Born on This Day: January 19

Japanese Zen teacher who founded the Sōtō school in Japan and wrote influential works on meditation and religious practice.

Scottish engineer whose improvements to the steam engine accelerated industrialization and transformed power generation.

French philosopher who founded positivism and helped establish sociology as a distinct field of study.

American writer whose poetry and tales helped shape modern horror, detective fiction, and psychological literature.

English inventor whose steelmaking process made large-scale, lower-cost steel production possible.

French painter whose exploration of form and structure helped bridge Impressionism and modern art.

American novelist whose psychologically complex crime fiction had lasting influence on literature and film.