ROI? Over here it means Republic of Ireland.

Return Of Investment. 

23 June 1927 - Robert Fosse born. 

Bob Fosse the American dancer and choreographer who moved from dancing in films and on stage to choreography in 1954. Huge success followed making him the foremost figure in jazz dance production with such hits as The Pajama Game (stage 1954, film 1957), Pal Joey (stage 1963), Sweet Charity (stage 1966, film 1969), Cabaret (film 1972) and Chicago (stage 1975).    

24 June 1842 - Ambrose Bierce born.

American journalist and writer, author of many short stories of horror and the supernatural.

He rose to fame with his collection of short stories Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891). His best known work is The Devil's Dictionary (1906) with such definitions as "Love - A temporary insanity cured by marriage" and "Cabbage - A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head".

Seeking excitement in old age he travelled to Mexico joining Pancho Villa's rebel army as an observer. His last known communication was a letter dated 26 December 1913. It is thought he was captured and executed by firing squad the following month, he was 71. 

25 June 1870 - (Robert) Erskine Childers born.

Anglo-Irish writer and political activist. 

Initially a firm supporter of British Imperialism he served in the Boer War in 1900 and in 1903 published his only novel The Riddle of the Sands highlighting the dangers of a German invasion of England. 

However by the outbreak of war in 1914 he had become disillusioned with British rule in Ireland but nevertheless signed up for the Royal Navy in the belief that Ireland would be granted Home Rule in recognition of her war efforts. When this failed to come about after the war he moved permanently to Ireland and was elected to the breakaway Irish Parliament in 1921 serving in the Irish delegation to London to discuss independence, but denounced the settlement agreed in December making him an outlaw both to the British and the pro-Treaty Irish.

In November 1922 he was arrested by Irish forces and tried by a military court for the possession of a handgun. Found guilty he was executed by firing squad in Dublin.

His son Erskine served in the Irish government as a Minister in the 1960s and 70s becoming Prime Minister and later President. 

He was a leading figure on the other side so was eliminated. A typically Irish solution. The same had happened to Michael Collins a few months earlier, except he was ambushed on the road.

He was convicted under the Free State's martial law of carrying a firearm without a license.  

His only novel The Riddle of the Sands is very good and was made into an excellent film in 1979. 

26 June 1914 - Laurence Lee born.

Laurie Lee author of the highly successful and evocative autobiography of childhood Cider With Rosie (1959) recalling his early life in the Gloucestershire village of Slad. Two further autobiographies followed detailing his life as a young man and his involvement in the Spanish Civil War.

He was able to buy a property in Slad with the proceeds of Cider With Rosie and died there in 1997.

27 June 2001 - Tove Jansson died.

Finnish author of children's books and creator of the Moomins. She published around 20 volumes of Moomin books beginning in 1945 with The Moomins and the Great Flood. 

28 June 1712 - Jean-Jacques Rousseau born.

Swiss-French philosopher born in Geneva he moved firstly to Savoy in northern Italy before settling in France at the age of 27. 

Supporting himself in a series of clerical and secretarial roles his love of music brought him to public notice with first prize from the Academy of Dijon for his essay Discourses on the Arts and Science in 1750. Further philosophical works followed making him one of the leading figures of the Enlightenment. 

He has an interesting link with my home County of Staffordshire. He visited England in 1766 and rented Wootton Hall, but being French in rural Staffordshire was a problem, he was disliked in the neighbourhood where no-one spoke French. Only one wealthy neighbour spoke his language, when he closed his house for the winter and left the area Rousseau spent the darker months writing the bulk of his autobiography Confessions. With the arrival of spring 1767 he returned to France.   

Foreigners, and French at that, the old enemy with whom the latest war had concluded only three years before! Natural we should dislike them. 

29 June 1577 - Sir Peter Paul Rubens born.

Flemish painter born in Germany but lived in Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands from the age of ten. In 1600 he moved to Italy where he perfected his art. Upon his return to Antwerp he was appointed Court Painter to the Viceroy. He soon found himself in great demand and circulated in the highest circles, so much so that he was entrusted with diplomatic missions on behalf of the Viceroy. After one such mission to England in 1630 he was knighted by King Charles I.

His voluptuous nudes in mythical settings are his most famous works, but he also produced many portraits and landscapes plus biblical scenes making him the greatest figure in Baroque art.

30 June 1973 - Nancy Mitford died.

English novelist, the eldest of the six celebrated daughters of the 2nd Baron Redesdale and one of the "bright young things" of the inter-war social scene. She married Peter Rodd in 1933 but wrote under her maiden name.

She published eight novels of which The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949) are her most popular. 

She lived in France after the war and died there aged 68. 

1 July 1804 - George Sand born. 

The pen name of the French authoress born Amantine Dupin de Francueil and who married François Dudevant at the age of 18. The marriage didn't last, in 1831 she fled to Paris to begin her career as a writer adopting the pseudonym George Sand.

Her many novels and plays, mostly of a romantic or sensationalist nature, made her one of the most popular writers of the 19th century. Her turbulent love life also placed her in the public eye. 

She died in 1876 in the house she had owned since 1837 in the village of Nohant, central France.

Perhaps it helped her to write the way she did.