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."

The HMS Beagle lands in the Galapagos, the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama is bombed, and it's the birthday of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - with a reading from her novel "Half of a Yellow Sun."

Handel completes his masterpiece "Messiah" and the birthday club includes William H. Armstrong and Kate Millett - with a reading of Kate LaDew's poem "I taste the soap in the cup of tea you pour for me."

Henry Hudson reaches the river that would be named after him, "Je me souviens," Francis Scott Key watches the British attack Baltimore, and it's the birthday of Mildred D. Taylor - with a reading from Key's "Defense of Fort M'Henry."

Elizabeth Barrett marries Robert Browning, Pres. John F. Kennedy delivers his speech "We choose to go to the moon," and the birthday club includes H. L. Mencken, Nellie Wong, and Michael Ondaatje - with a reading from Mencken's diary.