Today in History of Humanities

• 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d. 1937). Bio and his works are available here http://www.online-literature.com/barrie/
  
• 1873 – Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
• 1874 – Howard Carter, British archaeologist (d. 1939)
• 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (d. 1955). His "The Revolt of the Masses" is available here http://www.globalchristians.org/politics/DOCS/Ortega%20y%20Gasset%20-%20The%20Revolt%20Of%20The%20Masses.pdf
  
• 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman) (d. 1947)
• 1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
• "Silence"

Such a deep silence surrounds me, that I think I hear
moonbeams striking on the windows.

In my chest,
a strange voice is awakens
and a song plays inside me
a longing that is not mine.

They say that ancestors, dead before their time,
with young blood still in their veins,
with great passion in their blood,
with the sun still burning in their blood
come,
come to continue to live
within us
their unfinished lives.

Such a deep silence surrounds me, that I think I hear
moonbeams striking on the windows.

O, who knows, soul of mine, in which chest you will sing
you also, after centuries,
in soft ropes of silence,
on harps of obscurity - the drowned longing
and the pleasure of living torn? Who knows?
Who knows?

• 1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, famed evangelist (d. 1976)
• 1912 – Géza Ottlik, Hungarian writer (d. 1990)
• 1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian writer (d. 1943)
• 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Richard Adams, English author
• 1920 – William Tenn, American author (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan writer and linguist
• 1934 – Alan Bennett, British author
• 1938 – Charles Simic, Yugoslavian-born poet, 15th Poet Laureate of the United States
• 1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (d. 2002)

Deaths:

• 1760 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (b. 1700)
• 1805 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet and historian (b. 1759)
• 1861 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (b. 1805)
• 1918 – George Coşbuc, Romanian poet (b. 1866)
• 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. 1893)
• 1977 – James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist (b. 1942)

• 1763 – János Batsányi, Hungarian poet (d. 1845)
• 1870 – Otto von Friesen, Swedish runologist, linguist, and educator (d. 1942)
• 1871 – Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer (d. 1943)
• 1899 – Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (d. 1963)
• 1912 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani writer (d. 1955)
• 1916 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Gene Savoy, American author, explorer, scholar, and cleric (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Francisco Umbral, Spanish novelist (d. 2007)
• 1942 – Rachel Billington, English author
• 1954 – Lubomir Stoykov, Bulgarian journalist and broadcaster
• 1956 – Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
• 1981 – Dusán Mukics, Slovene journalist

Deaths:

• 1723 – Jean Galbert de Campistron, French dramatist (b. 1656)
• 1920 – William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
• 2011 – Reach Sambath, Cambodian journalist (b. 1964)

• 1840 – Alphonse Daudet, French novelist (d. 1897)
• 1881 – Lima Barreto, Brazilian author (d. 1922)
• 1895 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian psychologist and parapsychologist (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (d. 1989)
• 1930 – José Jiménez Lozano, Spanish writer
• 1934 – Ehud Netzer, Israeli archaeologist (d. 2010)
• 1937 – Roch Carrier, Canadian novelist
• 1940 – Bruce Chatwin, English writer (d. 1989)
• 1950 – Manning Marable, American educator and author (d. 2011)
• 1957 – Koji Suzuki, Japanese writer
• 1966 – Kamen Vodenicharov, Bulgarian actor, singer, and businessman

Deaths:

• 1901 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish novelist and critic (b. 1851)
• 1903 – Apolinario Mabini, Filipino philosopher and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (b. 1864)
• 1916 – Sholom Aleichem, Russian author (b. 1859)
• 1921 – Jean Aicard, French poet and novelist (b. 1848)
• 1925 – Boris Savinkov, Russian writer and terrorist (b. 1879)
• 1947 – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Indian-Bengali poet (b. 1926)
• 1974 – Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican writer (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Arthur J. Burks, American writer (b. 1898)
• 2001 – Jason Miller, American playwright (b. 1939)
• 2001 – R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (b. 1906)
• 2006 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Cuban-American activist, theologian, and educator (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Don Ritchie, Australian humanitarian (b. 1925)