Martin Waldseemuller, b. 1507. German mapmaker and geographer who gave America its name, named after Amerigo Vespucci, the man Waldseemuller thought had made the first voyage to the American continent.

Walter de la Mare, b. 1873. Poet, novelist, essayist and critic.
I think this garden sounds like a charming retreat.

A WIDOW’S WEEDS
by Walter de la Mare
A poor old Widow in her weeds
Sowed her garden with wild-flower seeds;
Not too shallow, and not too deep,
And down came April — drip — drip — drip.
Up shone May, like gold, and soon
Green as an arbour grew leafy June.
And now all summer she sits and sews
Where willow herb, comfrey, bugloss blows,
Teasle and pansy, meadowsweet,
Campion, toadflax, and rough hawksbit;
Brown bee orchis, and Peals of Bells;
Clover, burnet, and thyme she smells;
Like Oberon’s meadows her garden is
Drowsy from dawn to dusk with bees.
Weeps she never, but sometimes sighs,
And peeps at her garden with bright brown eyes;
And all she has is all she needs —
A poor Old Widow in her weeds.

Guglielmo Marconi, b. 1874. Inventor of the wireless telegraph, without which we probably wouldn’t have the internet now. What kind of mother would name her child Guglielmo?

Maud Hart Lovelace, b. 1892. Author of the beloved Betsy-Tacy books. All my girls have been quite fond of these books about Betsy, her sister Julia, and her friends, Tacy and Tib. The series takes Betsy from age five through four years of high school, a trip to Europe, and then a wedding.