Who Were They?

• Benjamin Franklin, who lived from 1706 to 1790, wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac. Did you know that in the years (1732-1757) he wrote under the pen name of Richard Saunders?
• Samuel Clemens was the actual name of Mark Twain, who wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer among other books. He lived from 1835-1910.
• When someone tells you to sign your “John Hancock” right here, the saying originated from John Hancock, who was a political leader during the American Revolution. He was known for signing his name largely on the Declaration of Independence.
• The name Slim Pickens belongs to a real American rodeo clown and cowboy actor who lived from 1919 to 1983. His real name was Louis Bert Lindley, Jr.
• Harry Houdini, an escape artist and magician of Hungarian descent is really Ehrich Weiss. He lived from 1874 through 1926.
• Grandma Moses was known for primitive paintings depicting scenes of rural life in America. Her real name is Anna Mary Robertson Moses and she lived from 1860 to 1961. Can you blame her for shortening her name?
• Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses was an expert markswoman and performed in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. I wonder if she was related to Grandma Moses. We knew her as Annie Oakley.
• The first English child born in America was named Virginia Dare. She is thought to have been born in 1587.
• John Montague was thought to have invented the sandwich. He is an English nobleman who we remember as the Earl of Sandwich. He lived from 1718 to 1792.
• Mary Mallon was a New York cook, known as Typhoid Mary
• T.E. Lawrence was a British adventurer known as Lawrence of Arabia. His book “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” told of his adventures in Arabia.
• Stonewall Jackson was a Confederate general during the American Civil War who was accidentally killed by his own men. He lived from 1824- 1863 and his actual name was Thomas Jonathan Jackson.
• Did you ever wonder where the word sadism originated from? Donatien Alphone Francois Comte de Sade, a French author, wrote under the pen name Marquis de Sade

He lived from 1740 to 1814, and it is said that the word sadism was derived from his name.