The Story of Writing

The U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg begins, Canada is formed as a nation, and the WWI Battle of the Somme begins. It is the birthday of George Sand - with a reading from her book "Indiana."

Oxford hosts the Great Debate over evolution, Pres. Lincoln signs the Yosemite Valley Grant Act, Einstein publishes his paper on the electrodynamics of moving bodies, the National Organization of Wom…

The Globe Theater in London burns down and the birthday club includes Giacomo Leopardi, Celia Thaxter, and Antoine St. Exupery - with a reading of Thaxter's "The Sandpiper."

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, European powers sign the Treaty of Versailles, and it is Mel Brook's birthday - with a look at his writing career and a reading from his memoir, "All about M…

On their birthdays, a look at the writing of Emma Goldman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Helen Keller, and Grace Lee Boggs - with a reading from Boggs' book "The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activis…

War-weary allies sign the United Nations Charter, and Shirley Jackson publishes "The Lottery," and J. K. Rowling publishes "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." And on Pearl S. Buck's birthday, a …

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer is killed in combat and sparks one of the more intriguing studies in public relations. On his birthday, a look at the writing of George Orwell - with a reading of Luc…

John Cabot lands in the New World and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins. On their birthdays, a look at the writing life of Ambrose Bierce and a reading from Anita Desai's "Clear Light of Day."

The typewriter is patented, the Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada, the Antarctic Treaty System goes into effect, Title IX is amended, and Pres. Nixon is recorded talking about obstructin…

Galileo is tried by the Roman Catholic Church and the U.S. Department of Justice is established. This episode also includes a reading from Frederick Douglass's essay "Reconstruction."

Marie-Joseph Angélique is condemned to death for burning Montreal, Chinese Empress Cixi declares war on the Western Powers, and this is the day of the arson and murder known as Mississippi Burning. I…

Samuel Morse gets the patent for the telegraph, the three-day, 1943 Detroit race riot begins, and it is the birthday of playwright Lillian Hellman - with a reading from her memoir "Pentimento."

The first baseball game is played, enslaved people in Texas are told they are finally free, and President John F. Kennedy submits his Civil Rights Act to Congress - with a reading from Kennedy's land…

Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo, Charles Darwin learns that another naturist was about to publish a theory of evolution nearly identical to Darwin's, and Winston Churchill delivers his speech "Their…

Explorer Sir Francis Drake claims land on America's West Coast and sends a geopolitical ripple across 300 years of American history. American colonists fight the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Statue of …

Abraham Lincoln delivers his speech not known as "A House Divided," and it is Bloomsday. It is also the birthday of Joyce Carol Oates - with a reading from her book "We Were the Mulvaneys."

England's King John signs the Magna Carta and Arlington National Cemetery is established in the U.S. It is the birthday of Ramon Lopez Velarde - with a reading from his poem "Because of this Modest S…

It is the birthday of the U.S. Armed Forces, and Charles Babbage presents his "difference engine," and the Bear Flag Revolt makes America bigger. It is also the birthday of Harriet Beecher Stowe - wi…

Thurgood Marshall is nominated to the U.S Supreme Court, the New York Times publishes the Pentagon Papers, and it is the birthday of William Butler Yeats - with a reading of Yeats' "The Second Coming…

Virginia adopts the influential Declaration of Rights written by George Mason, on her 13 th birthday, Anne Frank gets a blank book, and the U.S. Supreme Court rules that interracial couples can marry…