1548 – Pari Khan Khanum (also spelled Parikhan Khanum) Safavid poet, writer, and princess who was the daughter of the Safavid king (shah) Tahmasp I and an influential figure in the Safavid state, even becoming de facto ruler for a short period; eventually she was strangled to death because her influence and power were perceived as dangerous.
1841 – Juliana Horatia Ewing, British author of children’s stories whose work has been called “the first outstanding child-novels in English literature.” Her writings display a sympathetic insight into children’s lives, an admiration for the military, and a strong religious faith.
1871 – Vernon Louis Parrington, influential American historian and football coach who won the Pulitzer Prize for History for his three-volume history of American letters, Main Currents in American Thought.
1887 – Rupert Brooke, English poet known for his idealistic sonnets about World War I.
1904 – Clifford D. Simak, American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer, and journalist who won three Hugo awards and one Nebula award in his career and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.
1909 – Walter Van Tilburg Clark, American novelist who wrote about northern Nevada in books including The Ox-Bow Incident and The City of Trembling Leaves.
1918 – James MacGregor Burns, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, biographer, and political scientist.
1920 – P.D. James (Phyllis Dorothy James), English crime writer primarily known for the Adam Dalgliesh series of mysteries.
1921 – Hayden Carruth, National Book Award-winning American poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic, and anthologist, lauded for his poetry collection Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey.
1924 – Leon Uris, American novelist whose books, especially the bestselling Exodus, were known for in-depth research.
1929 – Annette Sanford, American romance novelist whose pen names include Mary Carroll, Meg Dominique, Lisa St. John, and others.
1937 – Diane Wakoski, award-winning American poet primarily associated with the deep image poets, as well as the confessional and Beat poets of the 1960s; she received considerable attention in the 1980s for controversial comments linking New Formalism with Reaganism.
1938 – Amy Myers, British mystery writer best known for her “Marsh and Daughter” mystery series, featuring a writing team consisting of a wheelchair bound ex-policeman and his daughter, and for another series featuring a Victorian era chef.
1941 – Martha Stewart, American business magnate, author, publisher, and television personality whose books include titles on cooking, entertaining, crafts, and gardening; after a stock-trading scandal, she spent five months in a federal prison.
1943 – Steven Millhauser, Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short-story writer.
1972 – Lauren Liebenberg, award-winning Zimbabwe-born South African novelist known for The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam.
1976 – Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian-born American spoken-word poet, writer, and mental health advocate; she is also the author of a bestselling book of essays, I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying.
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