin Landseer: The most famous of modern painters of animals. Born in London, 1802; died, 1873. His pictures of dogs and horses have seldom, if ever, been surpassed.

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Baron Lytton: A British novelist and poet. Born in Norfolk, England, 1803; died, 1873. Wrote “The Last Days of Pompeii,” “The Caxtons,” “My Novel,” and many other novels; also, several volumes of poems, and two dramas, “The Lady of Lyons” and “Richelieu.”

Sir Thomas Malory: A Welsh or English Knight, remembered for his noble prose epic, “Morte d’Arthur,” which he translated from the French. Born, about 1430.

John Henry Newman: An eminent English theologian. Born in London, 1801; died, 1890. Wrote many religious and controversial works, and a few beautiful hymns. In 1879 he was made cardinal-deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.

John Ruskin: A distinguished English author and art critic. Born in London, 1819; died, 1900. Wrote “The Stones of Venice,” “Sesame and Lilies,” “Ethics of the Dust,” “The Queen of the Air,” “Modern Painters,” and many other works, chiefly on subjects connected with art.

Sir Walter Scott: A celebrated novelist and poet. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1771; died, 1832. Wrote the “Waverley Novels,” “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” “The Lady of the Lake,” “Tales of a Grandfather,” and many other works.

Charles Sprague: An American poet. Born in Boston, 1791; died 1875. Wrote several short poems, most of which are now forgotten.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Poet laureate of England. Born in Lincolnshire, 1809; died, 1892. Wrote “Idylls of the King,” “In Memoriam,” “The Princess,” and many shorter poems; also the dramas “Queen Mary,” “Harold,” and “Becket.”

Daniel Webster: American statesman and orator. Born in New Hampshire, 1782; died, 1852. His most famous orations are those on Bunker Hill, Adams and Jefferson, and his “Reply to Hayne.”

John Greenleaf Whittier: A distinguished American poet. Born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1807; died, 1892. Wrote many volumes of poetry, including “In War Time,” “Snow-Bound,” “Mabel Martin,” “The King’s Missive,” and others.

Samuel Woodworth: An American journalist and poet. Born in Massachusetts, 1785; died, 1842. He is remembered chiefly for his little poem “The Old Oaken Bucket.”