1478 – Baldassare Castiglione (Count of Casatico), a prominent Italian Renaissance author who was also a courtier, diplomat, and soldier.
1721 – James Elphinston, Scottish philologist, orthographer, and English-language grammarian.
1884 – Cornelia Meigs, American children’s author of fiction and biography, best known for her 1933 biography of Louisa May Alcott, Invincible Louisa; in addition to winning the Newbery Medal for that book, she also wrote three Newbery Honor books.
1886 – Joyce Kilmer, American writer and poet best known for his poem “Trees”; though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the beauty of nature, Kilmer was also a journalist, literary critic, lecturer, editor, and religious writer.
1904 – Eve Curie Labouisse, French-U.S. writer, journalist, biographer, activist, and pianist; as the daughter of Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie and the sister of Irène Joliot-Curie, she was the only person in her family who did not become a scientist and win a Nobel Prize. She did write a biography of her mother and a memoir about her experiences as a war correspondent. She was dubbed the “First Lady of UNICEF” for her commitment to working for UNICEF to help mothers and children in developing countries.
1905 – Elizabeth Yates, Newbery Medal-winning American author of children’s books who is best known for the biographical novel Amos Fortune, Free Man .
1910 – David M. Potter, Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian who wrote extensively about the American Civil War.
1949 – Linda Barnes, American mystery writer, known for the “Carlotta Carlyle” series.
1951 – Tomson Highway, Canadian indigenous (Cree) playwright, novelist, children’s author, and musician who was also the librettist of the first Cree language opera, Pimooteewin (The Journey).
1970 – Joumana Haddad, acclaimed Lebanese poet, translator, journalist, and women’s rights activist.
The Petrini Page 