The Story of Writing

It is the birthday of feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft. We look back on her life, her writing, and influence. This episode also includes a reading from Wollstonecraft's landmark work "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."

Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty for French emigres who fled the 1789 Revolution and the birthday club includes Ma Rainey, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Bernard Malamud - with a reading from Malamud's novel "The Fixer."

A scientific paper identifies - for the first time - the double-helix shape of DNA, Robert Noyce is granted the U.S. patent for an integrated circuit – better known as the computer microchip, and it is the birthday of singer-songwriter Albert King. This episode includes a reading of Nikki Giovanni's "Make Me Rain."

The U.S. Library of Congress is established and the birthday club includes Anthony Trollope and Robert Penn Warren - with a reading from Trollope's novel, "The Way We Live Now."

The birthday club includes William Shakespeare, George Steiner, Roy Orbison, and Victoria Glendinning - with a reading from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Happy Earth Day! We look at the origins of this day and the birthday club includes Henry Fielding, Immanuel Kant, and Louise Gluck - with a reading from Fielding's "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling."

The birthday club includes Charlotte Bronte and John Muir. This episode also includes a reading from Bronte's novel "Jane Eyre."

In New Amsterdam, an important moment in religious tolerance, U.S. President William McKinley signs the declaration of the Spanish-American War, and British politician gives his inflammatory "Rivers of Blood" speech. It is the birthday of Gro Harlem Brundtland, the first woman to become Prime Minister of Norway. And we hear a reading from Brundtland's "Our Common Future, Report...

The Netherlands recognize the U.S. as an independent nation, Mae West is arrested for obscenity, and we hear a reading from Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The birthday club includes James McCune Smith, Kathy Acker, and Susan Faludi - with a reading from Anne Bronte's first novel "Agnes Grey."

Christopher Columbus signs "The Capitulations of Santa Fe" and the birthday club includes Thornton Wilder, Cynthia Ozick, and Nick Horby - with a reading from Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey."

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr writes his "Letter from Birmingham Jail, and the birthday club includes Charlie Chaplin and Gertrude Chandler Warner - with a reading from Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

One of the most important works in the history of the English language is published, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is founded, and the birthday club includes Henry James and Avital Ronell - with a reading from James' "The Portrait of a Lady."

The first abolition society in the Americas is established and the birthday club includes Harriett Ellen Grannis Arey, Jean Pierre-Bloch, and Loretta Lynn. This episode also includes a reading from the letter, written by Ben Franklin to let Vice President John Adams know the Pennsylvania Abolition Society's plan to end slavery in the U.S.

The birthday club includes Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Becket, Eudora Welty, and Christopher Hitchens - with a reading from Becket's "Waiting for Godot."

Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is found to be "safe and effective" and the birthday club includes Beverly Cleary, Tom Clancy, Tama Janowitz, and Amy Ray - with a reading from Baruch Spinoza's "Ethics."

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed and the birthday club includes Jane Bolin, Ellen Goodman, and Hattie Gossett - with a reading from one of Goodman's columns.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is published, so is Alcoholics Anonymous' "Big Book." The birthday club includes Joseph Pulitzer and Anne Lamott - with a reading from Lamott's "Bird by Bird."

Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse and the birthday club includes Charles Baudelaire, Paulina Marshall, and Sam Harris - with a reading from Baudelaire's poem "Paris Spleen."

FDR freezes wages and more, Grace Hopper creates a new way to code, and the birthday club includes Phil Schaap and Barbara Kingsolver - with a reading from Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible."

It's National Beer Day in the US, and the birthday club includes the internet (really), William Wordsworth, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and Billie Holliday - with a reading from Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood."

The birthday club includes Marion McEwen Crabbe, Leonora Carrington, Ram Dass, and Homer Aridjis - with a reading from one of Carrington's artist statements.

The Petition of Compromise was submitted to Spain - striking a blow for independence, and the American Birth Control League was incorporated by Margaret Sanger. The birthday club includes Algernon Charles Swinburne, Barbara Holland, and Pharrell Williams - with a reading from Swinburne's "The Garden of Proserpine."

NATO forms and the birthday club includes Muddy Waters and Maya Angelou - with a reading from Angelou's poem "Still, I Rise."

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his last speech, the Panama Papers are published, and it is Washington Irving's birthday. This episode includes a reading from Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."