Calendar

The Calendar of Literary Facts contains more than 6,500 events in literary history.

August 9 Literary Facts

Izaak Walton is born

Explore: Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler

John Dryden is born

Explore: Absalom and Achitophel, Mac Flecknoe, John Dryden

American athlete Jesse Owens, a black man, wins four gold medals at the summer Olympic games in Berlin—a bitter pill for Adolf Hitler, who had earlier boasted of the inherent superiority of the “Aryan race”

Explore: Adolf Hitler

Jonathan Kellerman is born

José Lezama Lima dies

Explore: Paradiso, José Lezama Lima

James Gould Cozzens dies

Explore: By Love Possessed, James Gould Cozzens