Literary Facts - August 9

1593: Izaak Walton is born. (Explore: Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler, Lives)

1631: John Dryden is born. (Explore: Absalom and Achitophel, Mac Flecknoe, John Dryden)

1927: Daniel Keyes is born. (Explore: Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes, In Flowers for Algernon, what is the "Algernon-Gordon Effect"? How do...)

1936: 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: Jesse Owens, Adolf Hitler, Jesse Owens: An American Life)

1949: Jonathan Kellerman is born. (Explore: Twisted, Over the Edge, The Butcher's Theater)

1967: Joe Orton dies. (Explore: Entertaining Mr. Sloane, What the Butler Saw, Joe Orton)

1976: José Lezama Lima dies. (Explore: Paradiso, José Lezama Lima)

1978: James Gould Cozzens dies. (Explore: By Love Possessed, Guard of Honor, James Gould Cozzens)