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: The Battle of Brooklyn

Today is the 232nd anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, also called the Battle of Long Island. (It's a little busy here at the office today so I won't go into detail, but I bookmarked the following a while ago.)

Further Reading:
Barnet Schecter, The Battle for New York, and
David McCullough, 1776.

Links:
"Battle of Long Island" on Wikipedia
Articles can also be found here and here.

Sidebar:
Gowanus Lounge reports on a possible location of a burial ground from this battle. See post for details.

News off the Blogs: Battle of Brooklyn stuff

Gowanus Lounge has a pair of posts about events to commemorate the Battle of Brooklyn (also called the Battle of Long Island). One post lists a bunch of events; a second post appeared this week with information about further events at The Old Stone House.

More information about the Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island can be found on Wikipedia, GL's post the first also posted this link about the battle.