On this day in 1511, art historian Giorgio Vasari was born. Pianist and Wolfgang’s sister, Maria Anna Mozart was born in 1751. Poet Samuel Rogers was born in 1763. Automaker and antisemite Henry Ford was born in 1863.

The half-sister of Marilyn Monroe, Berniece Baker Miracle is 94 today. I bring it up only to imagine what might have been. Blues great Buddy Guy is 77. Director Peter Bogdanovich is 74. Singer and lyricist Paul Anka is 72. Saxophonist David Sanborn is 68. Arnold Schwarzenegger is 66. I’m not even sure what he is. Actor Jean Reno is 65. So he will not be working anymore. Lawyer Anita Hill is 57. Actor Laurence Fishburne is 53. Actor Lisa Kudrow is 50. Director Christopher Nolan is 43. And actor Hilary Swank is 39.

The day, however, belongs to the great British novelist Emily Bronte who was born on this day in 1818. There is not a lot to say about her. Wuthering Heights is the most satisfying of the Bronte sisters’ novels. And I have never read any of the poetry—or at least I don’t remember any of it that I read or which one of the sisters might have written it. She appears to have been very shy. If her sister Charlotte is to be believed, she rarely left the house. All of that makes me the more fond of her. Regardless, she left us as much of a testament of her life as we need in her great novel. We celebrate her life by reading it.

Happy birthday Emily Bronte!