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History of Italy

On this Day: philosopher Benedetto Croce born

On this Day: philosopher Benedetto Croce born

Croce was born into a wealthy, landowning family. In 1883, while staying on the island of Ischia, he survived a devastating earthquake that killed his parents and sister. The tragedy marked a turning point in his life. Financially independent but personally shaken, he devoted himself to study. He settled in

On this day: death of poet John Keats in Rome

On this day: death of poet John Keats in Rome

Keats had been a published writer for only five years, yet in that short span he produced some of the most celebrated works of the Romantic movement. In the spring of 1819, while sitting beneath a plum tree in an English garden, he wrote “Ode to a Nightingale”, a poem