 | Author George Sand (aka Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, Baronne Dudevant) was born on this day in 1804. She wore men’s clothing and smoked in public, pushing the early 19th century social boundaries. Novelist Ivan Turgenev said of her, "What a brave man she was, and what a good woman." |
 | Shakespeare in the Grove offers The Merchant of Venice at the TCC Roper Performing Art Center. Free at tcc.edu or call 822.5219. |
| Psychoanalyst Marie Bonaparte was born today in 1882. The great-grand-niece of Napoleon I of France, Marie was a Princess by title. Her interest in (and financial backing of) psychoanalysis was a great instigator in its popularity. Her wealth enabled Sigmund Freud to escape Nazi Germany and it was to her that Freud said, “The great question that has never been answered and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?’” Bonaparte also conducted extensive research on female orgasms. |
 | Charlotte Perkins Gilman, best known as the writer of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” was born on this day in 1860. The short story illustrated the cultural views on women’s mental and physical health in the 19th century. Gilman experienced what is now believed to be severe post-partum depression after the birth of her only child, which inspired the tale. The great-niece of influential humanists Harriet Beecher Stowe, Catharine Beecher and Isabella Beecher Hooker, Gilman believed that economic independence was the only thing that could really bring freedom to women, making them equal to men. |
 | “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Happy Independence Day. |
| Fourth at the Fort with live music, rides, food and fireworks at Fort Monroe. Free from 4-11pm. Call 757.788.3151. |
| Who could miss the 26th Annual AT&T Great American Picnic & Fireworks from 5-10pm. Free at Town Point Park. festeventsva.org |
 | Veronica Guerin was born on this day in 1958—watch Cate Blanchett portray the Irish journalist in the heartbreaking namesake film, Veronica Guerin. Her life and death inspired fellow Dubliners to crack down on the growing drug trade and clean up the city for good. |
 | “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” Artist Frida Kahlo was born on this day in 1907. |
 | Today is the 415th birthday of Artemisia Gentileschi, an Early Italian Baroque painter, who is now considered to be one of the most talented painters (besides Caravaggio) of the era. She was the first female painter to become a member of the Academy of Art and Design in Florence, and one of the first females to paint religious and historical themes in a time when these things were considered beyond a woman’s reach. |
 | Author Ann Radcliffe was born today in 1764. Considered the pioneer of the gothic novel, her stories of heroic young girls exploring mysterious and dangerous locales became very popular and influenced the work of writers like Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott. Read Austen’s Northanger Abbey for examples of imitation and parody of her work. |
 | Aphra Behn was born on this day in 1640. She was one of the first women to earn a living as a writer. Behn’s work was revolutionary, discussing race and female sexuality—something not touched upon by the predatory Libertine male writers of her time. Virginia Woolfe said of her, “All women together, ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn...for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” |
| Everyone has something to give at the 21st Annual FM99 Rock-n-Roll Up Your Sleeve Blood Drive 7am-7pm. Visit FM99.com |
 | Opening at the D’Art Center of Connections: Summer Invitational Art Exhibition through August 31. Proceeds from sales benefit d’Art Center’s educational outreach program d’Art Smart. Go to d-artcenter.org |
 | Town Point Park becomes the largest dance floor in Hampton Roads when the 8th Annual AT&T Norfolk Latino Music Festival brings the spice! From 5-10pm. Visit festeventsva.org |
 | Simone Veil, France’s former Minister of Health, was born on this day in 1927. Veil was a Holocaust survivor (she, her mother and sister were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau) who went on to build a good life and political career, despite losing her father, brother and mother during the Holocaust. She pushed the notable laws of making access to contraceptives easier (1974) and legalizing abortion (1975) and went on to become President of the European Parliament (1979-1982) and still continues to be socially and politically active. |
 | Maggie L. Walker, the first female founder/president of a bank in the US, was born on this day in 1887 to a former slave and an abolitionist. She worked her entire life trying to make life better for African Americans and women—the founding of her bank was due to her idea that people should pool their money together to help each other. Her bank, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, still exists today as the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company in Richmond, VA. |
 | On this day in 1862 Ida B. Wells was born. Wells fought for equality of women and African Americans—especially the equality of African American women in the suffragist movement. 71 years before Rosa Parks, Wells refused to give up her seat on a train, and when they made her move, she sued the railway company. She won her case in the local court but lost when the railroad took it to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Her refusal to stand in the back of suffragist parades garnered her more media attention for her causes. As a further landmark for her time, Wells was one of the first married women to keep her own last name after marriage. |
 | Poets and Pirates Tour featuring LeAnn Rimes at 7:30pm at the Virginia Beach Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Call 368.3000 or livenation.com |
 | Today is the 160th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention—the first women’s rights convention in the United States. |
 | It’s the Poker Run with all proceeds benefiting Laurel Shelter, an emergency shelter which aids women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Info: ghjohnsonsr@verizon.net. |
 | Amelia Earhart Day honors the birthday of the woman who took aviation and feminism to new heights. |
 | The best in contemporary smooth jazz begins at the 26th Annual AT&T Jazz Festival. Ticketed and free admission. Call 441.2345 or go to festeventsva.org |
 | 83rd Annual Chincoteague Wild Pony Swim & Carnival. Witness the pony swim across the Assateague Channel. Visit assateagueisland.com |
