On this day
August 26 in literary history
Literary history for August 26: 17 writers born, 13 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1775 to 2026. Born on this day: John Mulaney, Allegra Huston, Barbara Ehrenreich.
17writers born
13writers died
2literary events
Writers born on August 26
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | John Mulaney | American comedian, actor, and writer (born 1982) |
| 1964 | Allegra Huston | American screenwriter (born 1964) |
| 1941 | Barbara Ehrenreich | American writer and journalist (1941–2022) |
| 1925 | Pyotr Todorovsky | Russian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer |
| 1920 | Brant Parker | American cartoonist |
| 1914 | Julio Cortázar | Argentine writer (1914–1984) |
| 1914 | Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca | Turkish poet (1914-2008) |
| 1911 | Otto Binder | American writer (1911–1974) |
| 1904 | Christopher Isherwood | English and American novelist (1904–1986) |
| 1903 | Caroline Pafford Miller | American writer |
| 1901 | Eleanor Dark | Australian novelist |
| 1891 | Chatursen Shastri | Indian writer of Hindi literature (1891–1960) |
| 1885 | Jules Romains | French poet and writer (1885–1972) |
| 1880 | Guillaume Apollinaire | French poet and writer (1880–1918) |
| 1875 | John Buchan | Scottish author and statesman (1875–1940) |
| 1874 | Zona Gale | American writer (1874–1938) |
| 1775 | William Joseph Behr | German publicist and writer (1775–1851) |
Writers who died on August 26
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Péter Nádas | Hungarian writer (1942–2026) |
| 2018 | Neil Simon | American playwright, writer, and academic (1927–2018) |
| 2015 | P. J. Kavanagh | English writer and broadcaster (1931–2015) |
| 2009 | Dominick Dunne | American writer and journalist (1925–2009) |
| 1995 | John Brunner (author) | British science fiction author (1934–1995) |
| 1990 | Tang Chang | Thai artist and poet (1934–1990) |
| 1989 | Irving Stone | American writer (1903–1989) |
| 1979 | Mika Waltari | Finnish writer (1908–1979) |
| 1977 | H. A. Rey | Children's illustrator and writer (1898–1977) |
| 1966 | W. W. E. Ross | Canadian poet (1894–1966) |
| 1945 | Franz Werfel | Czech writer (1890–1945) |
| 1943 | Bîmen Şen | Turkish composer and lyricist of Armenian descent (1873–1943) |
| 1813 | Theodor Körner (author) | German poet (1791–1813) |
Literary events on August 26
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2014 | The Jay Report into the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal is published. |
| 1863 | The Swedish-language liberal newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad proposes the current blue-and-white cross flag as the flag of Finland. |
Featured
John Mulaney (1982) — John Edmund Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer.
Allegra Huston (1964) — Allegra Huston is a British-American author, editor, and writer based in Taos, New Mexico.
Barbara Ehrenreich (1941) — Barbara Ehrenreich was an American author and political activist. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She was a widely read and award-winning columnist and essayist and the author of 21 books.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.