Sweden becomes the first country to protect freedom of the press, and the birthday club includes David Macaulay, Elizabeth Berg, T. C Boyle, George Saunders, and Ann Patchett - with a reading from Robert Louis Stephenson's "Treasure Island."

The U.S. holds its first draft lottery since World War II, and the birthday club includes Jan Brett, Candace Bushnell, and Jo Walton - with a reading from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

Ann Hodges gets hit by a meteor and the birthday club includes Samuel Clemens, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Shirley Chisholm, and Allan Sherman - with a reading from Clemens' "Pudd'nhead Wilson."

The Beatles release "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," Atari releases Pong, and happy birthdays to Louisa May Alcott, C. S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle - with a reading from Alcott's "Little Women."

The Times of London switches to steam-powered presses, and happy birthdays to Berry Gordy and Rita Mae Brown - with a reading from Sarah Orne Jewett's "The Country of the Pointed Firs."

The American Statistical Association is founded, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" premiers, and happy birthdays to Charles A. Beard and Gail Sheehy - with a reading from Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Christo."

The Hull note is presented to Japanese officials on the same day a Japanese strike force sets off to attack Pearl Harbor and happy birthdays to Sarah Moore Grimke and Charles M. Schultz - with a reading from Grimke's "Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women."

Albert Einstein presents his theory of general relativity, The Hollywood Ten are blacklisted by movie studios, and the Reagan Administration is found guilty of selling weapons to Iran in order to fund Nicaraguan militias. Happy birthday to Helen Hooven Santmyer - with a reading from her "...And Ladies of the Club."

"Black Beauty" is published, and the birthday club includes Frances Hodgson Burnett and Arundhati Roy - with a reading from Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden."

John Milton publishes the proclamation defending freedom of the press "Areopagitica," the U.S. bars prescriptions of beer, Hubble publishes his proof that Andromeda was a galaxy, and the BBC airs the first episode of "Dr. Who." The birthday club includes Theodore Dwight Weld and P.K. Page - with a reading from Elizabeth von Arnim's "The Enchanted April."