Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

And here's your 30-second summary.

There once was a girl with red hair that talked with her friends who weren't there.

Her author persisted, you'd say she resisted, and made a career from thin air.

The End

Let's talk about Lucy Madmuc Gummery.

But first let's drop her into history.

1908 began with the first ball drop on New Year's Eve in Times Square in New York.

Later that year, New York law would make it illegal for women to smoke in public.

Afacapa-Affa, the first Greek sorority of black women, was established at Howard University.

The fourth modern Olympics opened in London.

The song Take Me Out To The Ballpark, got a copyright.

The SOS Distress Signo became a worldwide standard, and the first model T's were sold for $850.

Empress Dowager C.C. of China and Butch Cassidy died.

Betty Davis, Rex Harrison, Ethel Merman, and the man who played the first doctor who William Hartel were born.

And in 1908, Anne of Green Gables was first published, and its author, Lucy Madmuc Gummery, introduces the world to a young redhead with a huge vocabulary.

Hello, and welcome to the show.

For any of you who might not be familiar with the subject of our show today, she's best known for a series of books which starts with Anne of Green Gables.

It's the story of a redheaded 11-year-old orphan named Anne Shirley who gets sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, because they were actually sending off for a boy to be a farmhand.

She's just full of imagination and optimism and honestly changes every person she comes in contact with.

And readers, people all over the world, have Anne Shirley in their heart in a way that I, few characters ever get in there.

She becomes a part of people's being, I would say, like who else would I say even matches her?

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