... 1957, Gabriela Mistral (right), who in 1945 had become the 1st Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, died in Hempstead, New York. She'd been born in 1889, in Vicuña, Chile, and given the name Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga. "The daughter of a dilettante poet, she began to write poetry as a village schoolteacher after a passionate romance with a railway employee who committed suicide." Her works included poetry collections entitled Sonetos de la muerte (1914), Desolación (1922), and Ternura (1924). In addition to writing and teaching, Mistral "played an important role in the educational systems of Mexico and Chile, was active in cultural committees of the League of Nations, and was Chilean consul in Naples, Madrid, and Lisbon." She is an inspiration to IntLawGrrl Naomi Roht-Arriaza.... 1938, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Cal.) was born in Ladysmith, Wisconsin.
... 1863 (145 years ago today), in London, England, the world's 1st subway began transporting passengers. The Metropolitan Railway, as it was called, moved at speeds of up to 25 mph along the 3¾-mile distance between Paddington and Farringdon Street stations. In the photo above left, many gentlemen and a lone woman at left take a test ride shortly before the official opening date.
