The Story of Writing

The Famous Five pose the "persons" question, the Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed by the world's major powers, and the birthday club includes George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, C. S. Smith, and Alice Coltrane - with a reading from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby."

The French approve the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Quebec declares French it's Provincial language, and the birthday club includes Zona Gale, Caroline Pafford Miller, and Ben Bradlee - with a reading from Arthur Conan Doyle's book, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The Great Moon Hoax begins, the U.S. National Park Service is established, and the birthday club includes Walt Kelly and Leonard Bernstein - with a reading from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre."

The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the Treaty of Cordoba is signed, and the Panic of 1857 begins in the U.S. The birthday club includes Howard Zinn, Paulo Coelho, and Ava DuVernay - with a reading from Willa Cather's "My Antonia."

King George III issues a proclamation to quash the American rebellion, the 'Salad Bowl Strike' begins in California, and the World Wide Web becomes available to everyone. It is the birthday of William Ernest Henley - and this episode includes a reading from a letter written by the Duchess of Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish.

The Siege of Leningrad begins and the birthday club includes Claude Debussy, Dorothy Parker, Ray Bradbury, and Annie Proulx - with a reading of Parker's poem "Coda."

Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas begin their famous debates, and a reading from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's "Minnie's Sacrifice."

Darwin rushes to publish his theory of evolution, U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson declares the Civil War is over (but northerners didn't believe him), and the Canadian Supreme Court issues a doozy of a ruling on Quebec secession. It is the birthday of H. P. Lovecraft and this episode includes a reading from Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

The gold rush fuels California genocide, the liberation of Paris begins, and on Ogden Nash's birthday, a look at his writing and a reading of his poem "Everybody Tells Me Everything."

Spanish gets grammar, U.S. women win the right to vote, Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" is published in the U.S., and anti-Apartheid activist Stephen Biko is arrested in South Africa. The birthday club includes Antonio Salieri and Margaret Murie - with a reading from Charles Chesnutt's "The Marrow of Tradition."

Sir Walter Raleigh tries to colonize Roanoke, the world's first commercial steamboat service begins on the Hudson River, George Orwell publishes his landmark book "Animal Farm," and the birthday club includes Fredrika Bremer, Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat," and Jonathan Franzen, with a reading from Katherine Mansfield's "Bliss."

The birthday club includes T. E. Lawrence, Georgette Heyer, Wallace Thurman, William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., Charles Bukowski, and Diana Wynne Jones - with a reading from Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph."

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz premiers, Japan surrenders to end the Second World War and the birthday club includes Walter Scott, Oscar Peterson, Stanley Milgram, and Stieg Larsson - with a reading from Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

The U.S. Social Security program is established and the birthday club includes Ernest Thompson Seton, Ernest Thayer, David Crosby, Steve Martin, Danielle Steele, and Gary Larson - with a reading from Martin's "Grandmother's Song" - from his album "Let's Get Small."

French King Louis XVI is arrested for treason, it is "Barbed Wire Sunday," and it is the birthday of suffragist, abolitionist, and public speaker Lucy Stone - with a reading from her response to her mother who thought a woman working outside the home was scandalous.

Isaac Singer gets a patent for his sewing machine, Sue Hendrickson finds the best T. rex skeleton ever discovered, and the birthday club includes Mary Roberts Rinehart, Radclyffe Hall, Erwin Schrodinger, and William Goldman - with a reading from Rinehart's book "Writing is Work."

Actress Hedy Lamarr gets a patent for tech used today, and the birthday club includes Angus Wilson and Alex Haley - with a reading from Haley's "Roots: the Saga of an American Family."

The birthday club includes Era Bell Thompson, Clarence Fender, Dolores Alexander, Suzanne Collins, and Rachel Simmons. This episode includes a reading from Thompson's "American Daughter."

Henry David Thoreau publishes his book "Walden," Smokey Bear is introduced to the world, and the U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. This episode includes a reading from Thoreau's "Walden."

General Robert E. Lee tries to resign from the Confederate army, the Allied Powers agree to parameters of the Nuremberg Trials, and, on her birthday, a look at the writing of Sara Teasdale - with a reading of her poem "Buried Love."

U.S. Pres. George Washington quashes the Whiskey Rebellion, Thor Heyerdahl's hand-made raft arrives in the South Pacific Islands, and Frances Kelsey refuses to greenlight the use of thalidomide. The birthday club includes Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Ralph Bunche - with a reading from Flynn's "Sabotage."

The U.S. drops the first atomic bomb used in a military attack, U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law, and "www" appears for the first time. The birthday club includes Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Susie King Taylor - with a reading from John Hersey's "Hiroshima."

Freedom of the press becomes a big deal in the American colonies, and the Union levies its first income tax, and the birthday club includes Guy de Maupassant, Mary Ritter Beard, and Wendell Berry - with a reading from Maupassant's "Bel Ami."

The U.S. Fairness Doctrine is rescinded and the birthday club includes Nicolas-Jacque Conte, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Robert Hayden. This episode also includes a reading from Tina Fey's "Bossypants."

Christopher Columbus sets sail for Asia, and the birthday club includes Ernie Pyle and Leon Uris - with a reading from Pyle's "Here is Your War."