1823 – Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre, French entomologist and author.
1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet who won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.
1905 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and Beat influencer (though he disliked the label) who was a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance.
1935 – Tomás Rivera, Chicano author, poet, and educator who was born in Texas to migrant farm workers.
1936 – James Burke, British author, science historian, and television producer.
1937 – Charlotte Lamb, pen name of Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland, prolific British author of romantic fiction who also used the pseudonyms Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf, and Laura Hardy
1939 – Jerry Pinckney, Caldecott Medal-winning American children’s book illustrator.
1947 – Brian Daley, American science-fiction novelist, known for his Star Wars adaptations.
1951 – Charles de Lint, Canadian author of science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, and mythic figure; popularizer of early urban fantasy.
1957 – Susan Powter, Australian-born motivational speaker whose “Stop the insanity” was a 1980s catchphrase.
1960 – Antonio Rodríguez Salvador, Cuban poet, fiction writer, dramatist, essayist, and professor who is regarded as one of the outstanding voices in contemporary Latin American fiction.