The Story of Writing

Magellan sets sail to circumnavigate the world, the Battle of the Sexes is decided in a tennis match, and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ends. The birthday club includes Upton Sinclair - with a reading from his landmark work "The Jungle."

U.S. President George Washington publishes his farewell address, and the birthday club includes Sadie Delany, Rachel Field, and William Golding - with a reading from Willa Cather's "Death Comes for the Archbishop."

The New York Times publishes its first edition and Booker T. Washington delivers his Atlanta Exposition Speech on Race Relations. This episode includes a reading from L. M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables."

The U.S. Constitution is approved, the Battle of Antietam changes the course of the U.S. Civil War, and the birthday club includes William Carlos Williams, John Creasey, Elizabeth Enright, Mary Stewart, and Hank Williams - with a reading from Enright's "Thimble Summer."

Robert Redford was somebody to everybody. A remembrance - with a reading from Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It." Please consider making a contribution in Robert Redford's memory to the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance at www.suwa.org

The world signs the Montreal Protocol and the birthday club includes Francis Parkman and H. A. Rey - with a reading from Parkman's "The Oregon Trail."

Charles Darwin reaches the Galápagos Islands, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama is bombed by the KKK, and it is the birthday of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - with a reading from Adichie's "We Should All Be Feminists."

Handel's "Messiah" is written and the birthday club includes William H. Armstrong, Kate Millett, Bernard MacLaverty, and Bonnie Jo Campbell - with a reading from Millett's "Sexual Politics."

Henry Hudson sees the north coast of North America, the Battle of Quebec City decides European claims of Quebec, the bombardment of Baltimore in the War of 1812, and it is the birthday of author Mildred Taylor. This episode includes a reading from Francis Scott Key's "The Defense of Fort M'Henry."

U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivers his speech "We Choose to Go to the Moon," and the birthday club includes H. L. Mencken, Nellie Wong, and Michael Ondaatje - with a reading from Mencken's diary.

Charles Lindbergh reveals his thinking on WWII, and the birthday club includes O. Henry and D. H. Lawrence - with a reading from Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover."

John Smith becomes one of the first elected leaders from Europe in North America, Elias Howe gets the patent for his sewing machine, and the birthday club includes Hanna Webster Foster, Mary Oliver, and Stephen Jay Gould - with a reading from Gould's "Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History."

The Compromise of 1850 changes the US, "debugging" becomes real, and the birthday club includes Leo Tolstoy, Kimberly Willis Holt, and Adam Sandler - with a reading from Tolstoy's classic "Anna Karenina."

Michelangelo unveils his sculpture "David," the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance is published - possibly for the first time, the first episode of Star Trek airs, and Richard Nixon is pardoned - with a reading from Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

Union General William T. Sherman orders the evacuation of Atlanta, and the birthday club includes C. J. Dennis, Elinor Wylie, Edith Sitwell, Dorothy Marie Donnelly, and Sonny Rollins - with a reading from "The Memoirs of General William T. Sherman: By Himself."

The Mayflower sets sail, women in Wyoming start voting in 1870, and the birthday club includes Isabella Leonarda, Jane Addams, and Robert Pirsig - with a reading from Addams' speech to the Chicago Political Equality League.

The Czar puts a tax on beards, the UK declares war on China - over opium, the WWII propagandist "Tokyo Rose" is arrested, and it is the birthday of Jonathan Kozol - with a reading from his book "Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools."

Los Angeles is founded, Kodak is registered, Evelyn Waugh publishes "A Handful of Dust," and the birthday club includes Richard Wright and Beyonce - with a reading from Kate Douglas Wiggin's "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."

English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell dies, UK and U.S. officials sign the Treaty of Paris - ending the American Revolutionary War, and Frederick Douglass escapes slavery. The UN institutes the international treaty called The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the U.S. and China sign the Paris Global Climate Change Agreement. This episode includes a rea...

Theodore Roosevelt says - for the first time - "Speak softly and carry a big stick," and Japan surrenders to end combat in WWII, and the birthday club includes Eugene Field and Billy Preston - with a reading from Roosevelt's essay "Lincoln and Free Speech."

The first female phone operator takes the reins, Germany invades Poland to start WWII, and the birthday club includes Johann Pachelbel, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Harriet Shaw Weaver, Liz Carpenter, and Lily Tomlin - with a reading from Elspeth Huxley's "The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood."

Union Gen. William T. Sherman attacks Atlanta, Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon, Russian and the UK carve up Persia, and the U.S. passes its first Neutrality Act. The Nazi's "false flag" attack within Germany leads to their attack on Poland, which started World War Two. The birthday club includes Roger Dean, Van Morrison, Itzhak Perlman - and a reading from Willa...

Ernest Shackleton rescues every member of his crew on the "Endurance," and the birthday club includes Mary Shelley, Virginia Lee Burton, Kitty Wells, Molly Ivins, and Anna Politkovskay - with a reading from Boris Pasternak's "Dr. Zhivago."

The Beatles play their last paid concert, and the birthday club includes John Locke, Charlie "Bird" Parker, and Temple Grandin - with a reading from Locke's "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding."

Scientific American Magazine publishes its first issue, Caleb Bradham changes the name of his "Brad's Drink," Emmet Till is murdered and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his speech now known as "I Have a Dream" - with a reading from this speech.