On this day
April 24 in literary history
Literary history for April 24: 15 writers born, 15 writers who died and 5 literary events from 1183 BC to 2017. Born on this day: Eric Kripke, Damon Lindelof, Paula Yates.
Writers born on April 24
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Eric Kripke | American writer and television producer (born 1974) |
| 1973 | Damon Lindelof | American screenwriter and producer (born 1973) |
| 1959 | Paula Yates | British television personality and writer (1959–2000) |
| 1953 | Eric Bogosian | American actor, playwright, and author (born 1953) |
| 1951 | Christian Bobin | French author and poet (1951–2022) |
| 1941 | Richard Holbrooke | American diplomat and author (1941–2010) |
| 1940 | Sue Grafton | American writer (1940–2017) |
| 1934 | Jayakanthan | Indian writer, journalist, filmmaker |
| 1934 | Shirley MacLaine | American actress and author (born 1934) |
| 1923 | Doris Burn | American writer |
| 1914 | Justin Wilson (chef) | American chef, actor and writer (1914–2001) |
| 1905 | Robert Penn Warren | American poet, novelist, and literary critic (1905–1989) |
| 1900 | Elizabeth Goudge | English novelist and children's writer (1900–1984) |
| 1845 | Carl Spitteler | Swiss writer (1845–1924) |
| 1815 | Anthony Trollope | English novelist (1815–1882) |
Writers who died on April 24
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Robert M. Pirsig | American writer and philosopher (1928–2017) |
| 2014 | Tadeusz Różewicz | Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator (1921–2014) |
| 2004 | José Giovanni | French writer, filmmaker and criminal (1923-2004) |
| 1984 | Rafael Pérez y Pérez | Spanish writer (1891–1984) |
| 1980 | Alejo Carpentier | Cuban novelist (1904–1980) |
| 1966 | Simon Chikovani | Georgian poet |
| 1947 | Willa Cather | American writer (1873–1947) |
| 1942 | Lucy Maud Montgomery | Canadian novelist (1874–1942) |
| 1941 | Karin Boye | Swedish poet and novelist (1900–1941) |
| 1931 | David Kldiashvili | David Kldiashvili, Georgian author and playwright (born 1862) |
| 1889 | Zulma Carraud | French author |
| 1852 | Vasily Zhukovsky | Russian poet (1783–1852) |
| 1748 | Anton thor Helle | Estonian Bible translator |
| 1731 | Daniel Defoe | English writer, merchant and spy (1660–1731) |
| 1479 | Jorge Manrique | Spanish poet |
Literary events on April 24
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1800 | The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress". |
| 1800 | The Library of Congress (building pictured), the de facto national library of the United States, was established as part of an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the nation's capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. |
| 1704 | The first regular newspaper in British Colonial America, The Boston News-Letter, is published. |
| 1704 | John Campbell released the first issue of The Boston News-Letter, the first continuously published newspaper in British North America. |
| 1183 BC | Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy marking the end of the legendary Trojan War, given by chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria Eratosthenes, among others. |
Featured
Eric Kripke (1974) — Eric Kripke is an American writer and television producer. Kripke came to prominence in the late 2000s for creating The WB/CW fantasy drama series Supernatural (2005–2020). He served as the showrunner during the first five seasons of the series.
Damon Lindelof (1973) — Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he has received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Paula Yates (1959) — Paula Elizabeth Yates was a British television presenter and writer. She was best known for presenting the Channel 4 television programmes The Tube and The Big Breakfast.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.