On this day
August 25 in literary history
Literary history for August 25: 25 writers born, 21 writers who died and 3 literary events from 1632 to 2014. Born on this day: Sille Lundquist, Taslima Nasrin, Ian Falconer.
Writers born on August 25
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Sille Lundquist | Danish fashion model and author (1970–2018) |
| 1962 | Taslima Nasrin | Bangladeshi-Swedish feminist writer (born 1962) |
| 1959 | Ian Falconer | American author and illustrator (1959–2023) |
| 1959 | Lane Smith (illustrator) | American illustrator and writer (born 1959) |
| 1949 | Martin Amis | English novelist (1949–2023) |
| 1946 | Charles Ghigna | American poet and author (born 1946) |
| 1945 | Daniel Hulet | Belgian cartoonist |
| 1945 | Hannah Louise Shearer | American television writer |
| 1944 | Conrad Black | Canadian and British newspaper publisher (born 1944) |
| 1942 | Pat Ingoldsby | Irish poet and television presenter (1942–2025) |
| 1939 | Marshall Brickman | American screenwriter and director (1939–2024) |
| 1938 | Frederick Forsyth | English novelist (1938–2025) |
| 1937 | Virginia Euwer Wolff | American children's book author |
| 1935 | Charles Wright (poet) | American writer; University of Virginia professor |
| 1933 | Patrick F. McManus | American humor writer (1933–2018) |
| 1925 | Thea Astley | Australian novelist and short story writer (1925 – 2004) |
| 1923 | Álvaro Mutis | Colombian poet, novelist and essayist |
| 1921 | Brian Moore (novelist) | Novelist and screenwriter from Northern Ireland |
| 1919 | William P. Foster | American bandmaster, composer, and author (1919–2010) |
| 1913 | Walt Kelly | American animator and cartoonist (1913–1973) |
| 1891 | David Shimoni | Israeli poet, writer, and translator |
| 1836 | Bret Harte | American fiction writer and poet (1836–1902) |
| 1802 | Nikolaus Lenau | Austrian poet (1802–1850) |
| 1793 | John Neal | American writer and activist (1793–1876) |
| 1744 | Johann Gottfried Herder | German philosopher, theologian, poet (1744–1803) |
Writers who died on August 25
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Enrique Zileri | Enrique Zileri, Peruvian journalist and publisher (born 1931) |
| 2013 | Ciril Bergles | Slovene poet, essayist and translator |
| 2013 | William Froug | American screenwriter (1922–2013) |
| 2008 | Ahmad Faraz | Pakistani poet (1931–2008) |
| 2003 | Tom Feelings | American artist and author (1933–2003) |
| 2002 | Dorothy Hewett | Australian feminist poet, playwright and novelist (1923–2002) |
| 2001 | Üzeyir Garih | Jewish Turkish engineer, businessman, writer and investor (1929-2001) |
| 2000 | Carl Barks | American cartoonist (1901–2000) |
| 1990 | Morley Callaghan | Canadian novelist, writer, broadcaster (1903–1990) |
| 1984 | Truman Capote | American writer (1924–1984) |
| 1976 | Eyvind Johnson | Swedish writer (1900–1976) |
| 1966 | Lao She | Chinese writer (1899–1966) |
| 1938 | Aleksandr I. Kuprin | Russian author (1870–1938) |
| 1936 | Juliette Adam | French author and feminist (1836–1936) |
| 1931 | Dorothea Fairbridge | South African author |
| 1924 | Velma Caldwell Melville | American editor and writer (1858–1924) |
| 1921 | Nikolai Gumilev | Russian poet and literary critic (1886–1921) |
| 1916 | Mary Tappan Wright | American novelist |
| 1882 | Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald | Estonian writer, author of the national epic Kalevipoeg (1803-1882) |
| 1776 | David Hume | Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist (1711–1776) |
| 1632 | Thomas Dekker (writer) | English dramatist and pamphleteer (c. 1572–1632) |
Literary events on August 25
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1914 | World War I: The library of the Catholic University of Leuven is deliberately destroyed by the German Army. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts are lost. |
| 1835 | The first Great Moon Hoax article is published in The New York Sun, announcing the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon. |
| 1814 | War of 1812: On the second day of the burning of Washington, British troops torch the Library of Congress, United States Treasury, Department of War, and other public buildings. |
Featured
Sille Lundquist (1970) — Sille Kornum Lundquist was a Danish model and author. From the late 1980s until the late 1990s, she made appearances throughout the fashion world in both North America and Europe, and made appearances in both music videos, TV, and film.
Taslima Nasrin (1962) — Taslima Nasrin is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writings on feminism and her criticism of Islam; some of her books are banned in Bangladesh.
Ian Falconer (1959) — Ian Woodward Falconer was an American author, illustrator, set designer, and costume designer. Falconer was a muse to pop artist David Hockney, with whom he collaborated on designing costumes for theatrical productions. Falconer created several magazine covers for The New Yorker and other publications.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.