| 1882: | | | British writer Virginia Woolf, who made an original contribution to the form of the novel and was one of the most distinguished critics of her time, was born in London. |
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| 1874: | | | English author W. Somerset Maugham, best known for the novels Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Cakes and Ale (1930), and The Razor's Edge (1944), was born. |
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| 1759: | | | Robert Burns, national poet of Scotland, was born in Alloway in Ayrshire. |
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| 1554: | | | Jesuit missionaries founded the city of São Paulo (now in Brazil) on the anniversary of the conversion of St. Paul. |
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| 1533: | | | Henry VIII, king of England, married his second wife, Anne Boleyn, in a secret ceremony. |
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| 844: | | A Roman archdeacon named John was elected antipope against the nobility's candidate, Pope Sergius II. |
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