Literary Landmarks: Sarah Orne Jewett House Writer Sarah Orne Jewett spent much of her life in this stately Georgian residence, owned by her family since 1819. The view from her desk in the second-floor hall surveys the town's major intersection and provided her with material for her books, such as The Country of the Pointed Firs, which describe the character of the Maine countryside and seacoast with accuracy and affection. For more information click here: Jewett House, or click here for books by Sarah Orne Jewett.

Today's Birthdays:

• Ivan (Aleksandrovich) Goncharov (1812-1891), Russian writer (Oblomov; Obryv, "The Precipice"; Obyknovennaya Istoriya, "A Common Story")
• Raymond Radiguet (1903-1923), French writer and poet (Le Diable au Corps, "The Devil in Flesh"; Les Joues en Feu, "Cheeks on Fire"; Les Pélicans, "The Pelicans")
• Vitali Mikhailovich Zholobov (b. 1937), Ukrainian cosmonaut
• Jürgen Habermas (b. 1929), German scholar, philosopher, and proponent of critical theory (Knowledge and Human Interests; Theory of Communicative Action; Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action)