George Eliot born (22/11/1819)

(or better) Mary Ann Evans born (lived until 1880).
"English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era." (Wiki)
She had already published a good deal (translations, reviews, articles in magazines on contemporary topics) under her birth name, before her first fiction (1857); this was when she assumed her nom de plume. "She wanted to escape the stereotype of women's writing being limited to lighthearted romances or other lighter fare not to be taken very seriously."
But _Adam Bede_ (1859) was so successful that she was outed, and her scandalous private life (living successively with two otherwise-married men) became known. Still, it did her no long-term harm -- apparently Queen Victoria was an avid reader of her novels.
"Due to her denial of the Christian faith and her relationship with Lewes,[50][citation needed] Eliot was not buried in Westminster Abbey. She was instead interred in Highgate Cemetery (East), Highgate, London, in the area reserved for political and religious dissenters and agnostics, beside the love of her life, George Henry Lewes. The graves of Karl Marx and her friend Herbert Spencer are nearby."
Hm. Quite recently I came across a battered old copy of _Silas Marner_. It's on top of my enormous "To Read" pile. Maybe it's time for me to read Word One of George Eliot.