Born in 1931 – Ermanno Olmi, Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer.

Above: Still from Olmi’s 1978 film The Tree of Wooden Clogs.

Born in 1817 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher.

“…instead of studying how to make it worth men’s while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them.”

Thoreau on wealth.

Also born on this day: Andrew Wyeth

Born in 1951 – Anjelica Huston, American actress and director.

Above: Huston in the year 2000, on the set of Wes Anderson’s film, The Royal Tenenbaums.

Born in 1887 – Marc Chagall, Belarusian-French painter.

Above: Detail of Chagall’s 1938 painting, White Crucifixion.
On view in the Modern Art Gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago.

English actress and politician, Glenda Jackson, died today.

Born in 1893 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English author and poet.

“In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair…the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.”

Also: Photographer Karl Blossfeldt

Born in 1897 – Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia.

Her murder by the Bolsheviks in 1918 resulted in her canonization as a passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Also: Maurice Sendak

Born in 1829 – John Everett Millais, English painter and illustrator.

Above: The Vale of Rest (1858)

Also: Griffin Dunne

Born in 1922 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter.

Above: Still from Resnais’ 1959 film, Hiroshima mon amour.

Born in 1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German animator and director.

Above: Still from Reiniger’s 1954 film, Thumbelina.