Two men born on the 13^th April, 163 years apart both lived for 83 years. One was born in the middle of the 18^th century, became a revolutionary and wrote the United Sates Declaration of Independence.  The other was born at the beginning of the 20^th century, became a revolutionary/resistance fighter and wrote Waiting for Godot, voted in a Royal National Theatre poll as the most significant play of the 20^th century. I speak of Thomas Jefferson, born 13^th April 1743 and Samuel Beckett born 13^th April 1906. 

 Both have had their faces portrayed on currency and postage stamps.

Both were highly educated and studied languages (Beckett: French and Italian; Jefferson: French, Latin and Greek) and both lived in France. Jefferson served as Minister to France from the newly crated United States of America between 1785 and 1789 and sided with the revolutionaries in 1789 when the French Revolution broke out.  Beckett went to live in France in the 1930’s and joined the French Resistance after the 1940 occupation by Germany during World War II.

Beckett's literary works is extensive and Jefferson's not so much; however, the influence both were to have as a result of their work is pervasive. Jefferson's Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) and Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775) made quite an impact at the time, and the cumulative effect of Beckett's work was recognised by the awarding of a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. 

It is worth a visit to You Tube to watch all nine parts. As to Beckett just go with the flow and follow below.