In the mood for a good movie? Some toe-tapping music? A thrilling book? ON THIS DAY will lead you to new possibilities every day, tied to interesting moments from history and popular culture. Whether it’s streamable and downloadable music and film, e-books and e-audio, or physical books and DVDs, we hope you’ll find something to enjoy as you pick up a few bits of history each day.

	On this day in 1867, Scott Joplin was born. The composer-pianist found fame with his 1899 "Maple Leaf Rag," a seminal piece in the development of ragtime music. In addition to more than 40 piano rags, Joplin composed songs, a ballet, and two operas (one of which has been lost). A revival of Joplin's music began in the 1970s, when much of it was used as the score for the film The Sting; his opera Treemonisha received its first fully staged production in 1972; and Joplin was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1976. Several of Joplin's rags can be heard as they would have been played in his time, recorded on period piano rolls, on King of Ragtime Writers; it's available for streaming or download at Freegal.
	On this day in 1877, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty was published. We tend to think of it as a children's novel, but Sewell intended it as a form of social activism, meant to draw attention to the cruel treatment of working horses. As such, it was effective, helping to bring about legal changes in England and the United States. Black Beauty was Sewell's only novel, and she died months after its publication. It's available in several formats at OverDrive -- e-book, e-audio, and the 1994 film adaptation starring Sean Bean, David Thewlis, and Alan Cumming as the voice of Black Beauty -- and in print.
	And on this day in 1960, Edgar Meyer was born. Meyer plays several instruments, but is best known as a virtuoso of the double bass. He performs in a variety of styles -- classical, jazz, bluegrass -- and his musical collaborators have included cellist Yo-Yo Ma, tabla player Zakir Hussain, and fellow folk/classical crossover artists Bela Fleck and Mark O'Connor. Meyer performs with mandolinist Chris Thile on Bass & Mandolin, available for streaming at Hoopla.