April 23, 1616 is often given as the date both literary giants died, so much so that UNESCO chose it for World Book Day. But Cervantes's Spain had already switched to the Gregorian calendar, while Shakespeare's England still used the Julian one, ten days behind. Cervantes probably died the day before, the 23rd being the date of his burial. In all, more than ten days separate the two deaths.
Around 2300 BCE, Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, became high priestess of the Moon god at Ur. She composed hymns to the goddess Inanna and put her name to them. She is the oldest person identified as the author of a literary work, about 1,500 years before Homer.
Squeeze Earth's 4.5 billion years into a single 24-hour day. Homo sapiens shows up around 11:59:54 p.m., roughly six seconds before midnight. All of written history, from Sumerian tablets to today, fits into the final tenth of a second. A cosmic blink.