The Story of Writing

Patrick Henry speaks out during the Second Revolutionary convention, Archbishop Oscar Romero pleads for peace in El Salvador, and the birthday club includes Akira Kurosawa and Subhadra Joshi - with a…

The first treaty between indigenous tribes and European Americans is signed, the top court in the US rules in favor of contraceptives and pre-marital sex, and the birthday club includes Louis L'Amour…

The state of Tennessee prohibits the teaching of human evolution, the first comic-con, the UN Framework Convention on Climate, and the birthday club includes Dorothea Beale, Son House, Forrest Mars, …

Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published, Albert Einstein publishes his theory of relativity, the birthday club includes Ovid, Anne Bradstreet, Carl Reiner, and Spike Lee - with a rea…

Minna Canth, Philip Roth, and Clara Breed were born on this day - with a reading from Breed's article "Americans with the Wrong Ancestors."

Wilfred Owens, Fred Shuttlesworth, John Updike, Unita Blackwell, and Frances Cress Welsing - with a reading of Owens' "Anthem for Doomed Youth."

It is the birthday of Bayard Rustin and Nat King Cole - with a reading from Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Enchanted Garden."

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

The U.S. creates its first national wildlife refuge and the birthday club includes Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Albert Einstein, Billy Crystal, and Jerry Greenfield - with a reading from O'Shaughnessy's "Od…

The U.S. passes the law that confirmed freedom to any enslaved person who escaped the South, and the birthday club includes Janet Flanner, L. Ron Hubbard, Edward O'Hare, and Al Jaffee - with a readin…

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

"Rigoletto" premiers, and it is the birthday of Wanda Gag, Ralph Abernathy, and Douglas Adams - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence."

"Treatise on Tolerance," the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Hallie Quinn Brown and Lillian Wald were born on this day, with a reading from Voltaire's "Treatise."

The "capitalist bible" is published, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling on "The Amistad," and Vita Sackville-West and Mickey Spillane were born on this day - with a reading from Sackville-West'…

The first article calling for the end of slavery is published in the American colonies, and the birthday club includes Juana de Ibarbourou, John McPhee, and Carole Bayer Sager - with a reading from L…

Bloody Sunday compels President Johnson to write the Voting Rights Act, and the birthday club includes Luther Burbank, Maurice Ravel, E. L. James, and Bret Easton Ellis - with a reading from one of B…

The Dred Scott decision is handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court, "aspirin" gets its name, and the birthday club includes Cyrano de Bergerac, Ring Lardner, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez - with a reading…

John Cabot gets the charter to explore "lands unknown" in North America, the writing of Nicolaus Copernicus is banned by the Roman Catholic Church, and it is the birthday of Dora Marsden - with a rea…

The U.S. Constitution goes into effect, Frances Perkins becomes the first woman to serve as a cabinet member for the U.S. President, and the birthday club includes Antonio Vivaldi, Barbara Newhall Fo…