On this day -- June 14

A batch of interesting dates

On this day these people were born:

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-96), author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the anti-slavery novel that changed the way the world thought.

For an excellent essay on Stowe and the huge influence of her novel, see today's NYT op-ed by David S. Reynolds, "Rescuing the Real Uncle Tom."

John Bartlett (1820-1905), author of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations 

And these Important Things happened, at least one of them maritime:

1789: Captain William Bligh, with 18 loyal seamen, was cast adrift from HMS Bounty, to reach Timor in the East Indies after an epic open-boat voyage -- and to inspire dozens of books, articles, papers, and films.

A sixtieth anniversary!  In 1951, the first electronic computer for commercial use was demonstrated at the Bureau of the Census in Philadelphia.  (ZOMG - was it only 60 years ago?)

1997: Capitalism in Action.  A 1939 comic book that is the first in the Batman series is auctioned for US$68,500 at Sotheby's in New York.

I wonder what it is worth now...

I shall answer my own question, having looked it up.  It is now worth $375,000!!!