Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premiers, Germans surrender to end WWII in Europe, and the birthday club includes Ruth Prawer-Jhabvala and Angela Carter - with a reading from Carter's "The Lady of the House of Love."

The Works Progress Administration is created and the birthday club includes Orson Welles, Bob Seger, and Martha Nussbaum - with a reading from Nussbaum's "Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities."

The birthday club includes Soren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx, Tammy Wynette, and Michael Palin - with a reading from Kierkegaard's "Either / Or."

The May Fourth Movement begins in Beijing, Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Freedom Riders set out on their bus trip, and the Ohio National Guard shot into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators at Kent State. This episode includes a reading from Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."

SCOTUS rules against neighborhood covenants that restrict home sales to people of color and Septima Poinsette Clark and Pete Seeger were born on this day - with a reading from Clark's "Citizenship Schools Class Workbook."

Japanese-American soldiers rescue hundreds of European Jews during a forced march from the Nazi's Dachau death camp. Dr. Benjamin Spock and Charlotte Armstrong were born on this day - with a reading from Armstrong's "The Unsuspected."

Carl Linnaeus begins using the two, Latin names to classify every living thing, the Memphis Massacre begins, and the workers' rallies marking "The Great Upheaval" begin.

And it is Joseph Heller's birthday, so we hear a reading from his best seller "Catch 22."

The first state park is created in the U.S. and the birthday club includes John Crowe Ransom, Annie Dillard, and Jane Campion - with a reading from Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."

Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Krouse Rosenthal were born on this day. We look at Rosenthal's work and share a reading from her New York Time's essay "You May Want to Marry My Husband."

Muhammad Ali refuses to be drafted into the Vietnam War and Harper Lee and Terry Pratchett were born on this day. This episode includes a reading from Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird."