The Story of Writing

Civil rights come into focus on this day in 1963. A Buddhist monk sets himself on fire to protest religious oppression in Vietnam, Alabama Governor George Wallace stands in a UA doorway to prevent tw…

So-called "spectral evidence" is allowed in Massachusetts Bay Colony and result in the executions of the Salem Witch Trials. On this day, Howlin' Wolf and Saul Bellow were born on this day - with a r…

France and China sign the Treaty of Tientsin and the birthday club includes Cole Porter, Robert McNamara, and Jackie Wilson - with a reading from Porter's "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love."

The U.S. Bill of Rights takes shape, the Antiquities Act is passed, George Orwell's "1984" is published and it is the birthday of comedian Joan Rivers - with a reading from "1984."

Spain and Portugal carve up the New World in the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Petition of Right is passed in England, and American colonists say they should form an independent nation. The birthday clu…

The Battle of Midway and D-Day are both tied to June 6th and we celebrate the birthdays of Alexander Pushkin, Angelo Moriando, and Thomas Mann - with a reading from Mann's "The Magic Mountain."

Harriet Beecher Stowe's landmark novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is first published, Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated, and "Tank Man" steps into history. It is the birthday Federico Garcia Lorca - with a …

The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment, the U.S. refuses to allow refugees fleeing the Nazis to enter the country, the evacuation of Dunkirk ends, and it is the birthday of King George III - w…

DeSoto claims Florida, the Dutch West India Company is established, and it's the birthday of Memphis Minnie, Allen Ginsberg, Larry McMurtry, and Curtis Mayfield - with a reading from McMurtry's "Lone…

England enrages American colonists by expanding the Quartering Act and the birthday club includes Thomas Hardy, Dorothy West, and Norton Juster - with a reading from West's newspaper column "Fond Mem…

Scotch Whisky first appears in print, Charles Baudelaire publishes his landmark book "Les fleur du mal" or "Flowers of Evil," Margaret Chase Smith delivers her speech "Declaration of Conscience," the…

The birthday club includes Walt Whitman, Fred Allen, Al Young, Svetlana Alexievich - with a reading from Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric."

The birthday club includes Countee Cullen, Mel Blanc, Benny Goodman, James Chaney, and Idina Menzel - with a reading of Cullen's "Saturday's Child."

Sojourner Truth gives her speech "Ain't I a Woman?" Igor Stravinsky premiers his "Rite of Spring" and Hillary and Norgay summit Mt. Everest. It is the birthday of Bob Hope and T. H. White - with a re…

The Sierra Club is written into existence, so is Amnesty International, and the birthday club includes Ian Fleming, T-Bone Walker, and Maeve Binchy - with a reading from John Muir's "My First Summer …

On this day, a look at the work of Julia Ward Howe, Dashiell Hammett, and Rachel Carson - with a reading from Carson's "Silent Spring."

The US House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first meeting and the birthday club includes Miles Davis, Jack Kevorkian, Levon Helm, Stevie Nicks, Alan Hollinghurst, Lauryn Hill, and Raina T…

The US Constitutional Convention begins, JFK calls for putting a man on the moon, and "Star Wars" hits movie screens. The birthday club includes Ralph Waldo Emerson and Rosario Castellanos - with a r…

The Judgement of Paris puts Napa Valley wines on the oenophile map and the birthday club includes Bob Dylan, Michael Chabon, and Lorella Cedroni - with a reading from "Italian Critics of Capitalism,"…

The birthday club includes Margaret Fuller, Isabella Ford, Par Lagerkvist, Scott O'Dell, Margaret Wise Brown, and Mitch Albom - with a reading from Fuller's "Woman in the 19th Century."