Literatus Obitus

On this day,

Samuel Smiles died in 1812, who wrote biographies of Josiah Wedgwood and George Stephenson but also wrote self-improvement books like , “Self-Help, and Thrift,” could be useful today if you could get hold of them.

Meanwhile in 1886, William Makepeace Thackeray, died in England aged 52, author of the best-selling novel, “Vanity Fair,” among many other novels and contributor to many publications such as Punch magazine.