The United Nations unanimously declares genocide a crime and it is the birthday of Dalton Trumbo - with a reading from his landmark work "Johnny Got His Gun."

The first woman plays in a Shakespeare play and the birthday club includes John Banville and Mary Gordon - with a reading from Gordon's "Spending."

A Japanese naval strike force attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the birthday club includes Willa Cather and Harry Chapin - with a reading from Cather's "My Antonia."

The Irish Free State is founded and the birthday club includes Cornelia Meigs, Ira Gershwin, and Steven Wright - with a reading from Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth."

The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins and the birthday club includes Christina Rossetti, Walt Disney, Little Richard, and Joan Didion - with a reading from Didion's "Slouching Toward Bethlehem."

North Carolina becomes the 26th state - out of the needed 27 states - to ratify the 13th Amendment, the "Million-Dollar Quartet" record together in Memphis, U.C. Berkeley students demonstrate for free speech rights on campus, and it is the birthday of Rainer Maria Rilke - with a reading from his "Letters to a Young Poet."

The birthday club includes Octavia Hill, Joseph Conrad, and Gussie Davis - with a reading from Kate Chopin's "The Awakening."

Sweden becomes the first country to establish 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 Berg's "The Art of Mending."

The U.S. draft lottery for selecting civilians to serve in the Vietnam war and the birthday club includes Jan Brett, Candace Bushnell, and Jo Walton - with a reading from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

The birthday club includes Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain, L. M. Montgomery, Shirley Chisholm, and Allan Sherman - with a reading from Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson."