The Rosetta Stone is found, the Spanish Inquisition ends after 350 years, Alzheimer's is named, and the birthday club includes Clement Clark Moore and Iris Murdoch.

Storming the Bastille, US Pres. John Adams signs the Sedition Act, the second catastrophic fire in Chicago burns nearly 50 acres of the city, and the birthday club includes William Hanna and Woody Guthrie - with a reading from Guthrie's song "Pretty Boy Floyd."

The birthday club includes George Weller, Marcia Brown, and Cameron Crowe - with a reading of Jean Blewett's "Miracles."

It's Thoreau-Neruda Day! Henry David Thoreau and Pablo Neruda were born on this day. Doris Grumbach, too. This episode includes a reading from Thoreau's essay "Walking."

Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton face each other in a duel, "To Kill A Mockingbird" is published, and the birthday club includes E. B. White and Jhumpa Lahiri - with a reading from White's "Here is New York."

The French declare war on England - diverting English forces from crushing the American Revolution, Mackenzie crosses the North American continent, French secret agents blow up and sink the Rainbow Warrior, the ship used by Greenpeace. And it is the birthday of Marcel Proust - with a reading from his "In Search of Lost Time."

In the U.S., the 14th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto is released, and the birthday club includes Elias Howe and Oliver Sacks - with a reading of Dorothy Parker's "Bohemia."

The Wall Street Journal publishes its first edition, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average closes at its lowest level of the 20th Century, and Pres. Richard Nixon announces a more equitable stance toward indigenous people in the US. It is the birthday of Ruby Sales - with a reading of Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope."

The New York City race riots of 1834 begin, the US begins its first military draft, Alaska becomes a state, the Ziegfeld Follies premiers its first show, and slice bread went on sale for the first time. This episode includes a reading of Myra Viola Wilds' poem "Thoughts."

Louis Pasteur tests his rabies vaccine, Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet, and it is the birthday of Nanci Griffith - with a reading from her song, "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go."