1809 – Oliver Wendell Holmes (d. 1894) American physician, poet, essayist and humorist
1862 – Maurice Maeterlinck (d. 1949) Belgian Nobel Prize-winning poet, playwright and essayist (1911)
1898 – Preston Sturges, American screenwriter (d. 1959)

something new • the Sunday Guardian reviews Leonard Woolf: A Life by Victoria Glendinning

blog of note • Lux Mentis, Lux Orbis blog has a short lovely post about matching up a great book with some greatful buyers. I wish this sort of thing happened every day.

naughty naughty • A citizen of the Netherlands attempting to smuggle 16 rare books printed in the late 19th-early 20th centuries has been detained by customs officers at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. The books were found in the passenger’s hand luggage, the Russian Federal Customs Service says in a statement. The Dutchman had permission from the Culture Ministry, but did not present it as he was attempting to take out 16 books instead of the permitted three, the statement says. A criminal case has been opened into the incident.

‘g’ books • The University of California has released a copy of its contract with Google Inc. to have the search engine giant digitize millions of books from the university’s libraries.

mitzvah • Determined Canadian teen to deliver 20,000 books to young victims of Hurricane Katrina.

something new • The Stinky Cheese Man author Lane Smith offers humorous look at history of the Constitution with John, Paul, George and Ben by Lane Smith