Literary Facts - October 7

1849: James Whitcomb Riley is born. (Explore: James Whitcomb Riley)

1849: Edgar Allan Poe dies. (Explore: The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe)

1907: Helen MacInnes is born. (Explore: The Salzburg Connection, Helen MacInnes)

1931: Desmond Tutu is born. (Explore: Desmond Tutu)

1934: Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka) is born. (Explore: Dutchman, Slave Ship, Amiri Baraka)

1935: Thomas Keneally is born. (Explore: Schindler's List, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Thomas Keneally)

1939: Clive James is born. (Explore: As of This Writing, Unreliable Memoirs, Cultural Amnesia)

1993: Novelist Toni Morrison becomes the first black American to win the Nobel Prize for literature. (Explore: Toni Morrison)

2001: An American-led military coalition commences an air-war against Taliban and Al-Quaeda forces in Afghanistan, the first stage in Operation Enduring Freedom