On this day
October 21 in literary history
Literary history for October 21: 20 writers born, 18 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1556 to 2015. Born on this day: Michael McMillian, Hal Duncan, Andy Picheta.
20writers born
18writers died
2literary events
Writers born on October 21
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Michael McMillian | American actor and writer |
| 1971 | Hal Duncan | Scottish writer (born 1971) |
| 1959 | Andy Picheta | Andy Picheta, English director, producer, and screenwriter |
| 1957 | Julian Cope | British musician & author (born 1957) |
| 1956 | Carrie Fisher | American actress and writer (1956–2016) |
| 1952 | Patti Davis | American actress and author (born 1952) |
| 1943 | Tariq Ali | British political activist and writer (born 1943) |
| 1933 | Maureen Duffy | English poet and novelist (1933–2026) |
| 1929 | Pierre Bellemare | French writer, radio and TV personality, producer, director and actor |
| 1929 | Ursula K. Le Guin | American author (1929–2018) |
| 1914 | Martin Gardner | American mathematics and science writer (1914–2010) |
| 1907 | Nikos Engonopoulos | Greek painter and poet (1907–1985) |
| 1896 | Esther Shumiatcher-Hirschbein | Belarusian-Canadian Yiddish poet and screenwriter (1899–1985) |
| 1894 | Edogawa Ranpo | Japanese author (1894–1965) |
| 1868 | Ernest Swinton | British Army general, author (1868–1951) |
| 1847 | Giuseppe Giacosa | Italian writer and librettist (1847–1906) |
| 1845 | Will Carleton | American poet (1845–1912) |
| 1790 | Alphonse de Lamartine | French author, poet and statesman (1790–1869) |
| 1772 | Samuel Taylor Coleridge | English poet, literary critic and philosopher (1773–1834) |
| 1658 | Henri de Boulainvilliers | French Nobleman, Historian, Writer, and Soldier |
Writers who died on October 21
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | France Bučar | Slovenian politician, legal expert and author |
| 2013 | Rune T. Kidde | Danish writer, storyteller, musician and artist |
| 2011 | Hikmet Bilâ | Turkish journalist, columnist and writer |
| 2011 | Tone Pavček | Slovene poet, translator and essayist |
| 2010 | A. Ayyappan | Indian poet |
| 1999 | Lars Bo | Danish artist and writer |
| 1995 | Jesús Blasco | Spanish author and artist of comic books (1919–1995) |
| 1992 | Ante Ciliga | Croatian politician, writer and publisher (1898–1992) |
| 1990 | Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar | Indian spiritual Guru, philosopher, social reformer, linguist, author and composer |
| 1969 | Jack Kerouac | American writer (1922–1969) |
| 1931 | Arthur Schnitzler | Austrian author and dramatist (1862–1931) |
| 1927 | Borisav Stanković | Serbian writer (1876–1927) |
| 1904 | Isabelle Eberhardt | Swiss explorer and writer |
| 1886 | José Hernández (writer) | Argentine writer (1834–1886) |
| 1873 | Johan Sebastian Welhaven | Norwegian writer (1807–1873) |
| 1777 | Samuel Foote | British actor and playwright (1720–1777) |
| 1687 | Edmund Waller | English poet and politician (1606–1687) |
| 1556 | Pietro Aretino | Italian author and blackmailer (1492–1556) |
Literary events on October 21
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1986 | In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991). |
| 1940 | The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is published. |
Featured
Michael McMillian (1978) — Michael McMillian is an American actor and writer, known for his roles as Henry Gibson on What I Like About You, Steve Newlin on the HBO series True Blood, Owen on Hot in Cleveland and Tim in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. McMillian is also the creator and writer of a comic book, Lucid.
Hal Duncan (1971) — Hal Duncan is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy writer.
Andy Picheta (1959) — Andy Picheta is a director and producer of film and television, music videos and musical concerts.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.