Alexandre Dumas

His play Henri III and His Courts premieres at the Theatre Francais. It's a sensation. Dumas is 27, self-educated, and has been in Paris only five years. He'd arrived with almost nothing and talked his way into a clerical job with the Duke of Orleans.

The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo both serialize in the same year. He employs collaborators, most notably Auguste Maquet, who outlines plots while Dumas writes the dialogue and action. He's producing work at industrial scale. The serials sell millions.

Builds the Chateau de Monte-Cristo outside Paris. It's extravagant, ridiculous, and he can't afford it. He throws parties for hundreds of strangers. He keeps open house for anyone who shows up. He'll be bankrupt within a few years.

Joins Garibaldi's campaign to unify Italy. He's 58. He buys weapons, sails to Sicily, and founds a newspaper in Naples called L'Independant to support the cause. Not a journalist's whim. He stays for three years.

Dies at his son's house near Dieppe. Nearly penniless. His published works total 100,000 pages. In 2002, his remains are moved to the Pantheon. The coffin is draped in blue velvet embroidered with the Musketeers' motto: "All for one, one for all."