The Story of Writing

The events immortalized in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" take place. The Zinoviev Letter is published, and born on this day Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, Anne Tyler, Zadie Smith, and Katy Perry - with a reading from Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo."

The transcontinental telegraph line goes operational across the U.S., the first person goes over Niagara Falls - and survives, women across Iceland go on strike for equal wages, and, born on this day: Sarah Josepha Hale and Alexandra David-Neel - with a reading from George McDonald's "At The Back of the North Wind."

The U.S. hosts its first Conference of Women's Rights, and born on this day Ellie Greenwich and Michael Crichton - with a reading from Crichton's "The Lost World."

The Cuban Missile Crisis begins, Jean-Paul Sartre turns down the Nobel Prize in Literature, and, born on this day: Doris Lessing, Timothy Leary, and Julie Dash - with a reading from Dash's "Daughters of the Dust."

Edison patents the incandescent light bulb, Hemingway publishes his classic "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and born on this day Ursula K. Le Guin and Carrie Fisher - with a reading from Le Guin’s "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas."

The Louisiana Purchase is ratified, the southern border of Canada is defined, the UN approves a charter elevating cultural expressions to be a counterweight to intellectual property, and born on this day: Isabelle de Charrière and Nellie McClung - with a reading from Charriere's "The Nobleman."

America wins its independence at Yorktown, Black Monday, and born on this day: Miguel Ángel Asturias, Walter Munk, John le Carre, Phillip Pullman, and Tracy Chevalier - with a reading from her book "Remarkable Creatures."

Herman Melville publishes "The Whale" in London, Phyllis Wheatley is freed and becomes the first Black author to publish poetry in the US.

Born on this day: Isabelle Meyers-Briggs, Martha Burk, Ntozake Shange, Wendy Wasserstein, and Terry McMillan - with a reading from McMillan's essay on writing.

Marconi introduces TransAtlantic wireless communications, and born on this day: Elinor Glyn, Jerry Siegel, Arthur Miller, George Mackay Brown, Ariel Levy, and Randall Munroe - with a reading from Levy's "The Rules Do Not Apply."

Margaret Sanger opens the first family planning clinic in the U.S. and Charlotte Bronte publishes her masterpiece: "Jane Eyre."

This episode includes a reading from the book.

Most of the world switches from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, and born on this day: P. G. Wodehouse, Mario Puzo, Italo Calvino, and Eugene Patterson - with a reading from Wodehouse's "My Man Jeeves."

George Eastman gets the U.S. patent for "paper strip photographic film," Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier, Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the writers Katherine Mansfield and Usher were born on this day - with a reading from Mansfield's "At the Bay."

Born on this day: Mary Kingsley, Arna Bontemps, and Paul Simon - with a reading from Simon's "American Tune."

Salem stops its witch trials, the first asylum in the US for the mentally ill opens, Desmond Doss becomes the only conscientious objector awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor, a televised debate over same-sex marriage leads to thousands of people leaving their faith in Finland, and Kamini Roy is born on this day - with a reading from her poem "In the Light."

San Francisco school officials bow to pressure to exclude Japanese-American students, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is displayed for the first time, and, born on this day, Elmore Leonard and Thich Nhat Hanh - with a reading from Leonard's "10 Rules on Writing."

U.S. VP Spiro Agnew resigns, and born on this day Louise Mack, Harold Pinter, Lily Tuck, and John Prine - with a reading from Louise Mack's "A Woman's Experiences in the Great War: An Australian Author's Clandestine Journey Through War-Torn Belgium."

Roger Williams is banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, France abolishes the death penalty, "The Phantom of the Opera" opens in London, the Taliban tries to assassinate Malala Yousafzai, and John Lennon was born on this day - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence."

The first hospital in North America opens, German magazine "Der Spiegel" is accused of treason, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, "Cats" opens on Broadway, and R. L. Stine is born on this day - with a reading from Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago."

England's King George III unwittingly helps indigenous people in North America, the McCullom Memo is issued and raises questions over provoking Japan to attack the U.S. Born on this day: Ann Eliza Smith, James Whitcomb Riley, and Michelle Alexander - with a reading from Alexander's "The New Jim Crow."

Fannie Lou Hamer, the "First Lady of Civil Rights"

"Dr. No" and "Love Me Do" debut, PBS launches, and featured writers, born on this day, Louise Fitzhugh and Neil deGrasse Tyson - with a reading from Fitzhugh's "Harriet the Spy."

Norman Rockwell introduces the fictional character Willie Gillis, and featuring writers born on this day: Edward Stratemeyer, David Sobol, Jackie Collins, and Anne Rice - with a reading from Rice's "Interview with the Vampire."

Thanksgiving Day(s) in the U.S. and Thomas Wolfe and Gore Vidal were born on this day - with a reading from Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again."

Graham Greene, Chuck Williams, and Melissa Harris-Perry were born on this day. This episode includes a reading from Anna Julia Cooper's 1893 speech to the World's Congress of Representative Women in Chicago.

One of the first books on "household management" is published, Yosemite is designated as federally preserved and protected land, "in God we trust" appears on U.S. paper money, and it's Tim O'Brien's birthday - with a reading from Judy Syfers Brady's essay "I Want A Wife."

European leaders sign the Munich Agreement, the WWII atrocity at Babi Yar begins, and the birthday club includes Rumi, Truman Capote, Elie Wiesel, Laura Esquivel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - with a reading from Wiesel's memoir "Night."

The League of Nations' mandate for Palestine goes into effect and the birthday club includes Miguel de Cervantes, Elizabeth Gaskell, Olive Dehn, and Barbara Mertz - with a reading from Cervantes' classic "Don Quixote."

Physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming notices that Penecillium causes something odd in his laboratory and the birthday club includes musician Ben E. King and critic George W. S. Trow - with a reading from Aesop's Fable: "The Cats and the Birds."

Rachel Carson publishes "Silent Spring," one of the most important works of the 20th Century.

Albert Einstein publishes his theory of special relativity, Nazi official August Frank issues his chilling memo evaluating the goods left behind by people sent to the death camps, the first U.S. political debate is broadcast, and the Beatles release "Abbey Road." This is Jane Smiley's birthday, with a reading of her writing on bookstores.

The U.S. Congress adopts the Bill of Rights, Columbia's School of Journalism opens its doors, and the Little Rock Nine integrate their Arkansas high school. The birthday club includes William Faulkner and Shel Silverstein - with a reading from Faulkner's "Intruder in the Dust."

The leader of the Latter Day Saints says he has a vision that the church should end polygamy, a race massacre convulses Atlanta, President Theodore Roosevelt designates the country's first national monument: Devil's Tower, and Nirvana releases its landmark album "Nevermind." The birthday club includes F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson - with a reading from Fitzgerald's classic "The Great Gatsby."

The birthday club includes John Lomax, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Ani DiFranco - with a reading from Lomax's "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads."

The executions of those accused of witchcraft end in Salem, President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, and the birthday club includes Elizabeth Simcoe, Eric Baker, and Joan Jett - with a reading from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

The birthday club includes H. G. Wells, Allen Lane, Leonard Cohen, Chuck Jones, and Stephen King - with a reading from Wells' "The Time Machine."

Ferdinand Magellan sets sail on the first circumnavigation of the world, Billie Jean King wins the Battle of the Sexes, the U.S. military ends "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and it's the birthday of Upton Sinclair - with a reading from his landmark book "The Jungle."

George Washington's farewell address, and the birthday club includes Sadie Delany, Rachel Field, and William Golding - with a reading from Washington's farewell address.

The New York Times prints its first paper, Booker T. Washington delivers the Atlanta Exposition Speech on Race Relations, and the Columbia Broadcasting Corporation goes on air - with a reading from L. M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables."

The government of the U.S. is established, the Battle of Antietam, and the birthday club includes William Carlos Williams, John Creasy, Elizabeth Enright, Mary Stewart, and Hank Williams - with a reading from Enright's "Thimble Summer."

The Grito de Dolores, and the birthday club includes Nadia Boulanger, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and H. A. Rey - with a reading of William Wordsworth's "My Heart Leaps Up."