Calendar of Literary Facts

January 1...

1716: William Wycherley dies

1808: A federal law goes into effect in the U.S. prohibiting the importation of African slaves

1854: J. G. Frazer is born

1863: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln publishes the Emancipation Proclamation

1873: Mariano Azuela is born

1914: Ambrose Bierce dies

1919: J. D. Salinger is born

1921: Patricia Highsmith is born

1928: Iain Crichton Smith is born

1933: John Kingsley (“Joe”) Orton is born

1954: Leonard Bacon dies

2000: Yearlong fears of global disaster because of the “Y2K bug” end on New Years Day, with little computer-related disruption of power and services worldwide