The Story of Writing

The Julian calendar starts being replaced by the Gregorian calendar, and birthday celebrations for P. G. Wodehouse, Mario Puzo, Italo Calvino, and Eugene Patterson - with a reading from "My Many Jeeves," written by P. G. Wodehouse.

George Eastman patents his paper roll photographic film, Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier, Martin Luther King, Jr., Aung San Suu Kyi, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin are awarded Nobel Peace Prizes, and happy birthday to Katherine Mansfield and Usher - with a reading from "At the Bay," written by Katherine Mansfield.

Unintentional birthday club edition, featuring Mary Kingsley, Arna Bontemps, and Paul Simon - with a reading of "A Black Man Talks of Reaping," written by Arna Bontemps.

Putting an end to the Salem Witch Trials, the U.S. gets its first asylum for the mentally ill, The Criminal Tribes Act in British India, Desmond Doss becomes the only conscientious objector to win the U.S. Medal of Honor, a TV debate over same-sex marriage causes nearly 50,000 people to resign from the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and happy birthday to Kamini Roy - with a reading from "The Aw...

The intolerance and race riots that led to the "Gentlemen's Agreement" of 1907, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is displayed for the first time, and a unique birthday club made up of Elmore Leonard and Thich Nhat Hanh - with a reading from "Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Bronte.

Spiro Agnew resigns, and the birthday club includes Louise Mack, Harold Pinter, Lily Tuck, and John Prine - with a reading from "A Woman's Experiences in the Great War: An Australian Author's Clandestine Journey Through War-Torn Belgium," by Louise Mack.

Roger Williams is banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, France abolishes the death penalty, "Phantom of the Opera" premiered in London, Malala Yousafzai is shot by the Taliban in Pakistan, and happy birthday to John Lennon - with a reading from "The Age of Innocence," by Edith Wharton.

Opening the first hospital in North America, Der Spiegel runs an article on West Germany's military that results in charges of treason for the magazine's staffers, the play Cats opens on Broadway, and happy birthday to R. L. Stine - with a reading from "The Sun Also Rises," by Ernest Hemingway.

England's King George III proclaims that American colonists cannot settle Indigenous lands west of the Appalachians, the McCollum memo is issued, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban, and birthday memories for Ann Eliza Smith, James Whitcomb Riley, Alice Dalgliesh, and Michelle Alexander - with a reading of "The Good Man," by James Whitcomb Riley.

The world's oldest known opera, "Euridice" premiers, the U.S. music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is founded, the first big talkie "The Jazz Singer" hits the silver screen, Nobel laureates Annie Ernaux and Jon Fosse, and birthdays of Caroline Gordon, Shana Alexander - with a reading from "Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston.

James Bond hits the silver screen for the first time and The Beatles release their first song, PBS starts broadcasting in the US, and birthdays of Louise Fitzhugh and Neil deGrasse Tyson - with a reading from "Persuasion," written by Jane Austen.

Willie Gillis makes his debut on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, and birthdays for Edward Stratemeyer, Donald Sobol, Jackie Collins, and Anne Rice - with a reading from "Great Expectations," written by Charles Dickens.

U.S. President George Washington declares the nation's first Thanksgiving Day, President Abraham Lincoln declares it a national holiday, and Thomas Wolfe and Gore Vidal were born on this day - with a reading from Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again."

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

"Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management" is published, Yosemite National Park is established, the motto “In God We Trust” first appears on U.S. currency, and happy birthday to Tim O'Brien - with a reading from "The Yosemite," written by John Muir.

"The Magic Flute" premiers, the Munich Agreement is signed, Babi Yar, and birthdays for Rumi, Truman Capote, Elie Wiesel, Laura Esquivel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - with a reading from Wiesel's "Night."

The League of Nations mandate on Palestine goes into effect, and birthday cake in honor of Miguel de Cervantes, Elizabeth Gaskell, Olive Dehn, and Barbara Mertz - with a reading from Cervantes' "Don Quixote."

Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is published - with a reading from Rachel Carson's writings.

Albert Einstein publishes his paper on special relativity, Nazi SS officer August Frank issues his memo on evaluating everything left by Jewish people who were forced into death camps, the first televised political debate was broadcast: Nixon v. Kennedy, The Beatles release Abbey Road, the Oktoberfest bombing in Munich, and happy birthday to Jane Smiley - with a reading from her work.

The U.S. Congress approves the Bill of Rights, creating Sequoia National Park, the first public demonstration of remote control, founding the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the first Trans-Atlantic Telephone cable, the Little Rock Nine go to school, and the birthday club includes William Faulkner and Shel Silverstein - with a reading from "The Sound and the Fury," wri...

The Gold Panic of 1869, the LDS Church says no more polygamy for its members, the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, the designation of Devil's Tower as the first U.S. National Monument, and happy birthday to F. Scott Fitzgerald - with a reading from "The Great Gatsby."

Norway and Sweden split, and the birthday club includes John Lomax, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani DiFranco - with a reading from "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads," written by John Lomax.

The last victims of the Salem Witch Trials, 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 "Gulliver's Travels," by Jonathan Swift.

Benedict Arnold betrays the American colonies, the French abolish their monarchy (for the first time), and today's birthday club includes H. G. Wells, Allen Lane, Chuck Jones, Leonard Cohen, and Stephen King - with a reading from H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine."

Ferdinand Magellan sets sail on a voyage of circumnavigation, the Battle of the Sexes on a Texas tennis court, the dismantling of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and happy birthday to Upton Sinclair - with a reading from his groundbreaking book, "The Jungle."