On this day
May 12 in literary history
Literary history for May 12: 9 writers born, 20 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1593 to 2015. Born on this day: Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Ignatieff, Farley Mowat.
Writers born on May 12
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Bruce Boxleitner | American actor and writer (born 1950) |
| 1947 | Michael Ignatieff | Canadian author, academic and former politician |
| 1921 | Farley Mowat | Canadian writer and environmentalist (1921–2014) |
| 1911 | Charles Biro | American comic book creator and cartoonist (1911–1972) |
| 1907 | Leslie Charteris | British-Chinese author |
| 1895 | Jiddu Krishnamurti | Spiritual speaker and writer (1895–1986) |
| 1863 | Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury | Bengali writer and illustrator |
| 1828 | Dante Gabriel Rossetti | English poet and artist (1828–1882) |
| 1812 | Edward Lear | British artist, poet and writer (1812–1888) |
Writers who died on May 12
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Peter Gay | German-American historian and author (1923–2015) |
| 2013 | Gerd Langguth | Gerd Langguth, German political scientist, author, and academic (born 1946) |
| 1999 | Saul Steinberg | Romanian-born American cartoonist (1914–1999) |
| 1994 | Erik Erikson | American psychoanalyst and essayist (1902–1994) |
| 1992 | Nikos Gatsos | Greek poet and translator (1911–1992) |
| 1973 | Frances Marion | American screenwriter, director, journalist and author |
| 1970 | Nelly Sachs | Jewish German-Swedish writer, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate (1891–1970) |
| 1967 | John Masefield | English poet and writer (1878–1967) |
| 1948 | Hans Waldemar Wessolowski | German-American illustrator (1894–1948) |
| 1944 | Max Brand | American writer (1892–1944) |
| 1944 | Arthur Quiller-Couch | British writer and literary critic (1863–1944) |
| 1925 | Amy Lowell | American poet (1874–1925) |
| 1907 | Joris-Karl Huysmans | French novelist and art critic (1848–1907) |
| 1897 | Minna Canth | Finnish writer and social activist (1844–1897) |
| 1859 | Sergey Aksakov | Russian writer (1791–1859) |
| 1845 | János Batsányi | Hungarian poet |
| 1796 | Johann Uz | German poet (1720–1796) |
| 1792 | Charles Simon Favart | French playwright and theatre director (1710–1792) |
| 1700 | John Dryden | English poet and playwright (1630–1700) |
| 1634 | George Chapman | English dramatist, poet, and translator (c.1559–1634) |
Literary events on May 12
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country. |
| 1593 | London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel. |
Featured
Bruce Boxleitner (1950) — Bruce William Boxleitner is an American actor and science fiction and suspense writer. He is known for his leading roles in the television series: How the West Was Won, Bring 'Em Back Alive, Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Babylon 5.
Michael Ignatieff (1947) — Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has held senior academic posts at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and Toronto.
Farley Mowat (1921) — Farley McGill Mowat was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Canadian north, such as People of the Deer (1952) and Never Cry Wolf (1963).
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.