Today in 1845 "The Raven" is published in the Daily Mirror, the first publication using the name Edger Allen Poe.
Today in 1886 Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline powered automobile.
It's the birthday of Russian physician, short story writer, and playwright, Anton Chekhov (1860). Who said, "The role of an artist was to ask questions not answer them" and spent most of his time as a doctor tending to the poor, supporting himself through writing.