Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is published, Liliʻuokalani and the Kingdom of Hawaii are overthrown - by the stroke of a pen, and it is the birthday of Anton Chekhov and Florida Ruffin Ridley - with a reading from one of her columns in the Woman's Era newspaper.

Jane Austen's masterwork "Pride and Prejudice" is published - with a reading from the novel.

The Outer Space Treaty, the Paris Peace Accords, the U.S. National Recording Preservation Board creates its registry, and it is the birthday of Lewis Carroll and Peter Laird - with a reading from Carroll's "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland."

The Rocky Mountain National Park is created and the birthday club includes Angela Davis and Jonathan Carroll - with a reading from Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own."

The birthday club includes Robert Burns, W. Somerset Maugham, and Virginia Woolf - with a reading of Burns' "A Red, Red Rose."

Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California, canned beer hits the shelves for the first time, and the birthday club includes Signe Rink and Edith Wharton - with a reading from Wharton's "The House of Mirth."

The first female MD in the U.S., the frisbee takes off, the 24th Amendment is ratified - banning poll taxes, and it is the birthday of Camilla Collett - with a reading from Agatha Christie's "Murder in Mesopotamia."

The birthday club includes Lord Byron and August Strindberg - with a reading from Strindberg's "The Road to Damascus."

America's first novel is published and the birthday club includes Noe Ito and Elaine Showalter - with a reading from Mark Twain's "Roughing It."

The birthday club includes Huddie Ledbetter, Nancy Kress,

and Fareed Zakaria - with a reading from Kress' "Crossfire."