The Story of Writing

Patenting the ice cream cone maker, the film "Gone with the Wind" hits the silver screen, the declaration that homosexuality was not a psychological disorder, British and Irish leaders issue the Down…

Stretching the first under-sea, trans-Pacific telegraph cable, the Wright Brothers make their first try at powered flight, Roald Amundsen and his team reach the South Pole, UNESCO adopts the Conventi…

The Plymouth Colony opts for a 12-person jury, the founding of the U.S. National Guard, The Rape of Nanjing, and the birthday club includes Jean Gerson and Jamie Foxx - with a reading from "Persuasio…

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."

French King Louis XVI goes on trial for treason, British General Edmund Allenby walks into Jerusalem, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine gets eme…

The UN adopts the Charter on Genocide and happy birthday to Dalton Trumbo - with a reading from "Pride and Prejudice," by Jane Austen.

A woman performs for the first time on a public English stage, and happy birthdays to John Banville and Mary Gordon - with a reading from "House of Mirth," by Edith Wharton.

Japan attacks the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, and it is the birthday of Willa Cather - with a reading from Cather's "My Antonia."

Georgia becomes the 27th and last state needed to ratify the U.S. Constitution's 13th Amendment, Theodore Roosevelt adds his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the Irish Free State is created, and the…

The National Council of Negro Women is founded, London's Great Smog, the Montgomery bus boycott begins, and the birthday club includes Christina Rossetti, Walt Disney, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Little…

The birthday club includes Octavia Hill, Joseph Conrad, and Gussie Davis - with a reading from "The Awakening," by Kate Chopin.

"The Observer" and "Los Angeles Times" publish their first editions, North Carolina ratifies the 13th Amendment, the Million Dollar Quartet records their jam session, more than 800 students are arres…

Sweden approves its Freedom of the Press Act, and the birthday club includes David Macaulay, Elizabeth Berg, George Saunders, and Ann Patchett - with a reading from "Treasure Island," by Robert Louis…

The draft lottery, and the birthday club includes Jan Brett, Candace Bushnell, and Jo Walton - with a reading from "Frankenstein," by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

Ann Hodges gets hit by a meteorite, and the birthday club includes some serious heavy hitters: Mark Twain, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Shirley Chisholm, and Allan Sherman - with a reading from Twain's "Pud…

The Beatles release "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," Atari releases "Pong," and the birthday club includes Louisa May Alcott, C. S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle - with a reading from Alcott's "Little Women.…

The Times of London starts using a steam-powered printing press, and happy birthdays to Berry Gordy and Rita Mae Brown - with a reading from "The Country of the Pointed Firs," by Sarah Orne Jewett.

The American Statistical Association is established, "Also sprach Zaruthustra" premiers, and the birthday club includes Charles A. Beard and Gail Sheehy - with a reading from "The Count of Monte Cris…

"Black Beauty" is published, and the birthday club includes Frances Hodgson Burnett and Arundhati Roy - with a reading from Burnett's "The Secret Garden."

John Milton publishes "Areopagitica," prohibiting prescribing beer in the U.S., Edwin Hubble publishes his finding the Andromeda was a galaxy, "Doctor Who" premiers, and the birthday club includes Th…