The Story of Writing

George Washington fights in his first battle and - two decades later - he becomes a General and leader of the Continental Army. The Battle of Gettysburg comes to its bloody end. Happy birthday to Cha…

The American Continental Congress resolves to sever ties with England, a group of people from Sierra Leone took control of the slave ship Amistad, Jean Sibelius premiers "Finlandia, and U.S. Presiden…

The U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg begins, Canada is born - as is the Tour de France and "SOS." The World War I Battle of the Somme begins and happy birthday to George Sand - with a reading from…

An evolution debate at Oxford turns nasty, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Yosemite Valley Grant Act, Albert Einstein submits for publication his "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies," a…

London's Globe Theater burns down and the birthday club includes Giacomo Leopardi, Celia Thaxter, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Today's reading is "The Sandpiper," by Thaxter.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, and - five years later, to the day - European powers sign the Treaty of Versailles. Today's reading is "The Traveller's Heart," by Vachel Lindsay.

The birthday club includes Emma Goldman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Helen Keller, and Grace Lee Boggs - with a reading from Boggs' "The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First …

The Allies sign the United Nations Charter, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is published, J. K. Rowling publishes the first Harry Potter book, and the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the 14th Amendment…

Custer's last stand and George Orwell's birthday - with a reading of Lucille Clifton's "won't you celebrate with me."

John Cabot lands in the New World, Spain and France try but fail to take the Rock of Gibraltar, and happy birthday to Ambrose Bierce - with a reading from "Clear Light of Day," by Anita Desai.

The "Type-Writer" is patented, Canada makes its National Park System, the Antarctic Treaty is signed, Title IX is strengthened to make schools and educational programs more equal for women and men, a…

Galileo is tried for heliocentrism, the U.S. creates its Department of Justice, Nazi Germany forces France to sign an armistice, and the U.S. initiates its G. I. Bill. Today's reading is from Frederi…

Marie-Joseph Angelique is condemned to death for burning most of Old Montreal, Empress Cixi declares war on western powers, and in 1964, this was the last day Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michae…

The telegraph and the telephone exchange come into being, the Detroit Race Riot, and happy birthday to Lillian Hellman - with a reading from her memoir, "Pentimento."

The first, official game of baseball is played, enslaved people in Texas were finally told they were free - creating Juneteenth, and President John F. Kennedy submits his Civil Rights Act to Congress…

Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo, Charles Darwin learns that another naturalist had developed a theory of evolution that was nearly identical to his own, and Winston Churchill delivers his speech tit…

Sir Francis Drake claims "New Albion," which we now call Northern California, and American colonists lost the Battle of Bunker Hill - but they learned that they could defeat the British. The Statue o…

Abraham Lincoln delivers his speech "A House Divided" and it is Bloomsday. Happy birthday to Joyce Carol Oates - with a reading from her novel "Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang."

Happy Flag Day (in the U.S.), Charles Babbage presents his "difference engine," and it's the anniversary of the "Bear Flag Revolt." Happy birthday to Harriet Beecher Stowe - with a reading from her l…