* In the novel Perdido Street Station, by British author China Miéville, engines similar to Babbage's serve as " brains " for the robotic constructs of the city of New Crobuzon.

* Adrian Goldsworthy ( born 1969 ), British historian and author who writes mostly about ancient Roman history

* 1886 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, British author ( d. 1988 )

Helen Beatrix Potter ( 28 July 186622 December 1943 ) was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children ’ s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.

More recently, William D. Rubinstein, Professor of Modern History at Aberystwyth University, Wales, wrote that Conservative politician and pro-Zionist Leo Amery, as Assistant Secretary to the British war cabinet in 1917, was the main author of the Balfour Declaration.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson ( 30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993 ) was a British naval historian and author of some sixty books, the most famous of which was his bestseller Parkinson's Law, which led him to be also considered as an important scholar within the field of public administration.

Colin Kapp ( 1928 – 3 August 2007 ) was a British science fiction author.

Martin Hewitt, created by British author Arthur Morrison in 1894, is perhaps the first example of the modern style of fictional private detective.

* 1892 – Osbert Sitwell, British author ( d. 1969 )

* 1867 – At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.

* 2003 – Alan Davidson, British author ( b. 1924 )

* 1909 – James Riddell, British champion skier and author ( d. 2000 )

During the same year, British author George MacDonald Fraser published Flash for Freedom !, the third novel in the Flashman series that was set partially in Dahomey.

* 1914 – Alan Bullock, British author of the first biography of Hitler written in any language.

After its first release, this book sold far better than any of Butler's other works — perhaps because the British public assumed that the anonymous author was some better-known figure ( the favorite being Lord Lytton, who had published The Coming Race two years previously ).

* 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, British soldier, author, and Scout movement founder ( d. 1941 )

* 1912 – George Mikes, Hungarian-born British author ( d. 1987 )

Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century.

* 1929 – Len Deighton, British author

Near its entrance, opposite the new British Library, a contemporary statue of Saint Joan commemorates Shaw as author of that play.

Trent's Last Case is an adaptation of British author E. C. Bentley's 1913 novel of the same name, and had already been adapted to film in England in 1920.

* Thomas Robson, author of The British Herald ( 1830 ).

Other luminaries include Keith Johnstone, the British teacher and writer – author of Impro, who founded the Theatre Machine and whose teachings form the foundation of the popular shortform Theatresports format, Dick Chudnow, founder of ComedySportz which evolved its family-friendly show format from Johnstone's Theatersports, Stan Wells, creator of the " Clap-In " longform style and founder of The Empty Stage Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles, and Bill Johnson, creator / director of The Magic Meathands, who pioneered the concept of " Commun-edy Outreach " by tailoring performances to non-traditional audiences, such as the homeless and foster children.

* 1944 – Jenny Nimmo, British author

* 1836 – John Cheyne ( physician ), British physician, surgeon and author ( b. 1777 )

* 1979 – Anthony Davidson, British race car driver

Roughly contemporary with the construction of the new building was the career of a man sometimes called the " second founder " of the British Museum, the Italian librarian Anthony Panizzi.

* Anthony Crank, British television presenter

Well-known currently active British actors and actresses include: Gemma Arterton, Rowan Atkinson, Christian Bale, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kate Beckinsale, Paul Bettany, Orlando Bloom, Emily Blunt, Helena Bonham Carter, Kenneth Branagh, Jim Broadbent, Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley, Keira Knightley, Hugh Laurie, Jude Law, James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan, Thandie Newton, Bill Nighy, Gary Oldman, Clive Owen, Robert Pattinson, Daniel Radcliffe, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Alan Rickman, Tim Roth, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jason Statham, Patrick Stewart, Alex Pettyfer, Gerard Butler, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslet, Tom Hiddleston, Ray Winstone and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

* 1977 – Anthony Crosland, British politician ( b. 1918 )

* 1946 – Anthony Daniels, British actor

* 1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest British American writer

In 1983, British journalist Anthony Grey published a controversial book in which he claimed that Holt had been an agent for the People's Republic of China and that he had been picked up by a Chinese submarine off Portsea and taken to China.

Anthony Eden, the British Foreign Secretary noted: " Marshal Stalin as a negotiator was the toughest proposition of all.

* 1954 – Anthony Minghella, British film director ( d. 2008 )

In November 1937, Ribbentrop was placed in a highly embarrassing situation when his forceful advocacy of the return of the former German colonies led to the British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and the French Foreign Minister Yvon Delbos offering to open talks on returning the former German colonies, in return for which the Germans would make binding commitments to respect their borders in Central and Eastern Europe.

Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavators manufacturer JCB, had expressed interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August, the year previously ; only to back out when told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy.

* 1925 – Anthony Quinton, British philosopher ( d. 2010 )

* 1902 – Anthony Asquith, British film director ( d. 1968 )

* 1975 – Anthony McPartlin, British actor, television presenter

British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden called for Arab unity during the 1940s, and this was followed by specific proposals from pro-British leaders, including King Abdullah of Transjordan and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said of Iraq, but Egyptian proposals for a broader grouping of independent Arab states prevailed with the establishment of the League of Arab States, a regional international organization, in 1945.

This term was shortened to " quango " by Anthony Barker, a British participant during a follow-up conference on the subject.

British Petroleum, privatised in 1987, was officially nationalised in 1951, and there was further government intervention during the 1974 – 79 Labour Government Anthony Crosland said that in 1956, 25 per cent of British industry was nationalised, and that public employees, including those in nationalised industries, constituted a similar percentage of the country's total employed population.

Trinity alumni include six British prime ministers ( all Tory or Whig / Liberal ), British King George VI, several heads of other nations, physicists Isaac Newton and Niels Bohr, philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell ( whom it expelled before reaccepting ), and Soviet spies Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, and Anthony Blunt.

* Richard Brown and Barry Anthony, A Victorian Film Enterprise: The History of the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company ( Flicks Books, UK, 1997 )

* February 19 – Anthony Crosland, British author and politician ( b. 1918 )

* October 12 – Sir Anthony Berry, British politician ( bombing ) ( b. 1925 )

* January 9 – British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns.