Historyville

That's right, Justin Timberlake dressed up like a block of tofu and did a song and dance to try to convince you to “bring it on down to Veganville” on a recent Saturday Night Live episode. But you know who brought it down to Veganville long before Babe gave sausage chompers pause? Amos Bronson Alcott, a.k.a. Louisa May Alcott's papa. A philosopher, educator and abolitionist, he lived from 1799-1888, and was a strict vegetarian (that's “vegan” in 21st-century speak). He was a man ahead of his time, though he wasn't perfect. His utopian live-off-the-land commune Fruitlands, located in Harvard, Mass., failed (it's a museum now), but at least he tried. What'll your legacy be?