On this day
May 15 in literary history
Literary history for May 15: 26 writers born, 13 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1689 to 2017. Born on this day: Ryan Max Riley, Ahmet Zappa, Laura Hillenbrand.
Writers born on May 15
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Ryan Max Riley | American freeskier and humor writer (born 1979) |
| 1974 | Ahmet Zappa | American musician and writer (born 1974) |
| 1967 | Laura Hillenbrand | American writer (born 1967) |
| 1957 | Meg Gardiner | American novelist |
| 1954 | Diana Liverman | Geographer and science writer |
| 1952 | Chazz Palminteri | American actor, producer, screenwriter, and playwright (born 1952) |
| 1941 | Jaxon (cartoonist) | American cartoonist |
| 1938 | Nancy Garden | American fiction writer (1938–2014) |
| 1936 | Ralph Steadman | Welsh illustrator and cartoonist (born 1936) |
| 1936 | Paul Zindel | American writer (1936–2003) |
| 1935 | Utah Phillips | American labor organizer, folk singer, and poet (1935–2008) |
| 1926 | Anthony Shaffer (writer) | English writer (1926–2001) |
| 1926 | Peter Shaffer | English playwright and screenwriter (1926–2016) |
| 1922 | Jakucho Setouchi | Japanese Buddhist nun and author (1922–2021) |
| 1921 | Federico Krutwig | Basque writer (1921–1998) |
| 1920 | Michel Audiard | French screenwriter and film director (1920-1985) |
| 1915 | Hilda Bernstein | British-born author, artist and activist |
| 1911 | Max Frisch | Swiss playwrighter and novelist (1911–1991) |
| 1903 | Maria Reiche | Peruvian archaeologist, mathematician and technical translator (1903–1998) |
| 1901 | Xavier Herbert | Australian writer (1901–1984) |
| 1891 | Mikhail Bulgakov | Russian and Soviet author (1891–1940) |
| 1891 | Hjalmar Dahl | Swedish-speaking Finnish journalist, translator and author (born 1891) |
| 1890 | Katherine Anne Porter | American journalist and writer (1890–1980) |
| 1862 | Arthur Schnitzler | Austrian author and dramatist (1862–1931) |
| 1856 | L. Frank Baum | American author (1856–1919) |
| 1689 | Lady Mary Wortley Montagu | English writer and poet (1689–1762) |
Writers who died on May 15
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Herbert R. Axelrod | American tropical fish expert, a publisher of pet books, and an entrepreneur |
| 2012 | Carlos Fuentes | Mexican writer (1928–2012) |
| 2012 | Arno Lustiger | German historian and author of Jewish origin (1924–2012) |
| 2008 | Will Elder | American illustrator (1921–2008) |
| 1993 | Salah Ahmed Ibrahim | Sudanese literary writer, poet and diplomat |
| 1991 | Amadou Hampâté Bâ | Malian writer, historian and ethnologist |
| 1989 | Luc Lacourcière | Canadian ethnographer and writer (1910–1989) |
| 1986 | Theodore H. White | American historian and author (1915–1986) |
| 1985 | Jackie Curtis | American actor, singer, and playwright |
| 1954 | William March | United States Marine, novelist, short story writer (1893–1954) |
| 1945 | Charles Williams (British writer) | British writer, theologian, and literary critic (1886-1945) |
| 1886 | Emily Dickinson | American poet (1830–1886) |
| 1740 | Ephraim Chambers | English writer and encyclopaedist (c. 1680–1740) |
Literary events on May 15
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1862 | Fertilisation of Orchids, the first book by Charles Darwin which demonstrated the power of natural selection in detail, was published. |
Featured
Ryan Max Riley (1979) — Ryan Max Riley is an American athlete who was a two-time US National Champion on the U.S. Ski Team in the freestyle skiing events of moguls and dual moguls.
Ahmet Zappa (1974) — Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa is an American musician, writer, actor and trustee of the Zappa Family Trust.
Laura Hillenbrand (1967) — Laura Hillenbrand is an American author. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001) and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010), have sold over 13 million copies, and each was adapted for film.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.