The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the Treaty of Cordoba is signed, and the Panic of 1857 begins in the U.S. The birthday club includes Howard Zinn, Paulo Coelho, and Ava DuVernay - with a reading from Willa Cather's "My Antonia."

King George III issues a proclamation to quash the American rebellion, the 'Salad Bowl Strike' begins in California, and the World Wide Web becomes available to everyone. It is the birthday of William Ernest Henley - and this episode includes a reading from a letter written by the Duchess of Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish.

The Siege of Leningrad begins and the birthday club includes Claude Debussy, Dorothy Parker, Ray Bradbury, and Annie Proulx - with a reading of Parker's poem "Coda."

Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas begin their famous debates, and a reading from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's "Minnie's Sacrifice."

Darwin rushes to publish his theory of evolution, U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson declares the Civil War is over (but northerners didn't believe him), and the Canadian Supreme Court issues a doozy of a ruling on Quebec secession. It is the birthday of H. P. Lovecraft and this episode includes a reading from Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

The gold rush fuels California genocide, the liberation of Paris begins, and on Ogden Nash's birthday, a look at his writing and a reading of his poem "Everybody Tells Me Everything."

Spanish gets grammar, U.S. women win the right to vote, Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" is published in the U.S., and anti-Apartheid activist Stephen Biko is arrested in South Africa. The birthday club includes Antonio Salieri and Margaret Murie - with a reading from Charles Chesnutt's "The Marrow of Tradition."

Sir Walter Raleigh tries to colonize Roanoke, the world's first commercial steamboat service begins on the Hudson River, George Orwell publishes his landmark book "Animal Farm," and the birthday club includes Fredrika Bremer, Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat," and Jonathan Franzen, with a reading from Katherine Mansfield's "Bliss."

The birthday club includes T. E. Lawrence, Georgette Heyer, Wallace Thurman, William Keepers Maxwell, Jr., Charles Bukowski, and Diana Wynne Jones - with a reading from Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph."

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz premiers, Japan surrenders to end the Second World War and the birthday club includes Walter Scott, Oscar Peterson, Stanley Milgram, and Stieg Larsson - with a reading from Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."