Naguib Mahfouz, later first Arabic Nobel laureate, is born (1911), and Student and worker demonstrations begin across Albania (1990). Born on this day: Naguib Mahfouz, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. Died: Ravi Shankar, Anne Rice and Sam Cooke.
28 events, 76 births and 50 deaths on this date.
Egyptian novelist who went on to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Egyptian so honoured. He is remembered for the Cairo Trilogy and Children of Gebelawi, novels set in Egypt that treat the lane as a small model of the world.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainStudents and workers took to the streets in cities across Albania, challenging the country's hardline communist government. These protests were the first steps toward the collapse of communist rule there.
The club that would become Arsenal was still called Dial Square when it took the field on the Isle of Dogs. Renamed later, it grew into one of English football's best-known teams.
Workers in Kyiv, then part of the Russian Empire, staged an uprising and set up a self-declared state called the Shuliavka Republic. It is remembered as an unusual bid by workers to govern themselves under imperial rule.
Indiana joined the Union on this day, becoming the nineteenth state. Its settlers were mostly Americans of British descent from the East and Upland South, along with German immigrants.
Quas primas, a papal encyclical, introduced a new feast honouring Christ as King within the Catholic Church. It gave the faithful a dedicated day to reflect on Christ's authority over the world.
For the full day, download Chunks today. Every date, the stories behind them, and a new day each morning. Free to start.
Egyptian novelist who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Egyptian to do so. His Cairo Trilogy and Children of Gebelawi made him one of Egypt's most widely adapted writers.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet and Russian writer whose books, above all The Gulag Archipelago, exposed the prison camp system to the world. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970.
Bert Verhoeff for Anefo · CC0
Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet and Russian writer who exposed the Gulag prison system to the world. His novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and his nonfiction The Gulag Archipelago made him one of the century's most influential dissidents.
Bert Verhoeff for Anefo · CC0
Ravi Shankar was an Indian sitar player who took Hindustani classical music to audiences in Europe and America from the 1950s. His work with George Harrison of the Beatles brought Indian instruments into Western pop in the late 1960s.
Markgoff2972 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Anne Rice wrote Gothic fiction, most famously The Vampire Chronicles, beginning with Interview with the Vampire in 1976. Her novels have reached readers in enormous numbers, and her vampire series was later turned into a successful film.
Anne Rice · Public domain
Known as the King of Soul, Sam Cooke pioneered the genre with his distinctive voice and 29 Top 40 hits. He was shot dead by a motel manager in Los Angeles in 1964, and his relatives have since raised doubts about how it happened.
RCA Victor Records · Public domain
Download on iOS
Download on Android