On this day, a look at the work of Julia Ward Howe, Dashiell Hammett, and Rachel Carson - with a reading from Carson's "Silent Spring."

The US House Un-American Activities Committee holds its first meeting and the birthday club includes Miles Davis, Jack Kevorkian, Levon Helm, Stevie Nicks, Alan Hollinghurst, Lauryn Hill, and Raina Telgemeier - with a reading from Hollinghurst's "The Line of Beauty."

The US Constitutional Convention begins, JFK calls for putting a man on the moon, and "Star Wars" hits movie screens. The birthday club includes Ralph Waldo Emerson and Rosario Castellanos - with a reading from Emerson's Essays.

The Judgement of Paris puts Napa Valley wines on the oenophile map and the birthday club includes Bob Dylan, Michael Chabon, and Lorella Cedroni - with a reading from "Italian Critics of Capitalism," edited by Cedroni.

The birthday club includes Margaret Fuller, Isabella Ford, Par Lagerkvist, Scott O'Dell, Margaret Wise Brown, and Mitch Albom - with a reading from Fuller's "Woman in the 19th Century."

Lewis and Clark start their exploration of the American West, the Associated Press gets its start, and Verdi premiers "Requiem." The birthday club includes Su Xun and Arthur Conan Doyle - with a reading from Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet."

"Bleeding Kansas" begins, Clara Barton establishes the American Red Cross, and the birthday club includes Alexander Pope, "Fats" Waller, and Harold Robbins - with a reading from Pope's "An Essay on Man."

William Shakespeare's sonnets are published, Levi Strauss gets the patent for denim blue jeans (with copper rivets that held the jeans together), and the birthday club includes Honore de Balzac and John Stuart Mill. This episode includes a reading of Shakespeare's sonnet number 17.

Centigrade fixes Celsius, Ohio is chartered, the world's first national park service is established, and the birthday club includes Jim Lehrer and Jodi Picoult - with a reading from Picoult's "Change of Heart."

Rhode Island bans slavery and the birthday club includes Omar Khayyam, Frank Capra, and Tina Fey - with a reading from Khayyam's "The Rubaiyat."