On this day
February 18 in literary history
Literary history for February 18: 19 writers born, 8 writers who died and 2 literary events from 814 to 2014. Born on this day: Molly Ringwald, Douglas Rushkoff, Lisa See.
19writers born
8writers died
2literary events
Writers born on February 18
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Molly Ringwald | American actress and writer (born 1968) |
| 1961 | Douglas Rushkoff | American writer and media theorist |
| 1955 | Lisa See | American writer (born 1955) |
| 1944 | Elizabeth Nunez | American novelist (1944–2024) |
| 1936 | Jean M. Auel | American author (born 1936) |
| 1934 | Audre Lorde | American writer and feminist activist (1934–1992) |
| 1931 | Johnny Hart | American cartoonist |
| 1931 | Toni Morrison | American novelist and editor (1931–2019) |
| 1929 | Len Deighton | British author (1929–2026) |
| 1922 | Helen Gurley Brown | American author, publisher, and businesswoman |
| 1909 | Wallace Stegner | American historian, writer, and environmentalist |
| 1893 | Maksim Haretski | Belarusian prose writer and journalist |
| 1885 | Henri Laurens | French sculptor and illustrator (1885–1954) |
| 1883 | Nikos Kazantzakis | Greek writer and philosopher (1883–1957) |
| 1867 | Hedwig Courths-Mahler | German writer (1867–1950) |
| 1855 | Jean Jules Jusserand | French author and diplomat (1855–1932) |
| 1849 | Alexander Kielland | Norwegian realist writer (1849–1906) |
| 1658 | Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre | French author (1658–1743) |
| 1626 | Francesco Redi | Italian naturalist and poet |
Writers who died on February 18
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Mavis Gallant | Canadian writer (1922–2014) |
| 1982 | Ngaio Marsh | New Zealand crime writer and theatre director (1895–1982) |
| 1803 | Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim | German Enlightenment poet (1719–1803) |
| 1780 | Kristijonas Donelaitis | Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor (1714–1780) |
| 1654 | Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac | French writer of epistolary essays |
| 1546 | Martin Luther | German priest, theologian and author (1483–1546) |
| 1535 | Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa | German occult writer (1486–1535) |
| 814 | Angilbert | 8th- and 9th-century Frankish poet, diplomat and saint |
Literary events on February 18
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2010 | WikiLeaks published the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by Chelsea Manning. |
| 1885 | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States. |
Featured
Molly Ringwald (1968) — Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, writer, and translator. She began her career as a child actress on the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life before being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her starring role in the drama film Tempest (1982).
Douglas Rushkoff (1961) — Douglas Mark Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, professor, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, documentarian and podcaster.
Lisa See (1955) — Lisa See is an American writer and novelist.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.