The Story of Writing

Today's birthday club includes Ethel Anderson, Eric P. Kelley, Ursula Goodenough, and Jorge Ramos - and a reading from "The Christmas Nightingale," written by Eric P. Kelly.

The Ides of March, the Royal Declaration of Indulgences, the Presidential proclamation that "We shall overcome," and happy birthdays to Lightin' Hopkins and Kate Bornstein - with a reading from Alexandre Dumas' "The Man in the Iron Mask."

Eli Whitney gets the patent for the cotton gin, Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado" premiers, U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt creates Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, and the birthday club includes Isabella Beeton, Albert Einstein, Billy Crystal, and Jerry Greenfield - with a reading from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves, and the birthday club includes Janet Flanner, L. Ron Hubbard, Edward O'Hare, and Al Jaffee - and a reading from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland."

Quite the birthday club: Jack Kerouac, Harry Harrison, Virginia Hamilton, James Taylor, and Dave Eggers - with a reading from "The Song of the Lark," by Willa Cather.

Verdi's "Rigoletto" premiers in Venice, and happy birthdays to Wanda Gag, Ralph Abernathy, Bobby McFerrin, Jerry Zucker, and Douglas Adams - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence."

The state execution of Jean Calas moves Voltaire to write "Treatise on Tolerance," the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo takes a big step toward ratification, and happy birthdays to Hallie Quinn Brown and Lillian Wald - and a reading from Voltaire's "Treatise on Tolerance."

"The Wealth of Nations" is published, the battery-powered clock gets a write up, the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case of "The Amistad," and happy birthdays to Vita Sackville-West and Mickey Spillane - and a reading from Sackville-West's "The Land."

The article titled “African Slavery in America” runs in a Philadelphia newspaper, and happy birthdays to Juana de Ibarbourou, John McPhee, and Carole Bayer Sager - and a reading from Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace."

Alexander Graham Bell gets the U.S. patent for the telephone, Bloody Sunday compels U.S. lawmakers to write and pass the Voting Rights Act, and it is the birthday of Maurice Ravel - and a reading from Mary Webb's "Precious Bane."

The journal "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society" prints its first edition, the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling in the Dred Scott case, and happy birthdays to Cyrano de Bergerac, Ring Lardner, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez - and a reading from "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," by Harriet Jacobs.

Explorer John Cabot receives the King of England's charter to explore North America, the Pope and his administration forbids Catholics from reading the Copernican description of the solar system, and happy birthday to Dora Marsden - with a reading from her magazine "The New Freewoman."

The U.S. Constitution goes into effect, the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives is sworn in, the first woman to serve in a U.S. President's cabinet was sworn in, and happy birthdays to Antonio Vivaldi, Barbara Newhall Follett, and Dav Pilkey - and a reading from Agatha Christie's "The Mysterious Affair at Styles."

The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise, the world's first national forest is created, "The Star-Spangled Banner" becomes the U.S. national anthem, and happy birthday to Ron Chernow - and a reading from "A Carnival Jangle" by Alice Dunbar Nelson.

The U.S. bans bringing slaves into the country, and the birthday club includes Shalom Aleichem, Kurt Weill, and Theodor Geisel - with a reading from Shalom Aleichem's story "On the Fiddle."

The world's first national park is established in the Yosemite Valley, and the birthday club includes Ralph Ellison and Harry Bellafonte - with a reading from Ellison's "Invisible Man."

Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse to mislead New World people to stock his ships, the Jay Treaty goes into effect enriching the U.S. and postponing war with the British, actress Hatty McDaniel wins an Academy Award, an admission that a bestseller about surviving the Holocaust was a hoax, and happy birthday to Dee Brown - with a reading from his history "Bury My Heart...

Quite the birthday club: Michel de Montaigne, Ben Hecht, Ketti Frings, and Daniel Handler - with a reading from Montaigne's "Essays."

England's House of Commons votes to stop fighting American revolutionaries, Washington D.C. is moved under the jurisdiction of Congress, Abraham Lincoln speaks at Cooper Institute (now Cooper Union), and it is the birthday of John Steinbeck - with a reading from his masterwork "The Grapes of Wrath."

Both the Grand Canyon and Grand Teton National Parks are established, and the birthday club includes Victor Hugo, Levi Strauss, Fats Domino, and Johnny Cash - with a reading from Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

Samuel Colt gets the patent for the revolver, Hiram Revels becomes the first Black man to serve in the U.S. Congress, and the birthday club includes Larry Gelbart, Anthony Burgess, George Harrison, Chelsea Handler, and Rashida Jones - with a reading from Ambrose Bierce.

Andrew Johnson becomes the first U.S. President to be impeached, the Zimmerman telegram promises to return Texas to Mexico, and happy birthday to Judith Butler - with a reading from Butler's "Undoing Gender."

The Gutenberg Bible is first printed, Werner Heisenberg writes about uncertainty in theoretical physics, Joe Rosenthal took the iconic picture of U.S. Marines raising a flag on Japan's Mount Suribachi, and happy birthday to Rebecca Goldstein - with a reading from "The Enchanted April," by Elizabeth von Arnim.

The "Long Telegram" is sent from Moscow to Washington, "Moose Murders" opens - and closes - on Broadway, and (instead of "happy") an epistemological birthday to Arthur Schopenhauer - with a reading from his influential book "The World as Will and Representation."

"The Communist Manifesto" is published, so is the first issue of The New Yorker magazine, and happy birthdays to Erma Bombeck and Nina Simone - with a reading from Erma Bombeck's "Family - The Ties That Bind and Gag!"