The Story of Writing

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

"Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management" is published, Yosemite Park is established, and "In God We Trust" first appears on U.S. paper money. Happy birthday to Tim O'Brien - with a reading from John Muir's "The Yosemite."

The signing of the Munich Agreement and Babi Yar. The birthday club includes, Rumi, Truman Capote, Elie Wiesel, Laura Esquivel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - with a reading from Wiesel's "Night."

League of Nations mandates go into effect in the Mid-East - more than 100 years later, we still feel the impacts. The birthday club includes Miguel de Cervantes, Elizabeth Gaskell, Olive Dehn, and Barbara Mertz - with a reading from Cervantes' "Don Quixote."

Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin and happy birthdays to Ben E. King, and George W. S. Trow - with a reading from Trow's "Within the Context of No Context."

Rachel Carson publishes her landmark book "Silent Spring" - with a reading from three of her writings.

Albert Einstein publishes his theory on special relativity, a Nazi official publishes his valuations of everything left behind by Jewish people who were sent to death camps, and the first televised Presidential debate was broadcast. Happy birthday to Jane Smiley - with a reading of her love for bookstores.

The U.S. Bill of Rights is passed, the Columbia School of Journalism is founded, and the Little Rock Nine integrate a school in Arkansas. Happy birthdays to William Faulkner and Shel Silverstein - with a reading from Faulkners "The Sound and the Fury."

The Gold Ring causes the gold panic, the leader of the Church of Latter Day Saints says he has a vision to ban polygamy, Atlanta is convulsed by white people attacking people of color, and it's F. Scott Fitzgerald's birthday - with a reading from his landmark work "The Great Gatsby."

Signing the Karlstad Treaty dissolves the union of Norway and Sweden, and the birthday club includes John Lomax, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani Defranco - with a reading from Lomax's Collector Notes from "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads."

The last executions of people found guilty of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln releases his preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation. The birthday club includes Elizabeth Simcoe, Eric Baker, and Joan Jett - with a reading from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

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

Magellan sets sail, the Battle of the Sexes hits the tennis court, "don't ask, don't tell" ends, and happy birthday to Upton Sinclair - with a reading from his landmark book "The Jungle."

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

Tiffany and Young opens its doors and the New-York Daily Times publishes its first edition - both became NYC landmarks, now known as Tiffany & Co. and the New York Times. Booker T. Washington gives his Atlanta Exposition Speech and CBS starts broadcasting. Today's reading is from L. M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables."

The U.S. Constitution is approved and the Union and Confederate Armies fought the terrible battle of Antietam. The birthday club includes William Carlos Williams, John Creasey, Elizabeth Enright, Mary Stewart, and Hank Williams - with a reading from Enright's "Thimble Summer."

Signing of the Montreal Protocol and the birthday club includes Francis Parkman, Miriam Benjamin, and H. A. Rey - with a reading from Parkman's "The Oregon Trail."

The HMS Beagle - with Charles Darwin aboard - lands on the Galápagos Islands and the 16th St. Church is bombed in Birmingham, Alabama. Happy birthday to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - with a reading from her "We Should All Be Feminists."

Handel's Messiah is performed for the first time, the birthday club includes William H. Armstrong, Kate Millett, Bernard MacLaverty, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, and a reading from Millett's "The Loony Bin Trip."

Henry Hudson explores the river named after him in what is now New York, the battle of Quebec ends after three months of siege and 45 minutes of battle, Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the city of Baltimore, and it is the birthday of Mildred D. Taylor - with a reading from Key's "Defence of Fort M'Henry."

Elizabeth Barrett elopes with Robert Browning, JFK 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.

Some of the best writing on the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Washington Post piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/sept-11-novels/2021/09/05/c6b3e5ba-0ce5-11ec-a6dd-296ba7fb2dce_story.html Ron Charles' website: TotallyHipVideoBookReview.com

John Smith is named council president of Jamestown colony, Elias Howe is granted a patent for his sewing machine, and the birthday club includes Hanna Webster Foster, Mary Oliver, and Stephen Jay Gould - with a reading from "Southern Horrors," by Ida B. Wells.

The U.S. Congress agrees to the compromise of 1850 and it is the birthday of Leo Tolstoy - with a reading from his landmark work "War and Peace."

Michelangelo's sculpture David was unveiled in Florence, the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance is published, and a reading from Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Dorian Gray."