On her birthday, we look at the life and writing of Mary Wollstonecraft - including a reading from her landmark work "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."

Napoleon pardons French nobles and the birthday club includes Ma Rainey, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Bernard Malamud - with a reading from Malamud's "The Magic Barrel."

The double helix structure of DNA is described for the first time, the patent is issued for the computer microchip, and it's the birthday of Albert King - with a reading from Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

It is the birthday of the U.S. Library of Congress, Anthony Trollope, and Robert Penn Warren. This episode includes a reading from Trollope's "The Way We Live Now."

George Steiner, Jim Fixx, Roy Orbison, and Victoria Glendinning were born on this day. We look at their work and hear a reading from Steiner's "Lessons of the Masters."

On Earth Day, a look at its origins. And the birthday club includes Henry Fielding, Immanuel Kant, Vladimir Nabokov, and Louise Gluck - with a reading from Fielding's "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling."

On their birthdays, we celebrate Charlotte Brontë and John Muir - with a reading from Brontë's "Jane Eyre."

U.S. President William McKinley signs the declaration that began the Spanish-American War and British politician Enoch Powell delivers his infamous racist tirade now known as the "River of Blood" speech. And it is the birthday of Gro Harlem Brundtland who became the first female Prime Minister of Norway - with a reading of her "Our Common Future, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development."

The Netherlands become the second country to recognize the United States as in independent nation. Mae West is jailed for obscenity - and this episode includes a reading from Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The birthday club includes James McCune Smith, Kathy Acker, and Susan Faludi - with a reading from Anne Bronte's "Agnes Grey."