The Story of Writing

George Eastman gets the U.S. patent for "paper strip" photographic film, Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier, and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The birthday club includes Katherine Mansfield and Usher - with a reading from Mansfield's "At the Bay."

The birthday club includes Mary Kingsley, Arna Bontemps, and Paul Simon - with a reading from Bontemps' "A Black Man Talks of Reaping."

The Governor of Massachusetts Bay ends the Salem Witch Trials, the first asylum for the mentally ill opens in the U.S., Desmond Doss becomes the only conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and nearly 50,000 Finns leave their religion after a debate on gay marriage in Finland. It is the birthday of Kamini Roy and we hear a reading from Kate Chopin's "The Awakening."

The San Francisco school board tells Japanese students they can no longer attend public schools, the AIDS quilt is first displayed, and the birthday club includes Elmore Leonard and Thich Nhat Hanh - with a reading of Leonard's "10 Rules of Writing."

U.S. VP Spiro Agnew resigns and the birthday club includes: Louise Mack, Harold Pinter, Lily Tuck, and John Prine - with a reading from Mack's " A Woman's Experiences in the Great War: An Australian Author's Clandestine Journey Through War-Torn Belgium."

A Boston court banishes Roger Williams from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the French abolish capital punishment, and "The Phantom of the Opera" opens in London's West End. The Taliban try to assassinate Malala Yousafzai and it is John Lennon's birthday. This episode includes a reading from Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence."

The first hospital opens in North America, "Der Spiegel" is accused of treason for its reporting, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, "Cats" opens on Broadway, and it is the birthday of R. L. Stine. This episode includes a reading from Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago."

King George III unknowingly helps indigenous people, the "McCollum Memo" is issued, JFK signs the partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the birthday club includes Ann Eliza Smith, James Whitcomb Riley, Alice Dalgliesh, and Michelle Alexander - with a reading from Riley's poem, "The Days Gone By."

The first known opera is performed, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is formed, the movie "The Jazz Singer" premiers, and Annie Ernaux is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The birthday club includes Caroline Gordon, Shana Alexander, and Marshall Rosenberg. This episode includes a reading from Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes were Watching God."

PBS TV becomes reality and the birthday club includes Louise Fitzhugh and Neil deGrasse Tyson - with a reading from Jane Austen's "Persuasion."

Willie Gillis makes his first appearance on the cover of "The Saturday Evening Post," and the birthday club includes Edward Stratemeyer, Donald Sobol, Jackie Collins, and Anne Rice - with a reading from Charles Dickens "Great Expectations."

U.S. President George Washington declares a day of thanksgiving, President Abraham Lincoln makes nearly the same declaration on the same day more than 70 years later. The birthday club includes Thomas Wolfe and Gore Vidal - and we hear a reading from Wolfe's classic "You Can't Go Home Again."

Thurgood Marshall becomes the first Black person to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court and the birthday club includes Graham Greene, Don McLean, Sting, and Melissa Harris-Perry - with a reading from Anna Julia Cooper's "A Voice from the South."

Isabella Beeton publishes her book on domesticity, Yosemite becomes preserved and protected national land, and "in god we trust" first appears on U.S. money, and it is Tim O'Brien's birthday. This episode includes a reading from John Muir's "The Yosemite."

The European powers sign the Munich Agreement, "genocide by bullets" at Baba Yar Ravine near Kyiv, and the birthday club includes Jalal ad-din Muhammad Rumi, Truman Capote, Elie Wiesel, Laura Esquivel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - with a reading from Wiesel's "Night."

The League of Nations mandates two authorities in Palestine, one Jewish, one Arab and the birthday club includes Miguel de Cervantes, Elizabeth Gaskell, Olive Dehn, and Barbara Mertz - with a reading from Cervantes' "Don Quixote."

Alexander Fleming discovers Penicillium and the birthday club includes Ben E. King and George W. S. Trow - with a reading from Trow's "Within the Context of No Context."

Rachel Carson publishes her world-changing book "Silent Spring." This episode looks at how Carson grew as a science writer capable of writing such a moving work. Today's episode includes a reading from three pieces of writing, all by Rachel Carson.

The governor of Missouri calls for the extermination of Mormons, a Soviet naval officer refuses to fire a nuclear torpedo, and it is the birthday of Sylvia Plath - with a reading from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath."

Albert Einstein publishes his theory on special relativity, the Nazis issue a memo on the values of personal belongings of those sent to death camps, the first televised political debate was broadcast from Chicago, the Beatles release "Abbey Road," and it's Jane Smiley's birthday - with a reading of her take on book stores.

The U.S. adopts the Bill of Rights, Columbia's graduate school of journalism is established, the Little Rock Nine integrates their Arkansas high school, and the birthday club includes William Faulkner and Shel Silverstein - with a reading from Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury."

Gold panic gripped the U.S., the LDS church bans polygamy, a race riot convulses Atlanta, Devil's Tower is designated a national monument, and it is F. Scott Fitzgerald's birthday - with a reading from his classic "The Great Gatsby."

Norway and Sweden dissolve the bonds that made them one country and the birthday club includes John Lomax, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani DiFranco - with a reading from Lomax's "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads."

The last victims of the Salem Witch Trials are executed, US Pres. Abraham Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation, and the birthday club includes Elizabeth Simcoe, Eric Baker, and Joan Jett. This episode includes a reading from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

Benedict Arnold betrays George Washington and the American colonists fighting the Revolutionary War. The birthday club includes H. G. Wells, Allen Lane, Chuck Jones, Leonard Cohen, and Stephen King - with a reading from Wells' "The Time Machine."