Henry David Thoreau was the ultimate unitasker: a sensible man who completed his work in an uninterrupted fashion…one row of beans at a time.

He was a frugal / green / DIY-ing / straight-edge / vegetarian / anarchist / hipster way before skinny jeans and thick-rimmed spectacles hit the scene.

He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, but refused to pay the $5 fee to receive his diploma.

In a certain sense, he was the original blogger — methodically recording the minutia of his daily life, regardless of whether anyone would ever read it.

He also rocked a kickin’, 100% non-ironic beard.

Thoreau: if you were a lady (and alive), I’d totally make out with you in the bushes at Walden Pond.

(Daguerreotype circa 1856 / via Thoreau E-server)