Literary Facts - April 17

1586: John Ford is born. (Explore: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, John Ford, Why did Ford set 'Tis Pity She's a Whore in Parma, Italy?)

1621: Henry Vaughan is born. (Explore: Henry Vaughan, The Poetry of Vaughan, Please explain the poem "The Retreat.")

1695: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz dies. (Explore: Biography, What hints are there in “Respuesta a Sor Filotea” that indicate that Sor...)

1790: Benjamin Franklin dies. (Explore: Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, Why is Benjamin Franklin referred to as a renaissance man?)

1863: C. P. Cavafy is born. (Explore: Ithaka, C. P. Cavafy, Can somebody explain "Ithaka" stanza by stanza?)

1876: Orestes Brownson dies. (Explore: Orestes Brownson)

1918: William Hope Hodgson dies. (Explore: Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, The Night Land, The House on the Borderland)

1928: Cynthia Ozick is born. (Explore: The Shawl, Cynthia Ozick)

1985: Basil Bunting dies. (Explore: Basil Bunting, Briggflatts, Collected Poems)

1986: Bessie Head dies. (Explore: Snapshots of a Wedding, Life, Bessie Head, When Rain Clouds Gather)

2006: Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin receive the Pulitzer Prize in biography for American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. (Explore: American Prometheus)

2006: David M. Oshinsky receives the Pulitzer Prize in history for Polio: An American Story. (Explore: Who is David Oshinsky, and what is important about his book Polio: An...)

2006: Claudia Emerson receives the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for Late Wife. (Explore: Claudia Emerson)

2006: Geraldine Brooks receives the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for March. (Explore: March, Geraldine Brooks, In March, what is March's idealism throughout the entire story?)

2014: Gabriel García Márquez dies. (Explore: Gabriel García Márquez)