November 24

Baruch Spinoza was one of the most radical and systematic philosophers of the seventeenth century, developing a pantheistic worldview that identified God with nature. He was excommunicated from the Amsterdam Jewish community at age 23 for his unorthodox beliefs, yet his Ethics remains one of the great philosophical masterworks.

Zachary Taylor was a career military officer and hero of the Mexican-American War before being elected the twelfth president in 1848. He died in office in 1850 after just sixteen months, reportedly from gastroenteritis contracted after eating at a Fourth of July celebration.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec immortalized the bohemian nightlife of Montmartre through his vivid posters and paintings of the Moulin Rouge, cabarets, and brothels of late nineteenth-century Paris. Stunted in growth due to a genetic condition, he was a prolific and original artistic voice whose work defined the visual culture of the Belle Époque.

Scott Joplin was the foremost composer of ragtime music, earning the title "King of Ragtime" for works like Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer. A Black American from Texas, he aspired to be taken seriously as a classical composer and spent years working on a ragtime opera, Treemonisha, that was not fully staged in his lifetime.

Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936, which became one of the bestselling self-help books of all time with over 30 million copies sold. His courses and books on interpersonal skills, public speaking, and salesmanship pioneered the modern self-improvement industry.