The Story of Writing

Ford switches to an eight-hour workday with a pay bump to $5 a day, "Waiting for Godot" premieres, and the birthday club includes Umberto Eco and Hayao Miyazaki - and a reading from "Their Eyes Were …

Solomon Northup regains his freedom, happy birthday to Doris Kearns Goodwin - and a reading from "A Tale of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens.

Quite the birthday club: J. R. R. Tolkien, Anna Stevenson, and Stephen Stills - and a reading from "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," by Agatha Christie.

The Palmer Raids sweep the U.S., happy birthday to environmentalist Robert Marshall - and a reading from the U.S. Wilderness Act of 1964.

The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves goes into effect in the U.S., the Emancipation Proclamation also goes into effect, and the birthday club includes Maria Edgeworth, E. M. Forster, and J. D. S…

Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease to brew stout beer, Thomas Edison unveils his incandescent light, President Truman proclaims the end of combat in World War II, and the birthday club includes…

The birthday club includes Rudyard Kipling, Bo Diddley, Patti Smith, and Douglas Coupland - and a reading from "Sense & Sensibility," by Jane Austen.

Vaclav Havel is elected President of Czechoslovakia, the language Akkala Sami goes extinct, and the birthday club includes Rick Danko, Marianne Faithfull, and Paula Poundstone - and a reading from "A…

Discovery of X-ray radiation, the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and happy birthdays to Catharine Maria Sedgwick and Charlie Pierce - and a reading from "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wild…

The Flushing Remonstrance, Charles Darwin sets sail on the HMS Beagle, the play "Show Boat" premiers, and happy birthdays to Cokie Roberts and Sarah Vowell - and a reading from J. M. Barrie's "Peter …

Beatlemania begins, the first Kwanzaa, dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the birthday club includes Mary Somerville, Henry Miller, and David Sedaris - and a reading from "A Vindication of the Righ…

Happy birthday to Sir Isaac Newton and Carlos Castaneda - and a reading from The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore

Jane Austen publishes "Emma," the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act, and happy birthdays to Norman Maclean and Jorma Kaukonen - and a reading from Maclean's "A River Runs Through It."

Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" premiers, the first crossword, and happy birthdays to Maria Cadilla and Frank Zappa - with a reading from Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People."

South Carolina secedes from the United States, Captain America makes his first appearance, and the film "It's a Wonderful Life" premieres - with a reading from Eugene Debs' statement to the court.

Thomas Paine publishes his first pamphlet titled "American Crisis," and happy birthdays to Carter Woodson and Edith Piaf - with a reading from Woodson's "The Mis-Education of the Negro."

"The Nutcracker" premiers in St. Petersburg, Russia, and happy birthdays to Hector Hugh Munro and Joel Hirschhorn - with a reading from Munro's "The Chronicles of Clovis."

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