The Story of Writing

Today marks the anniversaries of the births of the Romantic-era poet Lord Byron and the pulp-fiction writer Robert E. Howard. This episode also includes a reading from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein."

The birthday club includes Noe Ito and Elaine Showalter - with a reading from the book co-written by John Stuart Mill and his wife Harriet Taylor Mill: "On the Subjection of Women."

It is the anniversary of the births of George Burns, David Lynch, and Nancy Kress - with a reading from Kress's "Brain Rose."

It is the anniversary of the births of Edgar Allan Poe and Patricia Highsmith as well as the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union. This episode includes a reading from one of Poe's letters to a friend.

Japan issues its 21 Demands of China and the birthday club includes Demaris Cudworth, Lady Masham and Montesquieu - with a reading from Montesquieu's "Persian Letters."

The U.S. buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns of the "military-industrial complex" in his farewell address, and the birthday club includes fellwalker Alfred Wainwright and author Sebastian Junger - with a reading from Wainwright's "A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells."

Miguel Cervantes publishes "Don Quixote," Virginia adopts the Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson, and the birthday club includes Susan Sontag and Rebecca Stead - with a reading from Stead's "When You Reach Me."

It is the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Today's episode remembers his work and includes two of Dr. King's lesser-known writings.

Three well-known writers were born on this day: Albert Schweitzer, Martin Niemoller, and Maureen Dowd - with a reading from Dowd's "Are Men Necessary?"

Emile Zola's "J'Accuse!" is published and it is Shonda Rhimes birthday - with a reading from "J'Accuse!"

The birthday club includes Laura Adams Armer, Jack London, Haruki Murakami, and Issa Rae - with a reading from London's "Call of the Wild."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded, the U.S. Surgeon General publishes "Smoking and Health," which linked smoking and dire health conditions, and it is the birthday of Aldo Leopold - with a reading from his ground-breaking book "A Sand County Almanac."

Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" turns 250, The New England Journal of Medicine published the letter "Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics," and the birthday club includes Jim Croce, Donald Fagen, and Shawn Colvin - with a reading from Voltaire's "Candide."

Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, author Judith Krantz, and musician Joan Baez were all born on this day. This episode includes a reading from Beauvoir's landmark book "The Second Sex."

President George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address and the birthday club includes Gypsy Rose Lee and Graham Chapman - with a reading from Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!"

Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Comic-book founder Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and novelist Zora Neale Hurston were born on this day. This episode also includes a reading from Hurston's landmark novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The birthday club includes Charles Sumner, Alan Watts, E. L. Doctorow, and Elizabeth Strout - with a reading from Doctorow's novel "Ragtime."

Henry Ford announces a big raise and shorter work day for car builders, Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot" premieres, and the birthday club includes Stella Gibbons, Umberto Eco, and Hayao Miyazaki - with a reading from Gibbons' "Cold Comfort Farm."

Solomon Northup regains his freedom after being enslaved for 12 years. This episode includes a reading from Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."

Today's birthday club includes J. R. R. Tolkien, Anne Stephenson, and Stephen Stills - with a reading from Agatha Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."

The second Palmer Raid sweeps up American citizens who were immigrants and it's the birthday of a giant in wilderness conservation Robert Marshall - with a reading from the 1964 Wilderness Act.

The U.S. bans importation of slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, and the birthday club includes Maria Edgeworth, E. M. Forster, and J. D. Salinger - with a reading from Edgeworth's "Castle Rackrent."

Arthur Guiness signs a 9,000 year lease for a brewery, Thomas Edison unveils his incandescent light, and U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces the end of combat in the Second World War. The birthday club includes Simon Wiesenthal and John Denver - with a reading from Robert Ingersoll's " The Liberty Of Man, Woman And Child."

Today's birthday club includes Rudyard Kipling, Bo Diddley, and Douglas Coupland - with a reading from Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility."

Czech writer Vaclav Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia, the language Akkala Sami dies, and the birthday club includes Rick Danko, Marianne Faithfull, and Paula Poundstone - with a reading from Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days."