1832 – The author Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Her father was Bronson Alcott, a founder of the Transcendentalist Club. She worked as a teacher and domestic worker and eventually began to write poems and short stories for children. Alcott was an ardent abolitionist and served as a nurse during the Civil War. This experience provided the material for Hospital Sketches, which established her literary reputation. Her best-known story, a great financial success, is Little Women, which was largely autobiographical. Alcott did not like formal church connections, but her beliefs were Unitarian. Read more about Louisa May Alcott.