On this day
May 20 in literary history
Literary history for May 20: 19 writers born, 9 writers who died and 3 literary events from 1470 to 2022. Born on this day: Allison Amend, Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Louis Theroux.
19writers born
9writers died
3literary events
Writers born on May 20
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Allison Amend | American novelist and short story writer |
| 1974 | Shiboprosad Mukherjee | Indian filmmaker and screenwriter (born 1974) |
| 1970 | Louis Theroux | British and American journalist and author (born 1970) |
| 1956 | Ingvar Ambjørnsen | Norwegian writer (1956–2025) |
| 1956 | Douglas Preston | American journalist and author (born 1956) |
| 1949 | Michèle Roberts | British writer, novelist and poet (born 1949) |
| 1924 | David Chavchavadze | American writer (1924–2014) |
| 1923 | Sam Selvon | Trinidadian writer (1923–1994) |
| 1921 | Wolfgang Borchert | German playwright and writer |
| 1911 | Gardner Fox | American comics writer (1911–1986) |
| 1911 | Annie M.G. Schmidt | Dutch writer (1911–1995) |
| 1904 | Margery Allingham | English editor and novelist (1904–1966) |
| 1900 | Sumitranandan Pant | Indian writer |
| 1897 | Diego Abad de Santillán | Spanish anarchist, author, economist (1897–1983) |
| 1882 | Sigrid Undset | Norwegian novelist (1882–1949) and Nobel laureate |
| 1830 | Hector Malot | French writer (1830-1907) |
| 1799 | Honoré de Balzac | French novelist and playwright (1799–1850) |
| 1505 | Levinus Lemnius | Dutch physician and author (1505–1568) |
| 1470 | Pietro Bembo | Italian scholar, poet, and cardinal (1470–1547) |
Writers who died on May 20
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Roger Angell | American writer (1920–2022) |
| 2021 | Gary Wilson (writer) | American writer (1956–2021) |
| 2009 | Pierre Gamarra | French poet, novelist and literary critic |
| 1971 | Waldo Williams | Welsh poet and pacifist (1904–1971) |
| 1956 | Max Beerbohm | English writer and caricaturist (1872–1956) |
| 1940 | Verner von Heidenstam | Swedish poet and novelist (1859–1940) |
| 1864 | John Clare | English poet (1793–1864) |
| 1841 | Joseph Blanco White | Spanish poet and theologian (1775–1841) |
| 1713 | Thomas Sprat | English churchman and writer (1635–1713) |
Literary events on May 20
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1983 | A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier published their discovery of HIV, but were not then certain that it caused AIDS. |
| 1609 | Shakespeare's sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe. |
| 1609 | Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's sonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's consent. |
Featured
Allison Amend (1974) — Allison Amend is an American novelist and short story writer.
Shiboprosad Mukherjee (1974) — Shiboprosad Mukherjee is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor who works primarily in Bengali cinema. He made his directorial debut with Icche (2011), co-directed with Nandita Roy.
Louis Theroux (1970) — Louis Theroux is a British and American journalist, broadcaster, documentarian and author. He has received three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.