January 5

In literary history

• 1953Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot opened at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris, with no action, almost no scenery, and no sign of Godot. Several audience members walked out. The critics were kinder, and Godot has not yet come.

Writers born on January 5

• Stella Gibbons (1902),
• Umberto Eco (1932),
• László Krasznahorkai (1954)

The Daily Canon for January 5

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1980).