William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry (The Gift of the Magi) was born on this day in 1862 | |
D. H. Lawrence (Lady Chatterley's Lover, Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow) was born on this day in 1885 | |
British childrens' author Roger Hargreaves (Mr. Men and Little Miss books) died on this day in 1988 | |
On this day in 2010, a Florida pastor who had organized a public burning of copies of the Qur'an gave in to international and high-level government pressure and cancelled the event at the last minute. Had the event gone ahead, the potential backlash from Islamists could have made this the deadliest book-burning event ever. | |
In Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, a meteorite impact with Earth destroys much of Italy and kills 600,000 people on this day in 2077. The novel was published decades before the events of Sep. 11, 2001. |
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