The Story of Writing

Sherman attacks Atlanta, Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon, the Anglo-Russian Convention, The U.S. Congress passes its first Neutrality Act, the Nazis mount a false flag attack to justify their …

Rescue Day for the crew of the Endurance, Thurgood Marshall confirmed as SCOTUS justice, and quite a birthday club: Mary Shelley, Virginia Lee Burton, Kitty Wells, Molly Ivins, and Anna Politkovskaya…

The Beatles last concert, in front of a paying audience, Netflix joins the birthday club with John Locke, Charlie Parker, and Temple Grandin - with a reading from "An Essay Concerning Human Understan…

The first edition of the Scientific American magazine is published, Caleb Bradham changes the name of his "Brad's Drink" to something more soothing, and it is the anniversary of Emmett Till's death i…

The Famous Five and the "persons" question, the Kellogg-Briand pact, and the birthday club includes Hegel, C.S. Forester, and Alice Coltrane - with a reading from "The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitz…

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the U.S. patent for the steamboat, Quebec adopts the Charter of the French Language, and today's birthday club includes Zona Gale, Caroline Pa…

The Great Moon Hoax, discovering the bacteria that caused the bubonic plague, the U.S. National Park Service is created, instant ramen noodles are marketed for the first time, and in today's birthday…

The last writing in Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Treaty of Cordoba, the Panic of 1857, Yippies disrupt trading on the NYSE by throwing dollar bills onto the trading floor, birthdays for Howard Zinn, P…

England’s King George III proclaims the American colonists are rebelling, Japan declares war on Germany, the Salad Bowl Strike, and the World Wide Web opens to the public, and happy birthday to Willi…

The Cadillac Motor Company, the Siege of Leningrad, and happy birthday to Claude Debussy, Dorothy Parker, Ray Bradbury, and Annie Proulx - with a reading from Frederick Douglass.

James Cook claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion begins in Virginia, the first of seven debates is held between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas - with a readi…

Charles Darwin rushes to get his theory of evolution published, U.S. President Andrew Johnson formally declares the Civil War is over, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" debuts, British PM Winston Churchi…

Infamous witch trials in England and the U.S., the Daguerrotype photo process is proclaimed free to anyone, the California Gold Rush makes news in New York City - seven months after it began, the lib…

Spain's Queen Isabella I gets a five-volume work on Spanish grammar, women in the U.S. earn the right to vote, Nabokov's "Lolita" is published, Steven Biko is arrested in South Africa, and Antonio Sa…

The first landing of British settlers on Roanoke Island, the first commercial steamboat makes its way north on the Hudson, George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is published, and happy birthdays to Fredrika …

A big day for aboriginal peoples' land rights, and quite the birthday club: T. E. Lawrence, Hal Foster, Georgette Heyer, Wallace Thurman, William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., Charles Bukowski, and Diana Wyn…

"The Wizard of Oz" hits the silver screen, Japan's Emperor Hirohito declares surrender, India gains its independence, the Beatles play Shea Stadium, Woodstock opens, the Big Ear has its "Wow!" event,…

A big birthday club today: the U.S. Social Security Act, Ernest Thompson Seton, Ernest Thayer, David Crosby, Steve Martin, Danielle Steel, and Gary Larson - with a reading from "Death Comes for the A…

French King Louis XVI gets arrested, it's a big day for the phone booth, the first woman enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps, "Barbed Wire Sunday" in Berlin, and happy birthday to American abolitionist …

Isaac Singer gets a patent for his sewing machine, Sue Hendrickson discovers the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, NAFTA, and birthdays: Radclyffe Hall…