The Story of Writing

Unintentional birthday club edition, featuring Mary Kingsley, Arna Bontemps, and Paul Simon - with a reading of "A Black Man Talks of Reaping," written by Arna Bontemps.

Putting an end to the Salem Witch Trials, the U.S. gets its first asylum for the mentally ill, The Criminal Tribes Act in British India, Desmond Doss becomes the only conscientious objector to win th…

The intolerance and race riots that led to the "Gentlemen's Agreement" of 1907, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is displayed for the first time, and a unique birthday club made up of Elmore Leonard and Thich…

Spiro Agnew resigns, and the birthday club includes Louise Mack, Harold Pinter, Lily Tuck, and John Prine - with a reading from "A Woman's Experiences in the Great War: An Australian Author's Clandes…

Roger Williams is banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, France abolishes the death penalty, "Phantom of the Opera" premiered in London, Malala Yousafzai is shot by the Taliban in Pakistan, and happ…

England's King George III proclaims that American colonists cannot settle Indigenous lands west of the Appalachians, the McCollum memo is issued, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban, and birthday memories f…

The world's oldest known opera, "Euridice" premiers, the U.S. music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is founded, the first big talkie "The Jazz Singer" hits the silver screen, Nobel laureates Annie E…

James Bond hits the silver screen for the first time and The Beatles release their first song, PBS starts broadcasting in the US, and birthdays of Louise Fitzhugh and Neil deGrasse Tyson - with a rea…

Willie Gillis makes his debut on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, and birthdays for Edward Stratemeyer, Donald Sobol, Jackie Collins, and Anne Rice - with a reading from "Great Expectations," …

U.S. President George Washington declares the nation's first Thanksgiving Day, President Abraham Lincoln declares it a national holiday, and Thomas Wolfe and Gore Vidal were born on this day - with a…

Thurgood Marshall becomes the first Black man to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, and the birthday club includes Graham Greene, Don McLean, Gordon "Sting" Sumner, and Melissa Harris Perry - with a read…

"Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management" is published, Yosemite National Park is established, the motto “In God We Trust” first appears on U.S. currency, and happy birthday to Tim O'Brien - with a…

"The Magic Flute" premiers, the Munich Agreement is signed, Babi Yar, and birthdays for Rumi, Truman Capote, Elie Wiesel, Laura Esquivel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - with a reading from Wiesel's "Night."

The League of Nations mandate on Palestine goes into effect, and birthday cake in honor of Miguel de Cervantes, Elizabeth Gaskell, Olive Dehn, and Barbara Mertz - with a reading from Cervantes' "Don …

Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is published - with a reading from Rachel Carson's writings.

Albert Einstein publishes his paper on special relativity, Nazi SS officer August Frank issues his memo on evaluating everything left by Jewish people who were forced into death camps, the first tele…

The U.S. Congress approves the Bill of Rights, creating Sequoia National Park, the first public demonstration of remote control, founding the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the fi…

The Gold Panic of 1869, the LDS Church says no more polygamy for its members, the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, the designation of Devil's Tower as the first U.S. National Monument, and happy birthd…

Norway and Sweden split, and the birthday club includes John Lomax, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani DiFranco - with a reading from "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads," written by John L…