Today is the birthday of author Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952), who wrote over 100 children’s books. She wrote the perennial children’s classic Goodnight Moon (illustrated by Clement Hurd). First published in 1947, the book initially sold poorly, but grew popular over the decades. According to Wikipedia, “Annual sales grew from about 1,500 copies in 1953 to almost 20,000 in 1970; by 1990, the total number of copies sold exceeded 4 million. As of 2007, the book sells about 800,000 copies annually and by 2017 had cumulatively sold an estimated 48 million copies.”

LGBTQ+ Icon: After dating various men, Margaret had a long-term relationship with Blanche Oelrichs, a poet, playwright, and actress who used the pen name Michael Strange.