No close family anniversaries. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, on this date in 1749: German poet and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. A giant of German literature, Goethe’s poems were set to music by Beethoven, Schubert, and many other composers. Goethe is probably best known today for his tragic drama “Faust,” in which the protagonist (Dr. Faust) bargains away his soul to the Devil (Mephistopheles). Top photo: illustration by Christian von Kamp.
portrait by Joseph Karl Steiler, 1828
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In Washington, DC, on this date in 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech to a civil rights rally of 200,000 persons.
