Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- 1562 – Lope de Vega, Spanish playwright born
- 1778 – Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, British Christian writer born
- 1785 – Richard Glover, British poet died
- 1845 – José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, Portuguese novelist born
- 1858 – Alfred Capus, French author born
- 1895 – Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer born
- 1904 – Ba Jin, Chinese novelist born
- 1913 – Lewis Thomas, American physician and essayist born
- 1926 – Poul Anderson, American writer born
- 1947 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet died
- 1950 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish writer died
- 1968 – Upton Sinclair, American journalist, politician, and writer died
- 1970 – Yukio Mishima, Japanese writer died
