On this day
February 14 in literary history
Literary history for February 14: 12 writers born, 7 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1404 to 2019. Born on this day: Josh Senter, Jim Jefferies, Meg Tilly.
Writers born on February 14
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Josh Senter | American screenwriter (born 1979) |
| 1977 | Jim Jefferies | Australian stand-up comedian, actor and writer |
| 1960 | Meg Tilly | American actress and writer (born 1960) |
| 1948 | Pat O'Brien (radio and television personality) | American author and radio host |
| 1932 | Alexander Kluge | German author, film director and public intellectual (1932–2026) |
| 1912 | Tibor Sekelj | Hungarian author and explorer (1912–1988) |
| 1884 | Kostas Varnalis | Greek poet (1884–1974) |
| 1855 | Frank Harris | Irish-American writer (1856–1931) |
| 1835 | Piet Paaltjens | Dutch minister and writer (1835–1894) |
| 1828 | Edmond François Valentin About | French writer (1828–1885) |
| 1692 | Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée | French playwright (1692-1754) |
| 1404 | Leon Battista Alberti | Italian architect and author (1404-1472) |
Writers who died on February 14
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Andrea Levy | English author (1956–2019) |
| 2015 | Philip Levine (poet) | American poet (1928–2015) |
| 2013 | Glenn Boyer | American writer (1924–2013) |
| 2010 | Dick Francis | English jockey and crime writer (1920–2010) |
| 1999 | John Ehrlichman | American lawyer, Watergate co-conspirator, and writer (1925–1999) |
| 1975 | P. G. Wodehouse | English writer (1881–1975) |
| 1885 | Jules Vallès | French journalist and author (1832–1885) |
Literary events on February 14
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1989 | Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. |
| 1989 | Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses, a novel considered to be blasphemous by some Muslims. |
Featured
Josh Senter (1980) — Joshua Ray Senter is an American screenwriter and novelist known for his work on the television series Desperate Housewives and his critically-acclaimed novel, Still the Night Call.
Jim Jefferies (1977) — Geoffrey James Nugent, known professionally as Jim Jefferies, is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He created and starred in the FX sitcom Legit (2013–2014) and the Comedy Central late-night show The Jim Jefferies Show (2017–2019). In 2023, Jefferies began hosting The 1% Club.
Meg Tilly (1960) — Meg Tilly is an American actress and writer.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.