On this day in 1497, the Bonfire of the Vanities, a public burning ceremony which included many books, takes place in Florence, Italy. This event provides the title (but not the plot) for Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel of the same name.
	Charles Dickens ((David Copperfield, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist) was born on this day in 1812
	Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary trial for obscenity ends in acquittal on this day in 1857
	Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie) was born on this day in 1867
	Sinclair Lewis (Arrowsmith, It Can't Happen Here) was born on this day in 1885
	Fred Gipson (Old Yeller) was born on this day in 1903
	Steven Gould (Jumper, Reflex) was born on this day in 1955
	Stewart Farrar (The Pagan Path) passed over to the Summerland on this day in 2000
	Science fiction writer William Tenn (Of Men and Monsters, A Lamp for Medusa) died on this day in 2010. Although Tenn only wrote two novels, he was a prolific short story writer.