Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
At the start of her career, Christina Rossetti wrote under the pseudonym Ellen Alleyne, publishing seven poems by that name. (Source)
Rossetti was such a devout Christian that she engaged in regular acts of self-denial in order to strengthen her connection to God. For example, she stopped playing chess because she realized that she liked winning so much. (Source)
In 1854, Rossetti tried to volunteer as a nurse to help the famous Florence Nightingale tend to wounded soldiers in the Crimean War. Christina was rejected, though. (Source)