The Story of Writing

The first writing on X-rays, the ESA is signed into law, and the birthday club includes Catharine Maria Sedgwick and Charlie Pierce - with a reading from Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest."

The Flushing Remonstrance, Darwin sets sail on the HMS Beagle, and the birthday club includes Cokie Roberts and Sarah Vowell - with a reading from J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan."

The Beatles release a couple hits in the U.S., Kwanzaa is first celebrated, the Soviet Union dissolves, and the birthday club includes Mary Sommerville, Henry Miller, and David Sedaris -with a reading from his book "Me Talk Pretty One Day."

The birthday club includes Sir Isaac Newton and Carlos Castaneda - with a reading from Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden."

"Silent Night" premieres, "Aida," too, and the birthday club includes Mary Higgins Clark and Stephanie Meyer - with a reading from Clark's "The Second Time Around."

Jane Austen publishes "Emma," women are considered equal in UK workplaces, and the birthday club includes Norman Maclean and Jorma Kaukonen - with a reading from Maclean's novella "A River Runs Through It."

Beethoven conducts and performs the concert of a lifetime, U.S. Pres. Truman tries to alleviate Europe's refugee crisis, Mao Zedong orders China's young adults to the rural countryside, and Doctors Without Borders is formed - with a reading from Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment."

Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" premieres in Copenhagen, the first crossword puzzle is published, and the birthday club includes Maria Cadilla and Frank Zappa - with a reading from Ibsen's "Enemy of the People."

South Carolina secedes from the Union, Captain America first appears, and the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" premieres - with a reading from Eugene Debs' statement to the court after his conviction for violating the Sedition Act.

Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet "The American Crisis" and the birthday club includes Carter Woodson and Edith Piaf - with a reading from Woodson's "The Mis-Education of the Negro."

The Nutcracker premieres in Russia and the birthday club includes Saki and Joel Hirschorn - with a reading from Saki's "The Tales of Clovis."

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

It is the birthday of novelist Jane Austen and philosopher George Santayana - with a reading from Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."

Italo Marchiony gets the U.S. patent for the waffle cup that held Italian ices, the film "Gone With the Wind" premiers in Atlanta, and the American Psychiatric Association unanimously decides that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, and the Downing Street Declaration is issued as part of the Good Friday Agreement. This episode includes a reading from Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Cri...

Under-sea cables connect the U.S. to the world, the U.N. adopts its Convention against Discrimination in Education, and the birthday club includes Anne Conway and Shirley Jackson - with a reading from Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist."

The forerunner of the U.S. National Guard is founded, the Rape of Nanjing begins, and the birthday club includes Jean Gerson and Taylor Swift - with a reading from Jane Austen's "Persuasion."

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."

Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the use of a COVID-19 vaccine. The birthday club includes Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Jim Harrison - with a reading from Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago."

Encyclopedia Britannica publishes its first edition and the birthday club includes William Lloyd Garrison, Emily Dickinson, and Melvil Dewey - with a reading of Dickinson's "Hope is the thing with feathers."

The United Nations unanimously declares genocide a crime and it is the birthday of Dalton Trumbo - with a reading from his landmark work "Johnny Got His Gun."

The first woman plays in a Shakespeare play and the birthday club includes John Banville and Mary Gordon - with a reading from Gordon's "Spending."

A Japanese naval strike force attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the birthday club includes Willa Cather and Harry Chapin - with a reading from Cather's "My Antonia."

The Irish Free State is founded and the birthday club includes Cornelia Meigs, Ira Gershwin, and Steven Wright - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth."

The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins and the birthday club includes Christina Rossetti, Walt Disney, Little Richard, and Joan Didion - with a reading from Didion's "Slouching Toward Bethlehem."

North Carolina becomes the 26th state - out of the needed 27 states - to ratify the 13th Amendment, the "Million-Dollar Quartet" record together in Memphis, U.C. Berkeley students demonstrate for free speech rights on campus, and it is the birthday of Rainer Maria Rilke - with a reading from his "Letters to a Young Poet."