Norman Rockwell died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1978. His career included decades of Boy Scout illustrations, hundreds of Saturday Evening Post covers, and the Four Freedoms paintings.
On October 29, 1998, John Glenn returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. At the age of 77, he was the oldest person to go into space.
Supreme Court Justice Harlan Fiske Stone was born on October 11, 1872, in Chesterfield, New Hampshire. He served on the court for over 20 years, including over four years as chief justice.
Clarence Coles Phillips was born on October 3, 1880, in Springfield, Ohio. Considered one of the leaders of the Golden Age of Illustration, he’s most well-known for his “fadeaway” girls, as pictured on his 2001 stamp.
On September 30, 1889, the first building of the Mayo Clinic opened to the public. Today its one of the world’s largest medical centers and the top-ranked hospital in the US.
On September 29, 1910, Winslow Homer died at Prouts Neck, Maine, after a career that helped define American art. He began as a magazine illustrator, but his paintings and watercolors came to portray war, work, childhood, and the sea with unusual clarity and force.
George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershwine on September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York. A successful composer and pianist, he created beloved orchestral compositions, popular jazz standards, as well as Broadway and Hollywood hits.
Shel Silverstein was born Sheldon Allan Silverstein on September 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. Before he became known for children’s poetry, he had worked as a military cartoonist, a magazine illustrator, a playwright, a recording artist, and a songwriter.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He would become one of the best-known writers of the Jazz Age, recording its energy, wealth, restlessness, and disappointments in novels and short stories.