Category Archives: Birthday

Birthday for July 26: George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, a playwright and critic, was born on July 26, 1856 in Dublin, Ireland. Shaw preferred to be known only as Bernard Shaw, and held both British and Irish citizenship. He moved to London in the 1870s and soon … Continue reading

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Birthday for July 21: Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, a writer, was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. The second of four children, Hemingway grew up playing sports, performing in his school’s orchestra, and graduated to become a journalist for a short while at … Continue reading

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Birthday for July 18: Elizabeth Jennings

Elizabeth Jennings, an English poet, was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 18, 1926. Jennings’ family moved to Oxford when she was six years old. She attended St. Anne’s College at Oxford, and became a writer, with her first book, … Continue reading

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Birthday for July 14: Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie, a singer-songwriter, poet, and artist, was born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 14th, 1912. One of the most prominent members of the American folk music scene, Guthrie learned to play blues and folk songs from friends of his … Continue reading

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Birthday for July 3: Francis Steegmuller

Francis Steegmuller, a writer, biographer, and scholar of the works of Gustave Flaubert, was born on July 3, 1906 in New Haven, Connecticut. Steegmuller was educated at Columbia University and was particularly prolific on the subjects of French authors and … Continue reading

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Birthday for July 3: Elizabeth Coles Taylor

Elizabeth Coles Taylor, a novelist, was born in England on July 3, 1912. She worked as a librarian and governess before she published her first novel in 1945, At Mrs. Lippincote’s.  Taylor wrote several novels, various short stories, and even a … Continue reading

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John Steinbeck

Happy (belated) birthday to John Steinbeck the renowned American novelist – born February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. Most of Steinbeck’s writings are drawn from his life in the Salina Valley of California and include the social and economic issues … Continue reading

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On this day: March 11

In 1818, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was first published. Our three-volume first edition copy here at Special Collections is a particular favorite, and we make sure to point it out in tours. In 1918, a soldier at Fort Riley, Kansas, reported a headache, … Continue reading

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What Good Is A Newborn Baby? – Benjamin Franklin and his works

Anyone who is familiar with that phrase, would be so with Dr. Benjamin Franklin’s satirical style of writing that examined the political, personal, and social issues of the time.  Among his many other interests as a politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, … Continue reading

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Birthday for November 10: Neil Gaiman

Today is the 55th birthday of English author Neil Gaiman, best known for the comic book series The Sandman, and for his books Coraline and American Gods. Neil was born on November 10, 1960, and grew up in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. … Continue reading

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