We're always looking for volunteers to assist in the information-gathering aspect of this project. It's a job that you can do just once, or can devote a few hours' work to per month -- or can turn into an obsession.

It'll give you a motive for browsing biographies, autobiographies, histories, and many other kinds of source material. You are free to pursue any lead and any line of inquiry. If it interests you, it probably interests others. Obvious questions include the birth and death dates of major and minor figures, the dates of creation and announcement of significant inventions, the dates of the making of major images, opening dates of major exhibitions, inauguration dates of major institutions, and such.

But you can follow the trail of romance (when did so-and-so get married?), anti-romance (when did she get divorced?), or lust (when did Weston first sleep with Modotti?). Or scandal. (When did Eadweard Muybridge's murder trial start and end?)

Should you produce a substantial number of listings, we'll gladly provide a letter encouraging your teacher to consider this for extra credit, independent study, or other academic purposes. You'll also join our list of assorted nabobs, know-it-alls, and scalawags.