On this day
August 24 in literary history
Literary history for August 24: 26 writers born, 15 writers who died and 3 literary events from 1456 to 2020. Born on this day: Vahur Afanasjev, John Green, Steve Guttenberg.
Writers born on August 24
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Vahur Afanasjev | Estonian writer (1979–2021) |
| 1977 | John Green | American author and YouTuber (born 1977) |
| 1958 | Steve Guttenberg | American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director (born 1958) |
| 1952 | Marion Bloem | Dutch writer and director |
| 1952 | Linton Kwesi Johnson | Jamaican poet and activist (born 1952) |
| 1951 | Orson Scott Card | American science fiction novelist (born 1951) |
| 1951 | Oscar Hijuelos | American novelist |
| 1948 | Alexander McCall Smith | Scottish-Zimbabwean writer and academic |
| 1947 | Paulo Coelho | Brazilian lyricist and novelist (born 1947) |
| 1940 | Madsen Pirie | British researcher and author (born 1940) |
| 1937 | Susan Sheehan | American writer (1937–2026) |
| 1936 | A. S. Byatt | British writer (1936–2023) |
| 1927 | David Ireland (author) | Australian writer (1927–2022) |
| 1923 | Arthur Jensen | American psychologist and writer (1923–2012) |
| 1915 | James Tiptree Jr. | American sci-fi writer (1915–1987) |
| 1904 | Mary Burchell | British novelist, campaigner for Jewish refugees (1904–1986) |
| 1903 | Mohammad Yamin | Indonesian poet, revolutionary, and politician (1903–1962) |
| 1899 | Jorge Luis Borges | Argentine writer (1899–1986) |
| 1898 | Malcolm Cowley | American writer (1898–1989) |
| 1897 | Fred Rose (songwriter) | American music producer, publisher and songwriter (1898–1954) |
| 1890 | Jean Rhys | British novelist (1890–1979) |
| 1884 | Earl Derr Biggers | American novelist and playwright |
| 1872 | Max Beerbohm | English writer and caricaturist (1872–1956) |
| 1852 | Agnes Marshall | English cookery writer (1852–1905) |
| 1591 | Robert Herrick (poet) | English poet and cleric (1591–1674) |
| 1578 | John Taylor (poet) | English poet (1578–1653) |
Writers who died on August 24
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Gail Sheehy | American writer |
| 2011 | Seyhan Erözçelik | Turkish poet |
| 2003 | Wilfred Thesiger | British military officer, explorer, and writer |
| 1990 | Sergei Dovlatov | Soviet journalist and writer (1941–1990) |
| 1990 | Gely Abdel Rahman | Sudanese poet |
| 1982 | Félix-Antoine Savard | Canadian priest, academic, poet, novelist and folklorist |
| 1957 | Ronald Knox | English Catholic priest and author (1888–1957) |
| 1923 | Kate Douglas Wiggin | American writer (1856–1923) |
| 1895 | Albert F. Mummery | English mountaineer and author (1855–1895) |
| 1841 | Theodore Hook | English writer |
| 1838 | Ferenc Kölcsey | Hungarian politician and writer (1790–1838) |
| 1821 | John William Polidori | English writer and physician (1795-1821) |
| 1798 | Thomas Alcock (priest) | Anglican clergyman and author (1709–1798) |
| 1770 | Thomas Chatterton | English medieval-style poet (1752–1770) |
| 1759 | Ewald Christian von Kleist | German poet and noble (1715–1759) |
Literary events on August 24
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1662 | The 1662 Book of Common Prayer is legally enforced as the liturgy of the Church of England, precipitating the Great Ejection of Dissenter ministers from their benefices. |
| 1662 | The 1662 Book of Common Prayer was legally enforced as the liturgy of the Church of England, precipitating the Great Ejection of Dissenter ministers from their benefices. |
| 1456 | The oldest known version of the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book produced on a printing press, was completed. |
Featured
Vahur Afanasjev (1979) — Vahur Afanasjev was an Estonian novelist, poet, musician and film director best known for his novel Serafima and Bogdan a story following the lives in a village of Russian Orthodox Old Believers on the shore of the lake Peipus from the end of the World War II to the nineties.
John Green (1977) — John Michael Green is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including The Fault in Our Stars (2012), which is one of the best-selling books of all time.
Steve Guttenberg (1958) — Steven Robert Guttenberg is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for playing Carey Mahoney in the Police Academy films from 1984 to 1987 and for playing Michael Kellam in the box office hit Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its 1990 sequel.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.