The Story of Writing

The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves goes into effect in the U.S., the Emancipation Proclamation also goes into effect, and the birthday club includes Maria Edgeworth, E. M. Forster, and J. D. Salinger - and a reading from Edgeworth's "Castle Rackrent."

Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease to brew stout beer, Thomas Edison unveils his incandescent light, President Truman proclaims the end of combat in World War II, and the birthday club includes Simon Wiesenthal and John Denver, - and a reading from "The Liberty Of Man, Woman And Child," by Robert Ingersoll.

The birthday club includes Rudyard Kipling, Bo Diddley, Patti Smith, and Douglas Coupland - and a reading from "Sense & Sensibility," by Jane Austen.

Vaclav Havel is elected President of Czechoslovakia, the language Akkala Sami goes extinct, and the birthday club includes Rick Danko, Marianne Faithfull, and Paula Poundstone - and a reading from "Around the World in 80 Days," by Jules Verne.

Discovery of X-ray radiation, the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and happy birthdays to Catharine Maria Sedgwick and Charlie Pierce - and a reading from "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wilde.

The Flushing Remonstrance, Charles Darwin sets sail on the HMS Beagle, the play "Show Boat" premiers, and happy birthdays to Cokie Roberts and Sarah Vowell - and a reading from J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan."

Beatlemania begins, the first Kwanzaa, dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the birthday club includes Mary Somerville, Henry Miller, and David Sedaris - and a reading from "A Vindication of the Rights of Women," by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Happy birthday to Sir Isaac Newton and Carlos Castaneda - and a reading from The Secret Garden , by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore

Jane Austen publishes "Emma," the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act, and happy birthdays to Norman Maclean and Jorma Kaukonen - and a reading from Maclean's "A River Runs Through It."

Beethoven performs the greatest concert of his career, U.S. President Harry Truman issues an executive order that gave WW2 refugees precedence in U.S. visa applications, China’s communist-party chairman Mao Zedong forcibly relocates millions of teenagers, Doctors Without Borders is founded, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate reopens, Lech Walesa is elected Poland's President - with a reading from D...

Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" premiers, the first crossword, and happy birthdays to Maria Cadilla and Frank Zappa - with a reading from Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People."

South Carolina secedes from the United States, Captain America makes his first appearance, and the film "It's a Wonderful Life" premieres - with a reading from Eugene Debs' statement to the court.

Thomas Paine publishes his first pamphlet titled "American Crisis," and happy birthdays to Carter Woodson and Edith Piaf - with a reading from Woodson's "The Mis-Education of the Negro."

"The Nutcracker" premiers in St. Petersburg, Russia, and happy birthdays to Hector Hugh Munro and Joel Hirschhorn - with a reading from Munro's "The Chronicles of Clovis."

"Vogue" publishes its first issue, and the birthday club includes Ford Madox Ford and William Safire - with a reading from Ford's "The Good Soldier."

Happy birthday to Jane Austen - with a reading from her masterpiece "Pride and Prejudice."

Patenting the ice cream cone maker, the film "Gone with the Wind" hits the silver screen, the declaration that homosexuality was not a psychological disorder, British and Irish leaders issue the Downing Street Declaration - with a reading from "Crime and Punishment," by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Stretching the first under-sea, trans-Pacific telegraph cable, the Wright Brothers make their first try at powered flight, Roald Amundsen and his team reach the South Pole, UNESCO adopts the Convention against Discrimination in Education, and happy birthdays to Anne Conway and Shirley Jackson - with a reading from "Oliver Twist," by Charles Dickens.

The Plymouth Colony opts for a 12-person jury, the founding of the U.S. National Guard, The Rape of Nanjing, and the birthday club includes Jean Gerson and Jamie Foxx - with a reading from "Persuasion," by Jane Austen.

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change is adopted, and it is the birthday of Gustave Flaubert - with a reading from his landmark novel "Madame Bovary."

French King Louis XVI goes on trial for treason, British General Edmund Allenby walks into Jerusalem, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine gets emergency approval for use in the U.S., and it is the birthday of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - with a reading from "The Gulag Archipelago."

The UN adopts the Charter on Genocide and happy birthday to Dalton Trumbo - with a reading from "Pride and Prejudice," by Jane Austen.

A woman performs for the first time on a public English stage, and happy birthdays to John Banville and Mary Gordon - with a reading from "House of Mirth," by Edith Wharton.

Japan attacks the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, and it is the birthday of Willa Cather - with a reading from Cather's "My Antonia."