It is the birthday of Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks and the birthday of Women's Rights icon Betty Friedan - and we hear a reading from "Rosa Parks: My Story."

Historian E. P. Thompson was born on this day, James Michener, too, and the 15th Amendment grants the right to vote to all men in the U.S.

Ayn Rand was born on this day, the man who served as the role model for Robinson Crusoe was rescued after being stranded on an island for four years, and the serum run delivers its important diphtheria medicine to Nome. All that and a reading from Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."

President Abraham Lincoln signs the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, the Oxford English Dictionary publishes its first volume ("A to Ant"), Puccini's "La Boheme" premiers, the Voice of America begins broadcasting into Germany, Italy, and Japan, and the sit-ins at Woolworths (and other) lunch counters begin in Jonesboro, North Carolina. It is also the birthday of poet and journalist Langston Hughes - with a reading of his poem "Harlem."

The birthday club includes John O'Hara and Alan Lomax.

This episode also includes a reading from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "We Should All Be Feminists."

It is The Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. How this came to be is a good story.

The birthday club includes W. C. Fields, Muna Lee, and Edward Abbey - with a reading from Abbey's classic book "The Monkey Wrench Gang."

Jane Austen publishes her masterpiece "Pride and Prejudice," and it is David Lodge's birthday - with a reading from "Pride and Prejudice."

Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence, the Paris Peace Accords end armed combat in Vietnam, the U.S. National Recording Preservation Board announces the first 50 recordings selected for preservation, and it's the birthday of Lewis Carroll - the pen name of Charles Dodgson. This episode includes a reading from Carroll's classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

The birthday club includes Angela Davis and Jonathan Carroll - with a reading from Davis' book "Are Prisons Obsolete?"