Today is the birthday of Peter Mark Roget, and while you may think you do not know his name, you should thank him for the wonderful resource he has given to all people who engage in writing of any sort.  Mr. Roget is responsible for the THESAURUS, a word which translates literally from the Greek into "treasury", and a treasury it is indeed!

But since that's not all he did, check out his bio in the attached link: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/roget_peter_mark.shtml