Duly Noted: Susan B. Anthony's birthday

Susan B. Anthony, photographed by
Napoleon Sarony (Wikimedia Commons)

Activist Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts. Besides being depicted on the $1 coin that was replaced by the Sacajawea dollar, she is best known for her work to promote women's right to vote. She worked most often with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, with whom she founded the National Woman's Suffrage Association.


Sadly, at her death in 1906, women still had the vote in only a few states; the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the vote nationally, was not ratified until 1920.


Links:
Author page on LibraryThing
Legacy Library on LibraryThing
Article on Wikipedia

Duly Noted: Joan of Arc's (supposed) birthday

A late-15th century depiction of Joan
of Arc. (Wikimedia Commons)

January 6, 1412, is the date legend gives for Joan of Arc's birth. It probably wasn't, though: it would have been common knowledge in fifteenth century Europe that January 6th was the feast of the Epiphany, and as Joan interpreted the voices she heard as guidance on a divine mission, she would not have failed to make the connection had her birthday actually fallen on the traditional date.

Today, Joan of Arc is remembered more for her death at the stake in 1431 than she is for her earlier achievements: she led the campaign to raise the siege of Orléans and participated in enabling the Dauphin to his coronation in Reims in 1429.

Recommended reading:

Régine Pernoud, Joan of Arc: Her Story.

Marina Warner, Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism.

Links:

Article on Wikipedia
Short bio & link lists on About.com

Duly Noted: Jane Austen's birthday

Just a drive-by posting to say that novelist Jane Austen was born today in 1775.

(Links: Jane Austen on LibraryThing and Wikipedia)

Duly Noted: Beatrix Potter's birthday

Author Beatrix Potter was born on July 28, 1866. Her books, mainly (entirely?) for children, featured such charecters as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

Links:
Beatrix Potter on LibraryThing.
Beatrix Potter on Wikipedia.

Update (3:50 PM): Who2's Editorial blog has a post featuring the graphic Google has on their homepage today. (That graphic is how I found out about the anniversary.)