- 1595 - Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library
- 1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, English playwright born
- 1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet born
- 1905 - Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer born
- 1928 - William Trevor, Irish writer born
- 1940 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet born
- 2004 - Milton Shulman, Canadian author died
