The Story of Writing

The birthday club includes Era Bell Thompson, Clarence Fender, Dolores Alexander, Suzanne Collins, and Rachel Simmons. This episode includes a reading from Thompson's "American Daughter."

Henry David Thoreau publishes his book "Walden," Smokey Bear is introduced to the world, and the U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. This episode includes a reading from Thoreau's "Walden."

General Robert E. Lee tries to resign from the Confederate army, the Allied Powers agree to parameters of the Nuremberg Trials, and, on her birthday, a look at the writing of Sara Teasdale - with a r…

U.S. Pres. George Washington quashes the Whiskey Rebellion, Thor Heyerdahl's hand-made raft arrives in the South Pacific Islands, and Frances Kelsey refuses to greenlight the use of thalidomide. The …

The U.S. drops the first atomic bomb used in a military attack, U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law, and "www" appears for the first time. The birthday club includes Alf…

Freedom of the press becomes a big deal in the American colonies, and the Union levies its first income tax, and the birthday club includes Guy de Maupassant, Mary Ritter Beard, and Wendell Berry - w…

The U.S. Fairness Doctrine is rescinded and the birthday club includes Nicolas-Jacque Conte, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Robert Hayden. This episode also includes a reading from Tina Fey's "Bossypants.…

Christopher Columbus sets sail for Asia, and the birthday club includes Ernie Pyle and Leon Uris - with a reading from Pyle's "Here is Your War."

US Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt receives the letter from Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard and it is the birthday of James Baldwin - with a reading from Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time."

England abolishes slavery, Henry Perky patents shredded wheat, Harriet Quimby gets her pilot's license, and Frank Herbert's novel "Dune" is published. The birthday club includes Francis Scott Key and…

Daniel Defoe is locked in a pillory, it is "Black Tot" Day, and the birthday club includes Ignacio Cervantes, Primo Levi, and Ahmet Ertegun - with a reading from Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe."

Explorer Samuel de Champlain unwittingly starts a nearly a century of war, Walt Disney releases his first Oscar winner, and US Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act. And the birthday …

Physicist Augusten Fresnel publishes "Memoir on the Diffraction of Light," the world's major powers sign a treaty defining war crimes, and the birthday club includes Alexis de Tocqueville and Mary Le…

Lavinia Ream becomes the first woman to be commissioned to sculpt a statue for the Capital Rotunda, the 14th Amendment is ratified, US Pres. Herbert Hoover orders then-currently serving troops to rou…

The actual Macbeth, King of Scotland, lost an important battle on this day, Maximilian Robespierre is arrested in Paris, and researchers in Toronto find insulin regulates blood sugar. The character B…

The US Post Office is established, the first Esperanto book is published, and the world's major powers draft the Potsdam Declaration to end WWII. The birthday club includes George Bernard Shaw, Carl …

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart finishes his masterpiece 40th Symphony: the Great G-Minor, Jack London sails from San Francisco for gold in the Yukon, and US Pres. John F. Kennedy says any attack on West Ber…

O. Henry is released from prison, the world's major powers sign a pact to not use war to settle disputes (almost 10 years before the start of WWII), and the US Supreme Court orders Pres. Richard Nixo…

Ford Motor Company sells its first car, the Chinese Communist Party is founded, and Philippe Petain is put on trial for being a Nazi puppet and turning France into a fascist state. On the birthday of…

Katherine Lee Bates starts writing "America the Beautiful" and it is the birthday of Emma Lazarus - with a reading of her poem "The New Colossus."