My guess is that unless you're a fan of Elizabethan theater you've never heard of Robert Greene (1560?-1592). In his day, however, he was a well-known and respected poet and essayist. His best-known play, "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay," remained popular for decades. Yet, for the most part, he is remembered solely for one phrase in a pamphlet written on his deathbed, in which he lashed out at everybody and everything. In that one passage he characterized the young William Shakespeare as "an upstart crow" for supposing he could write without a college education. As it turns out, Will could.

For better or worse, many people who were extraordinarily famous in their day are all but forgotten now, except for their connection to someone famous. What do we really know about Stephen A. Douglas exc…