The U.S. buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns of the "military-industrial complex" in his farewell address, and the birthday club includes fellwalker Alfred Wainwright and author Sebastian Junger - with a reading from Wainwright's "A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells."

Miguel Cervantes publishes "Don Quixote," Virginia adopts the Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson, and the birthday club includes Susan Sontag and Rebecca Stead - with a reading from Stead's "When You Reach Me."

It is the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Today's episode remembers his work and includes two of Dr. King's lesser-known writings.

Three well-known writers were born on this day: Albert Schweitzer, Martin Niemoller, and Maureen Dowd - with a reading from Dowd's "Are Men Necessary?"

Emile Zola's "J'Accuse!" is published and it is Shonda Rhimes birthday - with a reading from "J'Accuse!"

The birthday club includes Laura Adams Armer, Jack London, Haruki Murakami, and Issa Rae - with a reading from London's "Call of the Wild."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded, the U.S. Surgeon General publishes "Smoking and Health," which linked smoking and dire health conditions, and it is the birthday of Aldo Leopold - with a reading from his ground-breaking book "A Sand County Almanac."

Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" turns 250, The New England Journal of Medicine published the letter "Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics," and the birthday club includes Jim Croce, Donald Fagen, and Shawn Colvin - with a reading from Voltaire's "Candide."

Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, author Judith Krantz, and musician Joan Baez were all born on this day. This episode includes a reading from Beauvoir's landmark book "The Second Sex."

President George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address and the birthday club includes Gypsy Rose Lee and Graham Chapman - with a reading from Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!"