1716 – Thomas Gray, English poet.
1819 – E.D.E.N. Southworth (Emily Dorothy Eliza Nevitte), American novelist and short-story writer; friend of writer and reformer Harriet Beecher Stowe.
1820 – Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot, Irish actor and playwright, best known for his melodramas.
1862 – Alexander V. Amfiteatrov, Russian writer and historian.
1888 – Hiroshi “Can” Kikuchi , Japanese author and publisher.
1891 – Henry Miller, groundbreaking American novelist, social critic, travel writer, and painter.
1893 – Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao), revolutionary, politician, poet, sociopolitical theorist, and dictator; founder of the People’s Republic of China; a book of his quotations, commonly called “The Little Red Book” in the West, is one of the most widely printed books in history.
1894 – Jean Toomer, Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist.
1921 – Steve Allen, writer, comedian, musician, and television personality.
1942 – Catherine Coulter, American author best known for her romantic suspense fiction and historical romances.
1956 – David Sedaris, American humorist, author, radio personality, and memoirist whose sister is actress and comedian Amy Sedaris.
1977 – Emma Forrest, British-American journalist, columnist, novelist, and screenwriter.
