OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, OUR OLDEST SERVING SUPREME COURT JUSTICE EVER: Born this day in 1841, he lived to be two days shy of 94. For a sense of how long that is, consider this: As a boy, Holmes shook hands with a Revolutionary War veteran; as a Supreme Court Justice, one of his law clerks was Alger Hiss.

By the way, if you think Holmes was a civil libertarian, read this essay on Holmes by H.L. Mencken.