From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- 1547 - Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author is born. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote de la Mancha, which is considered by many to be the first modern novel, one of the greatest works in Western literature, and the greatest in the Spanish language.
- 1800 - Michael Denis, Austrian poet died
- 1810 - Elizabeth Gaskell, British novelist born
- 1864 - Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish writer and philosopher born
- 1901 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher and poet born
- 1902 - William Topaz McGonagall, British poet died
- 1902 - Émile Zola, French writer died
- 1908 - Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer died
- 1930 - Colin Dexter, British author of Inspector Morse novels is born
- 1951 - Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer born
- 1967 - Carson McCullers, American author died
- 1973 - W. H. Auden, English poet died
