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L. Frank Baum became a success with his 1883 production of "The Maid of Arran" in 1882. He was a dreamer, had a printing press and an amateur newspaper, "The Rose Lawn Home Journal" and published a coin and stamp collecting guide. He failed at almost everything through poor business sense. He had been an actor, though only successfully in "The Maid of Arran," a newspaper editor ("The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer"), a store owner (Baum's Bazaar, from which he filed for bankruptcy on New Year's Day of 1899), and motion picture producer and director. He met everything with enthusiasm and talent, but things did not work just right and only became successful again as a writer. Diverse in audience and subject matter, he is best remembered for his fourteen Oz books and their subsidiary fantasies. He is said to have singlehandedly created the fantasy genre out of the Andersen-style literary fairy tale. He used a variety of pseudonyms for juvenile series made at the publishers request, the best known and most successful being as Edith Van Dyne, who was once played by an actress at a luncheon with another publisher who wanted to meet her. The name was later used by Emma Speed Sampson, who continued some of his series.

Baum was a kind and gentle family man, who never swore or told dirty jokes, nor was he able to punish his four sons, whom Maud had to handle for him. He was born with a bad heart and suffered several minor attacks, including one induced by The Peekskill Military Academy at age 14. He loved to make fun of the military after that incident, as one can see in his Oz books. He created and headed The Oz Film Manufacturing Company in 1914 and directed one film the year later, after which his son Frank Joslyn Baum took it over, changing the name to Dramatic Feature Films, after the Oz name had been cursed as box-office poison, despite excellent critical reception of J. Farrell MacDonald's The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914).

He continued writing, sitting up in bed long after his health had failed him, and his final Oz book was published posthumously in 1920. It was only his second attempt at science fiction. Baum's writing attracted legions of fans of all ages, both during and after his lifetime. His work has influenced such writers as Gore Vidal, Ray Bradbury, and Terry Brooks. The Oz series has been continued both officially and unofficially after his death. Frank Joslyn Baum sold the film rights of the first Oz book to MGM in 1934, and Walt Disney soon picked up the rest, unable to secure the original from them, for he, too, had desired to make a film version, as had been done before by Baum himself, Otis Turner, Ray C. Smallwood, Larry Semon, Ethel Meglin, Ted Eshbaugh, and many subsequent to 1939. Ironically, Baum moved to Hollywood at Ozcot to have a quiet place to write, which, of course, resulted in the OFMC. One other notable work by Baum is Tamawaca Folks, a spoof of his vacation town of Macatawa Michigan, taking the name of Michigan author John Esten Cooke and changing it to John Estes Cooke. Baum himself has a supporting role (under a different name) in the novel, which was based on all the vacationers. Baum's health problems limited his life to 63 years, but his literary output was remarkable, though mostly forgotten. An episode of the television series Death Valley Days (1952) features him and Maud as characters.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.

Dee Lampton was born on 6 October 1898 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Drama's Dreadful Deal (1917), Schemer Skinny's Scandal (1917) and Schemer Skinny's Schemes (1917). He died on 2 September 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Rosa Luxemburg was born on 5 March 1870 in Zamosc, Poland, Russian Empire [now Zamosc, Lubelskie, Poland]. She was a writer, known for Valitsen rohkeuden (1977). She was married to Gustav Lübeck. She died on 15 January 1919 in Berlin, Germany.

Lamar Johnstone was born on 15 March 1884 in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Ne'er Do Well (1915), Robin Hood (1912) and The Holy City (1912). He died on 21 May 1919 in Palm Springs, California, USA.

His mother claimed he was adopted, perhaps because her husband had been away touring for several years before Sidney's birth and was dead before the great event took place. Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore, his niece and nephews, insisted he looked too much like "Mummum" to have been anybody else's child. But the mystery continues--there's a rumor he was born at sea (!) and even his date of birth is in doubt. The young Barrymores were largely raised by Sidney's mother (their maternal grandmother), and Uncle Googan, as they called Sidney, was often about the place during their childhood. The date of his first marriage is also unknown, but sometime before 1892 he wed Gladys Rankin, also from a famous acting clan. They were billed as Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew, played vaudeville and toured in marital comedies. If the material turned out to be bad, Mrs. Drew would rewrite it or come up with a better script. Later they joined Vitagraph where he worked as an actor and director. After his wife's death in 1914, he married Lucille McVey, the second Mrs. Sidney Drew, a vivacious 24-year-old writer he had met on the Vitagraph lot where they both worked. His son, S. Rankin Drew, also acted in films and was thought a promising director, but he enlisted in the army in World War I and was killed when his plane was shot down over France. Sidney never got over his only child's death, and died a year later.

Shelly Hull was born on 17 June 1884 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for Sapho (1913) and An Honorable Cad (1919). He was married to Josephine Hull. He died on 14 January 1919 in New York City, New York, USA.

Andrew Carnegie is a Scottish-American industrialist, and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history. He became a leading philanthropist in the United States and in the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away $350 million (conservatively $66 billion in 2024 dollars, based on percentage of GDP) to charities, foundations, and universities - almost 90 percent of his fortune. His 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and stimulated a wave of philanthropy.

Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1848 at age 12. Carnegie started work as a telegrapher, and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges, and oil derricks. He accumulated further wealth as a bond salesman, raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $303,450,000. It became the U.S. Steel Corporation. After selling Carnegie Steel, he surpassed John D. Rockefeller as the richest American for the next several years.

Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education, and scientific research. With the fortune he made from business, he built Carnegie Hall in New York, NY, and the Peace Palace and founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others.

Betty Gray was born Lilly Pederson. Her father, Neils Pederson, was born in Denmark and her mother Amalia was born in Sweden. She was the youngest of six children, After high school she studied at the New York school of Applied Art. She worked as an artists model and posed for Harrison Fisher who used her as the model for his "Western Girl" pictures. Betty spent eight months performing in vaudeville and was offered a contract with Pathe Studios in 1912. She made her film debut in the comedy Gee! My Pants. The petite brunette quickly became one of Hollywood's busiest actresses.

She had leading roles in numerous films including The Country Boy, His Last Dollar, and The Beachcombers. In 1914 she married Elliot Hunt Pendleton Jr, the son of a wealthy lawyer. She signed with Vitagraph in 1915 and starred in the comedies A Madcap Adventure and The Timid Mr. Tootles. Betty also worked as a scenario writer. She and her husband moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he opened a garage. The couple returned to Manhattan in 1918 and Betty appeared in the propaganda film Why America Will Win. It would be her final movie. Tragically on April 20, 1919 she died from influenza. Betty was only twenty-six years old. She was buried at Cedar Lawn cemetery in Passaic, New Jersey.

Mary Moore was born on 23 July 1890 in County Meath, Ireland. She was an actress, known for Ignorance (1916), Under Southern Skies (1915) and Lola (1914). She died on 3 February 1919 in Fère-en-Tardenois, Aisne, France.

Leonid Andreev was born on August 21, 1871 in Orel, Russia. His father, named Nikolai Ivanovich Andreev, was a member of the provincial Russian Nobility and worked as a land inspector for the government. His mother, Named Anastasia Nikolaevna Andreeva (Pazkovska) belonged to the Polish Nobility. Andreev graduated from the Orel Gymnasium, went to study law at the St. Petersburg University, and graduated from the Moscow University. His work as a crime reporter for "Moscovski Vestnik" (Moscow daily paper) provided material for his stories. He was fond of reading Fyodor Dostoevsky, Lev Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov. He also red then popular Friedrich Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. After the death of his father and a painful first love experience in 1894 he was depressed and tried to shoot himself in a suicide attempt. He survived and worked hard to support his mother and his two sisters and two younger brothers. He successfully passed the Russian Law Bar in 1897 and practiced law as an attorney for five years from 1897-1902.

Andreev published his first story "Bargamot and Garaska" in 1898. It was noticed by Maxim Gorky, who promoted Andreev to the circle of writers and publishers, called Znanie (Knowledge). In 1901 his first book of stories was published by Znanie. His story "Bezdna" (Abyss, 1902), about a teenager's experience with a prostitute ending in her murder and his suicide, was attacked by Lev Tolstoy. But Andreev became an instant celebrity in Russia. After his anti-war story "Krasny Smekh" (Red Laughter, 1904), written during the Russian-Japanese war, he got involved with anti-Czar revolutionaries. Andreev was arrested and jailed by the Czar's secret service in 1905, after that he emigrated to Europe and lived in Capri, Italy as a guest of Maxim Gorky. While developing his expressionist style, Andreev wrote a bluntly realistic anti-war story "Rasskaz o semi poveshennykh" (A Story About the Seven Hung, 1909) and a realist novel "Sashka Zhegulev" (1911). After the war and the first Russian revolution of 1905, Andreev was writing a play every year. His plays were staged at the Moscow Art Theatre and theatres in Vienna, Berlin, Odessa and Kazan by directors Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Vsevolod Meyerhold among others. His best plays "Anathema", "Tsar-Golod" (Czar-hunger), "Samson v okovakh" (Samson in Handcuffs, 1914) were banned by Russian censorship under the Czar. Andreev built a big villa in Kuokkala, Finland, where many Russian intellectuals lived, just 50 km. West of St. Petersburg. He was a regular member of the circle of Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy and maintained friendship with Maxim Gorky. Leonid Andreev also was a friend of writers Aleksandr Kuprin, Vladimir Korolenko, Ivan Bunin, Vikenti Veresaev, and singer Feodor Chaliapin Sr.. During WWI he was a strong critic of German aggression. In 1917 he opposed the Bolshevik Revolution.

Leonid Andreev was the founder of the Russian Expressionism in literature. He modernized his style through experiments with spiritualism, symbolism, eroticism and mysticism, and also studied a range of occult and religious traditions. His literary parallel was the American writer H.P. Lovecraft. Andreev remained in his villa in Finland after it's separation from Russia during the Russian revolution of 1917. He was a staunch critic of the Soviet communism and wrote powerful articles about the atrocities of communists in Russia. He died on September 12, 1919, at his home in Kuokkala, Finland, at the age of 48. Some mystery was haunting his burial; his grave in Finland was later on the Soviet territory since WWII. His magnificent villa was destroyed. In 1957 Leonid Andreev's remains were exhumed and moved to the prestigious "Poet's Alley" at the "Literatorskie Mostki" (Literary burials) near the graves of Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, Nikolai Leskov and other Russian cultural luminaries at the Volkovo Cemetery in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

Famous American poet and author. She wrote numerous poems starting when she was 7 years old. She would go on to write poems such as The Price He Paid, Inherited Passions, The Beautiful Lie and The Belle of the Season amoung other. In her later years she went to the battle fields in France during World War 1 to lecture to the soldiers, and assist with the Red Cross. While in France Ella became ill and was taken back to the United States where she died of Cancer at her Short Beach estate. She was cremated and sealed in a vault with her husbands ashes on the property.

Charles Rock was born on 30 May 1866 in Velore, East Indies. He was an actor, known for Carry On (1919), The Prisoner of Zenda (1915) and Vice Versa (1916). He was married to Constance Helen Wilkie Jones (aka Miss Cybel Wynne). He died on 12 July 1919 in London, England, UK.

Ruggero Leoncavallo was born on 23 April 1857 in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies [now Naples, Campania, Italy]. He was a writer and composer, known for Moonraker (1979), The Untouchables (1987) and To Rome with Love (2012). He was married to Berthe Rambaud. He died on 9 August 1919 in Montecatini Terme, Tuscany, Italy.

Pierre-Auguste Renior was born on February 25, 1841, in Limoges, France. His father was a tailor and his mother was a dressmaker. In 1845 his family moved to Paris and settled near the Louvre Museum. There young Renoir had his first experience with art.

From age 13 he became an apprentice painter in a porcelain factory, where he painted for five years. At age 19 he took drawing lessons from Charles Gleyre, and in 1862 he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, a classical school of fine arts in Paris. There he met Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Frederic Bazille, the future founders of Impressionism. During the 1860's Renoir was still painting in the academic tradition, and his portrait of his mistress, Lise Trehot, was traditional enough to be accepted at the 1867 Salon. In 1869 Renoir moved in with 'Claude Monet' and Frederic Bazille. Under their influence he updated his technique and color scheme. He started using little brush-strokes and vibrant pure colors while painting mainly outdoors, 'en plein aire'.

In 1874 Renoir took part in the first exhibition of the 'Society of independent artists' in the Paris studio of photographer Nadar. Monet's painting 'Impression, soleil levant' (Impression, Sunrise 1872) was untitled until the first show in 1874. A title was needed in a hurry for the catalogue. Monet suggested "Impression" as a simple title for his painting. The catalogue editor, Renoir's brother Edouard, added an explanatory 'Sunrise', thus making "Impression: soleil levant" the official title for Monet's work. From the painting's title, art critic Louis Leroy coined the term "Impressionism", which he intended to be derogatory. Monet's title came under criticism which seized upon the first word. Renoir with Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, were joined by Edgar Degas, and Georges Seurat, and continued to exhibit together despite the financial failure of the first show.

Impressionists slowly gained recognition after 1880, when public begun to recognize the value of their works. In 1881 Renoir traveled to Algeria, then to Spain, and later to Italy to see masterpieces of Titian and Raphael in Florence and Rome. In 1882 Renoir met composer Richard Wagner at his home in Sicily, and painted his portrait. In 1883 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Paris gallery of Paul Durand-Ruel, who became his art dealer. He received commissions to paint portraits of prominent Parisians, and also made several group portraits of his friends, models, writers, and fellow artists, such as the 'Luncheon of the Boating Party' (1881). In 1887, being already famous, Renoir donated several paintings to Queen Victoria on her Golden Jubilee. At that time he worked on a big composition 'Les baigneuses' (The Bathers), for which he made a series of nude female studies representing feminine grace with masterful depiction of the soft forms and tender texture of skin. His lively, joyful paintings brought him fame and steady success.

In 1880 Renoir met Aline Chairgot. She became his model and a painting assistant. In 1885, their first son, Pierre Renoir, was born. They married in 1890, and spent much time in Essoyes, the childhood home of his wife. In 1894, while living in Montmartre in Paris, they had their second son, named Jean Renoir, who later became a famous filmmaker. His third son, Claude Renoir, was born in 1901. Family life was beneficial to Renoir's work. He became as interested in painting people as he was in painting landscapes. By the age of 50 Renoir became wealthy and famous, but his health declined. During the 1890s he developed rheumatoid arthritis and had to move to a warmer climate in the South of France. In 1907 he bought a farm at Cagnes-sur-Mer. There Renoir expanded the garden into a beautifully landscaped park and continued painting landscapes and nudes.

Renoir suffered from complications of arthritis and was wheelchair-bound during the last 20 years of his life. He also suffered from cataracts, which affected his vision so that his later paintings had a general reddish tone and softer lines. He continued to paint with a brush on a stick strapped to his arm, because he lost mobility in his fingers and in his right shoulder due to ankylosis. Renoir did not give up art, he even started making sculptures with an assistant. He died at his house in Cagnes on December 3, 1919, and was laid to rest at the Cagnes-sur-Mer church cemetery.

In 1962 his son Jean Renoir wrote 'Renoir My Father', the definitive biography of August Renoir. The value of his art has been going up. In 1990, a smaller version of Renoir's painting 'Bal au moulin de la Galette' (1876), was sold at an auction for $78,000,000.

Lavinia Warren was born on 31 October 1841 in Middleboro, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for The Lilliputians' Courtship (1915), Mutual Weekly, No. 45 (1915) and Pathé News, No. 89 (1915). She was married to Count Primo Magri and Tom Thumb. She died on 25 November 1919.

Oscar Hammerstein was born on 8 May 1847 in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia [now Szczecin, Poland]. He was an actor, known for The Universal Boy (1914). He was married to Mary Emma Miller Swift, Melvina Jacobi and Rose Blau. He died on 1 August 1919 in New York, New York, USA.

Nella Bergen was born on 2 December 1873 in New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Summer Girl (1899). She was married to DeWolf Hopper Sr. and James Dunne Bergen. She died on 24 April 1919 in Freeport, New York, USA.

Vera Kholodnaya was born on 5 August 1893 in Poltava, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for Her Sister's Rival (1916), Stolichnyi iad (1917) and Deti veka (1915). She was married to Vladimir Kholodny. She died on 17 February 1919 in Odessa, Ukraine.

Alfred Paget was born on 2 June 1879 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Intolerance (1916), Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1917) and Martyrs of the Alamo (1915). He was married to Leila Halstead Paget. He died on 8 October 1919 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Rodman Law was born on 21 January 1885 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Fighting Death (1914), At the Risk of His Life (1912) and The Daredevil Mountaineer (1913). He was married to Florence K. Kimball. He died on 14 October 1919 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

Emiliano Zapata was born on August 8, 1879 in Anenecuilo, Mexico, the son of a local businessman. He was not himself a tenant farmer, but was raised amoung them in the predominantly agrarian Morelos district, where the primitive living conditions convinced him of the need for sweeping reforms. He became the peasants' spokesman in the area and was briefly drafted into the Mexican army as punishment for his radical statements on their behalf. In the early 1900s, as public pressure grew against the dictatorial regime of President Porfirio Díaz, Zapata started organizing a revolutionary army in Morelos. He proved to be a natural tactician as well as an inspiring leader. When a revolt against Diaz, headed by Francisco I. Madero, broke out in March 1911, Zapata was appointed Supremo (Supreme Chief) of the Revolutionary Movement of the South. By the end of May, Zapata's forces had defeated Diaz's troops in Yautepec, Cuautla and Cuernavaca, in southern Mexico, events that played a key role in Madero's subsequent victory and appointment as president of Mexico. When Madero was overthrown and assassinated by Gen. Victoriano Huerta in 1913, Zapata entered into a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Huerta regime, which was even more repressive than Diaz's. By July 1914 Zapata's forces had fought their way to the outskirts of Mexico City, forcing Huerta to flee into exile. Four months later, when the revolutionaries' victory was complete, Zapata entered Mexico City in triumph with fellow commanders Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza, and the three established a provisional government. However, the following spring Zapata, like Villa before him, was ousted from the new government by Carranza and his followers. Once again Zapata entered into a protracted guerrilla war against the government. After a four-year stalemate and infrequent clashes with federal troops, the government finallly persuaded Zapata to attend a peace conference aimed at ending the insurrection, and the conference took place in Chinameca on April 10, 1919. However, when Zapata arrived he was immediately surrounded and shot and killed by government troops; the "conference" was a ploy by Carranza to lure Zapata to a place where he could be assassinated. Zapata's reforms were eventually instituted, though, albeit years after his death. He is regarded to this day by most Mexicans as a martyr to the Mexican revolution.

Vitold Polonsky was born in 1879. He was an actor and director, known for After Death (1915), Her Sister's Rival (1916) and Pesn lyubvi nedopetaya (1918). He died on 5 January 1919 in Odessa, Ukraine.

Percy Stow was born in 1876 in Islington, London, England, UK. He was a director, known for The Love of a Nautch Girl (1909), A Modern Cinderella (1908) and The Morganatic Marriage (1909). He died on 10 July 1919 in Torquay, Devon, England, UK.

Gene Rogers was born in 1867. He was an actor, known for A Friend, But a Star Boarder (1916), Gamboling on the Green (1916) and Tears and Sunshine (1915). He died on 9 March 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA.