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Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in 1860, the third of six children to a family of a grocer, in Taganrog, Russia, a southern seaport and resort on the Azov Sea. His father, a 3rd-rank Member of the Merchant's Guild, was a religious fanatic and a tyrant who used his children as slaves. Young Chekhov was a part-time assistant in his father's business and also a singer in a church choir. At age 15, he was abandoned by his bankrupt father and lived alone for 3 years while finishing the Classical Gymnazium in Taganrog. Chekhov obtained a scholarship at the Moscow University Medical School in 1879, from which he graduated in 1884 as a Medical Doctor. He practiced general medicine for about ten years.

While a student, Chekhov published numerous short stories and humorous sketches under a pseudonym. He reserved his real name for serious medical publications, saying "medicine is my wife; literature - a mistress." While a doctor, he kept writing and had success with his first books, and his first play "Ivanov." He gradually decreased his medical practice in favor of writing. Chekhov created his own style based on objectivity, brevity, originality, and compassion. It was different from the mainstream Russian literature's scrupulous analytical depiction of "heroes." Chekhov used a delicate fabric of hints, subtle nuances in dialogs, and precise details. He described his original style as an "objective manner of writing." He avoided stereotyping and instructive political messages in favor of cool comic irony. Praised by writers Lev Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, he was awarded the Pushkin Prize from the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1888.

In 1890, Chekhov made a lengthy journey to Siberia and to the remote prison-island of Sakhalin. There, he surveyed thousands of convicts and conducted research for a dissertation about the life of prisoners. His research grew bigger than a dissertation, and in 1894, he published a detailed social-analytical essay on the Russian penitentiary system in Siberia and the Far East, titled "Island of Sakhalin." Chekhov's valuable research was later used and quoted by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his "Gulag Archipelago." In 1897-1899, Chekhov returned to his medical practice in order to stop the epidemic of cholera.

Chekhov developed special relationship with Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Theater. He emerged as a mature playwright who influenced the modern theater. In the plays "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," "Seagull," and "Cherry Orchard," he mastered the use of understatement, anticlimax, and implied emotion. The leading actress of the Moscow Art Theater, Olga Knipper-Chekhova, became his wife. In 1898, Chekhov moved to his Mediterranean-style home at the Black Sea resort of Yalta in the Crimea. There he was visited by writers Lev Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Ivan Bunin, and artists Konstantin Korovin and Isaac Levitan.

James Matthew "J. M." Barrie was a Scottish novelist and playwright. He had a distinguished career, but is primarily remembered for creating Peter Pan and his supporting characters. He used the character of Pan in the novel "The Little White Bird" (1902), the stage play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" (1904). the novel "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens" (1906), the play "When Wendy Grew Up - An Afterthought" (1908), and the novel "Peter and Wendy" (1911).

In 1860,. Barrie was born in the burgh of Kirriemuir, in the county of Forfarshire. The county has since been renamed to "Angus". In the 19th century, Kirriemuir was center for the weaving industry, Barrie's father was David Barrie, a moderately prosperous weaver. Barrie's primary caregiver was his mother Margaret Ogilvy, who introduced him to English-language literature at an early age. Barrie was the 9th child born to the couple, out of ten children.

In 1866, Barrie's older brother David Barrie was killed in an ice-skating accident. David was Margaret's favorite son, and she was devastated by his death. Barrie started imitating his dead brother, in an effort to serve as a replacement for him. Barrie's mother reportedly found comfort in the fact that her dead son would remain a boy forever, never to grow up and leave her.

In 1868, Barrie started attending the Glasgow Academy, an independent day school located in Glasgow. At the time, two of his older siblings were among the school's teachers. In 1870, Barrie was transferred to the Forfar Academy. It was a comprehensive school located in Forfar, and it was closer to his parents' house. In 1874, Barrie was enrolled at the Dumfries Academy, a grammar school located in Dumfries.

As a teenager, Barrie was a bibliophile. He enjoyed reading penny dreadfuls, serial literature sold at a cheap price. He also enjoyed reading the juvenile fiction of Robert Michael Ballantyne ( 1825 - 1894), and the historical novels of James Fenimore Cooper (1789 - 1851). Barrie was part of a group which liked to re-enact the adventures of pirates. He was also part of a drama club at Dumfries. While a teenager, he wrote and produced his first play: "Bandelero the Bandit". The play was denounced by a local clergyman for its supposed immorality.

Barrie aspired to become a professional writer, but his family insisted that he must attend university first. Barrie enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. While a college student, he started working at the newspaper "Edinburgh Evening Courant" as their drama reviewer. He graduated from university in 1882.

Following graduation, Barrie worked as a staff journalist for the newspaper "Nottingham Journal". Meanwhile he started working on short stories based on the life story of his grandfather. He eventually reworked this story into a trilogy of novels: "Auld Licht Idylls" (1888), "A Window in Thrums" (1890), and "The Little Minister "(1891). The stories depicted life within the "Auld Lichts", a religious sect which his grandfather had joined. These novels were popular at the time, though largely based on the industrialized Scotland's nostalgia for a bygone era.

In the 1890s, Barrie started working on theatrical works. An early success for him was "Ibsen's Ghost, or Toole Up-to-Date" (1891), a parody of the plays of Henrik Ibsen (1828 -1906). The play was largely based on two of Ibsen's plays, "Ghosts" (1881) and "Hedda Gabler" (1891) .

While working as a playwright, Barrie met and courted the actress Mary Ansell (1861 -1950). The two of them were married in 1894, though they reputedly never consummated their marriage. The marriage lasted until 1909, ending in a divorce. Barrie resented Ansell's extramarital affair with a younger man, the novelist Gilbert Cannan (1884 -1955). Following a second failed marriage of Ansell, Barrie voluntarily started financially supporting her. Until his death in 1937, Barrie gave her an annual allowance.

In 1901, Barrie published one of his most successful plays, "Quality Street". The protagonist Phoebe Throssel was a respectable school mistress, who started pretending to be a younger woman in older to reclaim the heart of her former suitor. The initial run of the play in London lasted for 459 performances. The play was frequently revived until the 1940s.

In 1902, Barrie had another hit with the survival-themed play "The Admirable Crichton". The play depicts an aristocratic family and their servants as shipwreck survivors. While living in a desert island, the butler Crichton turns out to be a far more effective leader than his employer. This satire on class relationships had an initial run of 828 performances.

In 1902, Barrie introduced the character of Peter Pan, which became his most popular creation. He liked contrasting the typical middle class life of the Edwardian era, with the adventurous life and ambivalent morality of the fictional Neverland. While most of the Pan stories were written for a child audience, their social commentary also attracted adults. Barrie was praised by fellow writer George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) for these stories.

In 1909, Barrie was part of a campaign by several playwrights to challenge the United Kingdom's strict censorship laws. In 1911, Barrie was part of the anti-censorship's campaign second wave. In 1910, he commented on marital relations with the play "The Twelve Pound Look". In the play, a married woman seeks a divorce. She has gained financial independence and no longer needs her husband. The play was considered controversial at the time.

In 1917, Barrie explored the concept of the alternate reality in the play "Dear Brutus". In the play, a group of adult characters feel that they have taken wrong turns in their lives. A magic users offers them glimpses into the lives of their alternate reality counterparts, which took different life decisions. Some of them are enlightened by the experience, others learn nothing of value. The play was a hit, running for 363 performances in its initial run. It was revived in 1922.

In 1920, Barrie wrote the mystery play "Mary Rose". It was the last notable hit in his career. The play's protagonist mysteriously vanishes twice. She first disappears as a child. She re-appears 21 days later, but she has no recollection of where she was. As an adult, Mary Rose vanishes again. She leaves a husband and a son behind. She re-appears decades later, with no recollection of where she was again. But she has not aged a single day, and she is now physically younger than her own son. The play offers no definite answers to its mystery. It has experienced several revivals.

In 1929, Barrie gave the copyright right to Peter Pan (and any royalties gained from it) to the children's hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital. The royalties have continued to financially support the hospital ever since. The copyright was extended indefinitely by a special provision in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Barrie continued producing new works into the 1930s, though none were particularly groundbreaking. His last play was the Bible-themed story "The Boy David" (1936). It concerned the relationship between the aging Saul, King of Israel and his youthful son-in-law and prospective heir David. The play was based on the "Books of Samuel". A play which Barrie wrote but never produced was "The Reconstruction of the Crime", published posthumously in 2017.

By 1937, had moved into a nursing home in London. In June 1937, he died there due to pneumonia. He was 77-years-old at the time of his death. He was buried in his native Kirriemuir, in the family grave previously used by his parents and some of his siblings. His will left provision for his ex-wife Mary Ansell and a number of Barrie's surrogate children from the Llewelyn Davies family. Barrie left the majority of his estate to his longtime secretary Lady Cynthia Asquith ( 1887 -1960). Barrie had no known descendants.

Several of Barrie's works have remained popular into the 21st century. Peter Pan has frequently been adapted into various media, and has inspired a number of unofficial sequels. Tourists continue visiting locations in Kirriemuir which are associated with him. Barrie's long-lasting fame has not faded.

Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey) was an American professional sharpshooter from Ohio. She starred for several years in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Her stage acts were filmed for one of Thomas Edison's earliest Kinetoscopes in 1894. Later in life, Oakley trained other women in marksmanship. She was an advocate for female self-defense.

Oakley was born in a rural area of Darke County, Ohio, not far from the the state's border with Indiana, in 1860. Her family's residence was located 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the settlement of Woodland (later renamed to Willowdell). Oakley's father was the farmer Jacob Mosey (1799-1866), a veteran of the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Oakley's mother was Susan Wise (1830-1908), who was 31 years younger than her husband. Both parents were Quakers from Pennsylvania, and they were both of English descent. Oakley was the 6th of 9 children born to this couple.

In the winter of 1865, Jacob Mosey was caught in a blizzard. Hypothermia turned him into an invalid. He died months later, having never recovered from the ordeal. In 1867, Oakley learned how to trap animals in order to supplement her family's income. In 1868, Oakley learned how to handle firearms and how to hunt animals with them. She sold the hunted game to restaurants and hotels.

In March 1870, Oakley was placed in the Darke County Infirmary. Nancy Edington, the superintendent's wife, trained Oakley in sewing and decorating. Months later, Oakley was hired as a servant by a local family. The family promised her a meager salary (0.50 dollars per week) and help in financing her education. They reneged on both promises.

From 1870 to 1872, Oakley was mentally and physically abused by her employers. She was treated as an unpaid slave instead of a servant. She eventually run away. In her autobiography, she nicknamed these employers as "the wolves". She never mentioned their real names. Modern biographers are uncertain whether her employers were the Studabaker family or the Boose family.

In 1872, Oakley moved in with the Edington family, who she knew from the Infirmary. In 1875, Oakley moved into her mother's house for the first time in 5 years. She used her hunting skills to become her family's main breadwinner. Her earnings allowed her to soon pay off the mortgage on her mother's farm.

In November 1875, professional sharpshooter Frank E. Butler (1847-1926), placed a 100 dollars bet (per side). He claimed that he could beat any sharpshooter in Ohio. Oakley took on the challenge, and a match was arranged between the two sharpshooters. Oakley won the match, and impressed Butler. Soon after the match, Butler started courting Oakley. They were married on June 20, 1882, after Butler received a divorce from his first wife. They remained married for 44 years.

Oakley started professionally performing as a sharpshooter in the late 1870s or early 1880s. She took the stage name "Oakley", reputedly naming herself after the neighborhood of Oakley, Cincinnati. She and Butler had settled in the neighborhood during the early years of her relationship.

In 1885, Oakley and Butler were hired as performers by "Buffalo Bill's Wild West", a circus-like attraction that toured annually. The owner was the showman Buffalo Bill (1846-1917), who was a veteran of both the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Early in her career in the show, Oakley developed a professional rivalry with one of her co-workers, the sharpshooter Lillian Smith (1871-1930). Smith was younger than Oakley, and was trying to upstage her.

In the late 1880s, Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West toured Europe. Oakley performed her act for (among others) Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901, reigned 1837-1901), Marie Francois Sadi Carnot, President of France (1837-1894, term 1887-1894). Umberto I, King of Italy (1844-1900, reigned 1878-1900), and Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859-1941, reigned 1888-1918). Oakley won favorable reviews by the European press.

In 1894, Oakley starred in Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope film "The Little Sure Shot of the Wild West, an exhibition of rifle shooting at glass balls, etc". It was a filming of her act, making Oakley one of the earliest performers to be filmed. In 1898, Oakley volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War (1898). Her offer was turned down by the government of President William McKinley (1843-1901, term 1897-1901), likely because of her gender.

In 1901, Oakley was seriously injured in a train accident. She was temporarily paralyzed, and endured five spinal operations in order to regain her mobility. She resigned from Buffalo Bill's Wild West during her recovery. In 1902, Oakley acted professionally in the Western-themed stage play "The Western Girl".

In 1904, Oakley filed 55 libel lawsuits against various newspapers. Most of them were owned by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The newspapers had published a false news story than Oakley was a cocaine addict and a habitual thief. They had confused Oakley with a burlesque performer who used "Annie Oakley" as an alias. By 1910, Oakley had won 54 of the 55 lawsuits.

In 1912, Oakley and Butler settled for a few years in Cambridge, Maryland. In 1917, they moved to North Carolina. Oakley continued performing into the 1920s. In 1922, Oakley was injured in a car accident, forced to wear a a steel brace on her right leg. She made a comeback performance in 1923, and set new shooting records in 1924.

In 1925, Oakley's health declined and she was forced to retire from performing. She died in November 1926, at the age of 66. The reported cause of death was pernicious anemia, caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were buried at Brock Cemetery, located in the vicinity of Greenville, Ohio.

Oakley was survived by her husband Frank Butler, who died 18 days after Oakley's death. Butler had reportedly refused to eat anything after his wife's death. They had no children. Oakley did not leave much of an inheritance to her relatives, as she had donated most of her personal fortune to charities. Her incomplete autobiography was inherited by actor Fred Stone (1873-1959). Oakley's name remains associated with the legends of the "Wild West", and there have been several adaptations of her life in fiction.

British born actress in American films. She made her film debut in 1915 with Dustin Farnum. She appeared in scores of silent films as a character actress, but reached her greatest prominence with the coming of sound. Fitzroy specialized in motherly and society women characters.

Lizzie Borden has mystified and fascinated crime buffs for over a century. Few cases in American history have attracted as much attention as the hatchet murders and the unlikely defendant: a church-going, respectable "spinster" daughter charged with parricide, a crime worthy of Classical Greek tragedy. On August 4, 1892, a heavy, hot summer day in Massachusetts, a maid discovered the bodies of Andrew Borden, 70, a wealthy developer, and his second wife Abby, a short obese woman of 64. Mr. Borden's face had been struck 11 times while he slept on the couch; Mrs. Borden had been struck 19 times from the back. A broken hatchet was found in the basement. The day after the Bordens' funeral, a neighbor observed Lizzie burning a stained dress in the kitchen stove. The neighbor's testimony prompted Lizzie to be charged with the murders. The chaotic and stumbling murder investigation against Lizzie was circumstantial, without incriminating physical evidence or clear motive. After a trial in June 1893 and one hour of jury deliberations, Lizzie was found not guilty on all charges. Lizzie and her sister Emma moved into a 13-room stone Victorian house named Maplecroft. In 1904, she met actress Nance O'Neil, and the two became inseparable, prompting rumors of a romantic relationship. Lizzie died at age 67, after a long illness. Emma coincidentally died nine days later, after a fall down the stairs of her house. They were buried together in the family plot, along with their mother, stepmother, and father. Despite popular belief of Lizzie's guilt, it remains technically an unsolved crime.

Gustav Mahler is largely considered one of the most talented symphonic composers of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. His musical output comprised mainly of symphonic and song cycles requiring mammoth orchestras and often choruses. Sadly, Mahler never experienced popularity as a composer during his lifetime, not nearly as much as Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, or even Tchaikovsky, but his talents as interpretive artist on the conductor's podium earned him many accolades and prestigious assignments as music director to famous orchestras. Mahler was born in Kaliste, Bohemia on July 7, 1860, to a distillery manager father and a homemaker mother. Gustav was the second of twelve children, of which five died in infancy and three others did not live to mature adulthood. The constant conflicts between Gustav's domineering and abusive father and his weak mother helped to shape his compositional style, always reflecting on the struggle between good and evil, happy and sad, strong and weak, etc. Mahler showed musical talent at an early age, and by the age of eight years, he was already composing music influenced by military marches played at the nearby barracks. His parents eagerly encouraged his music studies, sending him to private tutors and ultimately to the Vienna Conservatory (1875-1878). Mahler's studies at the Conservatory got off to a slow start, but the final year at school was marked with him winning several composing awards. After graduation, for want of paying composing work, Mahler instead started conducting, typically directing light operas at second-rate orchestras. His insistence on complete artistic control of the entire production, from the stage costumes to the dramatic routines to how each and every note in the opera was played, earned him few friends among the orchestral players and performers but many positive reviews from critics. It was during these ten years after graduation from the Conservatory in which Mahler really began serious orchestral composing. Works written during this time included Das Klagend Lied (1880), Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) (1884), and his First Symphony (1888). It must be noted that Mahler conducted the premieres of each of his orchestral works. However, the premiere of his First, in Budapest in November 1889, was deemed a critical failure, since the audience was unaccustomed to the sound of this complex, modern work. Yet the First is perhaps his most approachable symphony, containing many Austrian Lieder themes and simple melodies. And, still, with a performance time of 55 to 60 minutes, it is his shortest symphony! Failures of Mahler the composer did not daunt Mahler the conductor, as his successes with the operas of Mozart, Wagner, and even some brand new works from Tchaikovsky earned him a reputation as a brilliant interpretive artist. Still, Mahler persevered, composing the Second Symphony (1892), a mammoth work of five movements requiring a full orchestra, female choral soloists, two choirs, an offstage brass band, and a pipe organ. His Third Symphony (1896) took this one step further, a six movement symphonic journey typically taking one hour and forty minutes to perform. During this time, Mahler was busy conducting orchestras and opera companies in Kassel (1883), Prague (1885), Leipzig (1886), Budapest (1888), Hamburg (1891), and Vienna (1894), but it was the musical director position at the Vienna Court Opera that he was aiming for. First, he had to overcome some family problems (both his parents died within months of each other, a younger brother fled to the United States, and another younger brother committed suicide), but, more importantly, Mahler's Jewish faith stood in the way of his career goal (Vienna was largely anti-Semitic during this time). To accommodate, he accepted a Roman Catholic baptism, and was promptly appointed musical director of the Vienna Hofoper Court Opera. Mahler's tenure at the Hofoper was tumultuous yet productive; he composed his Fourth Symphony (1901), thereby completing what many music historians agree wraps up his "Early Symphonies." His Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Symphonies (1903, 1904, 1905 respectively), all purely orchestral, make up his intermediate works. Although these works are increasingly modern and complex, they still contain some wonderful lyrical passages, especially the divinely beautiful Adagio from his 5th. Also, during this time he married Alma Schindler (a composer of fair talent herself), and they had two daughters, Maria (born 1902), and Anna (born 1904). Still, as director of The Hofoper, Mahler brought new high standards of performance unmatched anywhere else in the world. 1907 brought three tragic events to Mahler's life (ironically foreshadowed by the three "hammer blows" present in the Finale of his 6th Symphony): First, he was forced to resign from the Hofoper in somewhat acrimonious circumstances (chiefly disagreements as to what artistic direction he wanted to take the Hofoper), second, the diagnosis of the valve defect in his heart, and third, the death of his elder daughter (of Scarlet Fever). But by this point in his career Mahler had reached worldwide popularity as an orchestral and operatic conductor, and new work was not difficult to find. But it was composing that fueled his passions; The Eighth Symphony (1908) began the final series of Mahler's works. The Eighth is another work of Biblical proportions; a standard performance requires a full orchestra with enlarged brass and woodwind sections, eight soloists (three sopranos, two altos, a tenor, baritone, and bass), two full mixed choirs, a children's choir, several "unconventional" orchestral instruments (guitars, a harmonium, a piano, and a celesta), and, again, a pipe organ. Mahler disliked the alternate title bestowed upon this symphony, A Symphony of a Thousand, but indeed, during the premiere (in Munich in 1910), over one thousand performers were present. Amazingly, this lengthy and difficult work (only two movements but requiring 80-90 minutes to perform), was a huge success at its premiere; in attendance were many famous musicians, businesspeople, and royal families. Concluding Mahler's final works were Das Lied von der Erde (1908), the Ninth Symphony (1909), and an unfinished Tenth Symphony (1911), all of which he did not live to see or hear performed. The completed portions of the Tenth contain references to how Mahler lamented his crumbling marriage (by this time Alma was having an affair) yet it is considered perhaps the most pure form of Mahler's music (it contains many elements of modern 20th Century music). It was during concluding a winter season of conducting the New York Philharmonic Society in the spring of 1911 in which the heart condition diagnosed four years earlier caught up with Mahler; he traveled back to Austria to spend his final days near his family. He died late in the evening of May 18. Mahler's legacy took a long time to mature. His music, although complex and full of vivid imagery, failed to become popular in musical circles until fifty years after his death; it was primarily the efforts of Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, and, more recently, Simon Rattle , who have introduced the works of Mahler to many. Mahler himself declared, "My time will come."

Considered to be the first American serial killer and possibly the most prolific, he was also a con-man and bigamist. He was a doctor who studied medicine at Ann Arbor, MI. He then moved to New York where he practiced briefly. His first brush with the law occurred there when some corpses were found in his possession. He fled to Chicago where he worked for a drug company. The owner mysteriously disappeared and he became the owner. Over the next few years several people who crossed his path also mysteriously disappeared. In 1891 he began construction of a hotel at the corner of 63rd St. in Chicago. It was constructed by several builders over time and had a labyrinthine network of passages that would become his "torture chambers". It was during the Chicago World Fair of 1893 that he did most of his killings when his victims checked into his hotel. They were mainly young attractive women. Holmes would drug them, have sex with their bodies and then drop them down a chute into a gas chamber. There he would watch through a glass panel as they slowly choked to death. Then he would dissect their bodies and dispose of them in acid baths, furnaces or by using quicklime. However, it was because of insurance fraud in Texas that he was brought to the attention of the authorities again. Detective Geyer followed his trail through Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The bodies of the Pietzel family were found in an Indianapolis boarding house and Holmes was arrested. On 11/30/1895 he received the death sentence. Holmes wrote in his memoirs that he had killed 27 people; however, when he was taken to the gallows he retracted his confession saying that he had done it just for a publicity stunt. Over 200 bodies were found in his Chicago death house, known as "'Holmes' Torture Castle".

William Jennings Bryan is an American orator and politician from Nebraska. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1896, 1900, and 1908 elections. He served in the United States House of Representatives and as the United States Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson.

Born and raised in Illinois, WilliamBryan moved to Nebraska in the 1880s. He won election to the House of Representatives in the 1890 elections, serving two terms before making an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 1894. The Democratic convention nominated Bryan for president, making Bryan the youngest major party presidential nominee in U.S. history. Subsequently, Bryan was also nominated for president by the left-wing Populist Party, and many Populists would eventually follow Bryan into the Democratic Party. In the intensely fought 1896 presidential election, Republican nominee William McKinley emerged triumphant. Bryan gained fame as an orator, as he invented the national stumping tour when he reached an audience of 5 million people in 27 states in 1896.

Bryan retained control of the Democratic Party and won the presidential nomination again in 1900. In the election, McKinley again defeated Bryan, winning several Western states that Bryan had won in 1896. Bryan's influence in the party weakened after the 1900 election and the Democrats nominated the conservative Alton B. Parker in the 1904 presidential election. Bryan regained his stature in the party after Parker's resounding defeat by Theodore Roosevelt and voters from both parties increasingly embraced the progressive reforms that had long been championed by Bryan. Bryan won his party's nomination in the 1908 presidential election, but he was defeated by William Howard Taft. Along with Henry Clay, Bryan is one of the two individuals who never won a presidential election despite receiving electoral votes in three separate presidential elections.

After the Democrats won the presidency in the 1912 election, Woodrow Wilson rewarded Bryan's support with the important cabinet position of Secretary of State. Bryan helped Wilson pass several progressive reforms through Congress. Bryan resigned from his post in 1915.

Born in France to British parents, William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson stayed in that country until age 19, when he, his mother and sisters (their father had died sometime before) returned to Great Britain. Once there, Dickson--in an early indication of his lifelong fascination with science and mechanics--began a correspondence with Thomas A. Edison in the US, asking for employment, but was turned down. Eventually Dickson's family moved to the US, and several years afterward Dickson actually did land a job with Edison, and soon proved to be a trusted and valuable associate. He worked closely with Edison on the development of both the phonograph and, closer to Dickson's heart, the motion picture (it was Dickson who eventually decided that motion picture film should be 35mm wide; he also developed the emulsion process used in the film).

In 1889, while Edison was on a trip to Europe, Dickson set up a building in which to conduct his "photographic experiments", the forerunner of the first motion picture studio. In 1890 he and his chief mechanical assistant, Eugène Lauste, showed the results of their experiments, produced on a cylindrical system called the Kinetoscope: a short film called Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890), featuring one of his assistants. Improvements on this system continued, and in 1891 patents were filed on an improved camera called the Kinetograph. Edison's plans to exhibit the new system at the Chicago World Exposition necessitated not only the production of many new machines but also films that could be shown on them, and the result was the building of a film studio at Edison's laboratory in West Orange, NJ, which was nicknamed "The Black Maria" because it was constructed of wood covered with tar-paper, resembling the police wagons of that era which were known by that nickname.

However, even with Dickson's perfecting of a new version of the Kinetograph camera, not enough films were completed to be shown at Edison's planned exhibition. Dickson, however, did manage to persuade many stage and vaudeville stars to appear in films shot at the West Orange studio, and in the following years the studio was a beehive of activity, with some of the biggest names of the era making short films there. However, friction between Dickson and an executive appointed to oversee Edison's businesses soon broke into open conflict, resulting in Dickson's angrily leaving Edison's employ in 1895. He then joined forces with two businessmen in the development of a way to exhibit films differently than Edison's peepshow-style Kinetoscope. The system eventually developed into what was called the Mutoscope, and the camera that was developed to take pictures for the Mutoscope was called the Biograph. This in turn developed into a filming and projection system that retained the Biograph name.

In 1896 Dickson and three partners began the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. (often referred to as just "Biograph", and generally considered to be the first major American motion picture studio) to produce and distribute films. Dickson produced and directed many of Biograph's early films, but by the turn of the century he had taken over management of the company's European branch, headquartered in England. He died there in 1935.

A D.W. Griffith favorite matriarchal figure often playing mother characters. Kate Bruce appeared 292 times on the screen from 1908 to 1930, in movies including Intolerance (1916), The Idol Dancer (1920), Way Down East (1920), The Eternal Mother (1912), and Orphans of the Storm (1921). She was a close friend of actresses Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish, who supported Bruce financially for much of her life, including paying her rent in a little Hotel on Madison Avenue in New York. Lillian's maid would take care of her room once a week. Bruce would dine at Lillian's apartment several times a week. A very secretive and shy person, Bruce did not talk about her past or background. Lillian often compared her to a nun since her life was very austere and lonely.

Lillian Russell was born on 4 December 1860 in Clinton, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Wildfire (1915), La Tosca (1911) and Potted Pantomimes (1914). She was married to Alexander Pollock Moore, Giovanni Perugini, Edward Solomon and Harry Braham. She died on 6 June 1922 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Nick Shaid was born on 19 March 1860 in Syria. He was an actor, known for The Last Outpost (1935) and Private Worlds (1935). He died on 7 January 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Charles Curtis was born near Topeka, KS, in 1860. Of Native American ancestry (possibly as much as half), he lived on a Kaw Indian reservation for several years early in his life. In 1881 he was admitted to the state bar in Kansas, and was the Shawnee County District Attorney from 1885-89. He ran for Congress on the Republican ticket in 1893 and won, and served as a US Representative until 1907, when he ran for and won a seat in the US Senate. He served until 1913, when he was defeated in a re-election bid. However, he ran again in 1915 and won, and served until 1929, when he resigned to become Herbert Hoover's Vice Presidential candidate in the 1929 election, which they won. He served as Vice President until 1932, when he and Hoover lost their bid for re-election. Curtis stayed in Washington, DC, to practice law. He died there in 1936.

Charles K. French was born on 17 January 1860 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Abysmal Brute (1923), Hands Up! (1926) and Gentle Julia (1923). He was married to Doris Herbert, Isabelle Gurton and Helen French. He died on 2 August 1952 in Hollywood, California, USA.

A grand, stoic presence of the silent screen, George Fawcett was an immensely popular stage thespian both here and in London at the turn of the century. During his heyday his eloquence rivaled that of both Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore.

Born on August 25, 1860, in Alexandria Virginia, Fawcett was a graduate of the University of Virginia. His early acting career began in 1887, when he appeared in a production of "Baron Rudolph." Maintaining on the stage, he married actress wife, Percy Haswell, in 1895. She later formed the Percy Haswell (Stock) Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1901, with George managing. The name was later changed to the George Fawcett Stock Company. The Company continued to stage shows until 1908.

Fawcett eventually became a formidable fixture under the Broadway lights, appearing in such classic plays as "The Little Minister (1897, his debut), as well as "Peter Stuyvesent" (1899), "Caleb West" (1900), "Ghosts" (1903), "The Squaw Man" (1905, 1911), "The Silver Girl" (1907), "The Great John Ganton" (1909), "Getting a Polish" (1910), "A Gentleman of Leisure" (1911), "The Law of the Land" (1914), "The Mountain Man" (1921) and "Peacock" (1932).

Fawcett came very late to films (age 55) but soon became a steadfast favorite of D.W. Griffith, who used him in his silent masterpieces Intolerance (1916), A Romance of Happy Valley (1919), True Heart Susie (1919), Scarlet Days (1919) and The Greatest Question (1919), as well as Lady of the Pavements (1929). Affectionately dubbed "The Grand Old Man of Films", Fawcett appeared in over 100 movies within a relatively short span of time (15 years), playing to great effect various ports of authority -- often grim, often stubborn and often bigoted. Other grand silent feature film appearances included The Cinderella Man (1917), The Beloved Traitor (1918), Turning the Tables (1919), Sentimental Tommy (1921), Polly of the Follies (1922), Java Head (1923), Pied Piper Malone (1924), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924), The Price of Pleasure (1925), The Merry Widow (1925), The Son of the Sheik (1926), Flesh and the Devil (1926), Tillie the Toiler (1927) and The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927).

The elderly veteran moved into talking pictures with ease and scored several picture parts before retiring a few years into the era. Among those talking pictures, he supported Barbara Stanwyck in Ladies of Leisure (1930); Warner Oland in The Drums of Jeopardy (1931); Helen Twelvetrees in A Woman of Experience (1931); and Nancy Carroll in Personal Maid (1931), his final film.

George's wife, Percy Haswell, who frequently billed herself as "Mrs. George Fawcett," appeared with him in the Broadway plays "Peter Stuyvesent" and "Peacock", the latter which he produced in 1932. Fawcett died on June 6, 1939, in Nantucket, Massachusetts of heart problems. He was 78.

Owen Wister was an American writer and historian. He is best remembered for writing The Virginian and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. In 1898, Wister married Mary Channing, his cousin. The couple had six children. Channing died during childbirth in 1913. Their daughter, Marina Wister, married artist Andrew Dasburg in 1933. Novels: The New Swiss Family Robinson (1882), The Dragon of Wantley: His Tale (1892), Lin McLean (1897), The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains (1902), Philosophy 4: A Story of Harvard University (1903), A Journey in Search of Christmas (1904), Lady Baltimore (1906), Padre Ignacio: or, the Song of Temptation (1911), Romney: And Other New Works about Philadelphia (written 1912-1915). Non-fiction: Ulysses S. Grant (1901), Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the "American Men of Letters Series" (1902), The Bison, Musk-Ox, Sheep, and Goat Family, with G. B. Grinnell and Caspar Whitney in the "American Sportsman's Library" (1903), Benjamin Franklin, in the "English Men of Letters Series" (1904), The Seven Ages of Washington: A Biography (1907), The Pentecost of Calamity (1915), The Aftermath of Battle: With the Red Cross in France (1916), A Straight Deal: or the Ancient Grudge (1920), Neighbors Henceforth (1922), A Monograph of the Work of Mellor Meigs & Howe (1923), Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, 1880-1919 (1930) The Philadelphia Club, 1834-1934 (1934).

Kate Blancke was born on 14 March 1860 in Cheltenham, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Brand of Cowardice (1916), A Successful Adventure (1918) and Heart Strings (1920). She was married to George W. Wilton. She died on 24 June 1942 in East Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.

Charlotte Granville was born on 9 May 1860 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for A Damsel in Distress (1919), The Red Woman (1917) and Werewolf of London (1935). She was married to Robert Follett Muter Foster Millington Synge. She died on 8 July 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Gilman was born on July 3, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Mary Perkins (formerly Mary Fitch Westcott) and Frederic Beecher Perkins. She had only one brother, Thomas Adie, who was fourteen months older, because a physician advised Mary Perkins that she might die if she bore other children. During Charlotte's infancy, her father moved out and abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in an impoverished state. Gilman was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist and served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis.

Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascualwas a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music idioms. In 1883 he married Rosina Jordana. He died from his kidney disease on 18 May 1909.

Margaret Talmadge was born on 3 November 1860 in New York, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for A Girl of the Timber Claims (1917). She was married to Frederick John Talmadge. She died on 29 September 1933 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Morton Selten was born on 6 January 1860 in Marlborough, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Divorce of Lady X (1938), The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and Shipyard Sally (1939). He was married to Dora Blanche Pennell and Kate Pattison (actress). He died on 27 July 1939 in London, England, UK.

Ida Carloni Talli was born on 31 January 1860 in Rome, Papal State [now Lazio, Italy]. She was an actress, known for Camille (1915), The White Sister (1923) and Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra (1913). She died on 23 April 1940 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Hans Lanser-Ludolff was born on 19 June 1860 in Bonn, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Call of the Child (1914), Wer wirft den ersten Stein auf sie? (1916) and Der Skandal im Viktoria-Club (1919). He died on 19 January 1934 in Munich, Germany.

George F. Marion was born on 16 July 1860 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Anna Christie (1930), Death from a Distance (1935) and Robinson Crusoe (1916). He was married to Agnes E. Daly and Lillian E. Swain (actress). He died on 30 November 1945 in Carmel, California, USA.