It is the Ides of March, the US President says, "We Shall Overcome," and the birthday club includes "Lightnin'" Hopkins, Kate Bornstein, and Ben Okri - with a reading from Alexandre Dumas' "The Man in the Iron Mask."

The U.S. creates its first national wildlife refuge and the birthday club includes Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Albert Einstein, Billy Crystal, and Jerry Greenfield - with a reading from O'Shaughnessy's "Ode."

The U.S. passes the law that confirmed freedom to any enslaved person who escaped the South, and the birthday club includes Janet Flanner, L. Ron Hubbard, Edward O'Hare, and Al Jaffee - with a reading from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland."

The birthday club includes Jack Kerouac, Harry Harrison, Virginia Hamilton, James Taylor, and Dave Eggers - with a reading from Willa Cather's "The Song of the Lark."

"Rigoletto" premiers, and it is the birthday of Wanda Gag, Ralph Abernathy, and Douglas Adams - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence."

"Treatise on Tolerance," the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Hallie Quinn Brown and Lillian Wald were born on this day, with a reading from Voltaire's "Treatise."

The "capitalist bible" is published, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling on "The Amistad," and Vita Sackville-West and Mickey Spillane were born on this day - with a reading from Sackville-West's "The Land."

The first article calling for the end of slavery is published in the American colonies, and the birthday club includes Juana de Ibarbourou, John McPhee, and Carole Bayer Sager - with a reading from Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace."

Bloody Sunday compels President Johnson to write the Voting Rights Act, and the birthday club includes Luther Burbank, Maurice Ravel, E. L. James, and Bret Easton Ellis - with a reading from one of Burbank's letters on science.

The Dred Scott decision is handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court, "aspirin" gets its name, and the birthday club includes Cyrano de Bergerac, Ring Lardner, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez - with a reading from Lardner's "Two Kings and a Pair."