April 15 is the birthday of Renaissance man LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519).

"Command of the self is greater than command of a thousand armies."

Leonardo "was an Italian Renaissance polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, he epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal." (Wikipedia)

April 15 is the birthday of American painter, muralist and Missouri native THOMAS HART BENTON (1889-1975).

"The only way an artist can personally fail is to quit work."

Benton "was an American painter, muralist, and printmaker. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. The fluid, sculpted figures in his paintings showed everyday people in scenes of life in the United States.

His work is strongly associated with the Midwestern United States, the region in which he was born and which he called home for most of his life. He also studied in Paris, lived in New York City for more than 20 years and painted scores of works there, summered for 50 years on Martha's Vineyard off the New England coast, and also painted scenes of the American South and West." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Benton’s art, CLICK HERE.

April 15 is the birthday of African-American blues singer BESSIE SMITH (1894-1937).

"I ain't good-lookin', but I'm somebody's angel child."

"I've been poor and I've been rich, and rich is better."

Smith "was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the 'Empress of the Blues,' she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists." (Wikipedia)

April 15 is the birthday of Armenian-American painter ARSHILE GORKY (1904-1948).

"I like the heat the tenderness the edible the lusciousness the song of a single person the bathtub full of water to bathe myself beneath the water . . . I like the wheatfields the plough the apricots those flirts of the sun. But bread above all."

Gorky "was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the United States. Along with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. The suffering and loss he experienced in the Armenian genocide had crucial influence at Gorky's development as an artist." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Gorky’s art, CLICK HERE.

April 15 is the birthday of African-American painter and sculptor ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012).

Catlett "was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Both her mother and father were the children of freed slaves, and her grandmother told her stories about the capture of their people in Africa and the hardships of plantation life. Catlett was the youngest of three children. Both of her parents worked in education; her mother was a truant officer and her father taught at Tuskegee University, the then D.C. public school system. Her father died before she was born, leaving her mother to hold several jobs to support the household ...

Her work is a mixture of abstract and figurative in the Modernist tradition, with influence from African and Mexican art traditions. According to the artist, the main purpose of her work is to convey social messages rather than pure aesthetics. Her work is heavily studied by art students looking to depict race, gender and class issues. During her lifetime, Catlett received many awards and recognitions, including membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, the Art Institute of Chicago Legends and Legacy Award, honorary doctorates from Pace University and Carnegie Mellon, and the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement Award in contemporary sculpture." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Catlett’s art, CLICK HERE.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On April 15, 1755. Dr. Samuel Johnson published his famous Dictionary.

Some samples:

Oats: "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland appears to support the people."

Lizard: "An animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it."

Sock: "Something put between the shoe and foot."

Bum: "The part on which we sit."

Lexicographer: "A harmless drudge who busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words."

Trolmydames (a word used by Shakespeare in "A Winter's Tale): "Of this word I know not the meaning."

On April 15, 1846, The Donner Party began its fateful trek from Springfield, IL to California. Ric Burns made a riveting documentary about the journey for PBS. All eight parts are on YouTube. He starts the documentary with an extraordinary quote by De Toqueville.

"It is odd to watch with what feverish ardor Americans pursue prosperity. Ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they may not have chosen the shortest route to get it. They cleave to the things of this world as if assured that they will never die, and yet rush to snatch any that comes within their reach as if they expected to stop living before they had relished them. Death steps in, in the end, and stops them before they have grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes them."