Literary Facts - December 20
1803: The final terms of the Louisiana Purchase are signed
1911: Hortense Calisher is born. (Explore: Hortense Calisher, In the Palace of the Movie King, In Greenwich There Are Many Gravelled Walks)
1946: Andrei Codrescu is born. (Explore: Telyric, The Posthuman Dada Guide, Andrei Codrescu)
1954: Sandra Cisneros is born. (Explore: The House on Mango Street, Woman Hollering Creek, Sandra Cisneros)
1954: James Hilton dies. (Explore: Lost Horizon, Good-bye, Mr. Chips, James Hilton)
1961: Moss Hart dies. (Explore: Once in a Lifetime, Moss Hart)
1968: John Steinbeck dies. (Explore: Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck)
1996: Carl Sagan dies. (Explore: Carl Sagan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Cosmos)
1997: Denise Levertov dies. (Explore: The Blue Rim of Memory, O Taste and See, Denise Levertov)
2001: Leopold Sedar Senghor dies. (Explore: Prayer to the Masks, Léopold Sédar Senghor)